Ranger (CVA 61) - Naval Cruise Book

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YNIOIIU - -uu.,sgxsLY NA A I bl- NV LYA t NAVY DEPARTMENT. VVASHINGTON, 7 0 larch 25, 1 98. sir: lr. Walcott, Director of the Geological Survey, has just been in to see me, having seen the President. He has shown me some interesting photographs of Qgglgggpx Langley's flying machine. The machine has worked. It CIli--ulu'-Rv i-.o4T'W seems to ms Worth while for this government to try whether it will not work on a large enough scale to be of use in the event of war. Por this purpose I recommend that you appoint two officers-of scientific atta1Qmenxs and practical L h , .nf 1- . ability, who in conjunction with two I I' 'M Secret UI! - Of. TYPE' - Ehill, .'?39.'lE .599 , . E flying machine, to inform us whether I ...,'1-gnu-'suv-vu-n ...Q-.iii X could bqduplicated on a large scale, as to its practicability and prepare fcost. v U ,,,, offlcers appolnted by 95.6-22439.32 .0 . F h 1 or not they think it to make recommendation estimates as to IPP I think this is well worth doing. This board should have the power to call in outsidt experts like R. H. Thurston, President Sibley College, Cornell University, and-Octave Schanute, President of lQHU,.g-ppiety of Civil Engineers, Very respectfully, A The Honorable, 1 at Chicago. Assistant Secretary. Sie Secretary JANUARY 1911: ELY LANDS ON USS PENNSYLVANIA

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L-rf: . 1 f. 9 an-,ff---m-fenrsppwym-xpzvvi rv:-'- ff General Quarters 1943 l THE RANGER AIRCRAFT CARRIER In the year 1910, something called a floating aerodrome was proposed by some rather daring naval prophets, but the amusement it provoked had been hard to conceal. Yet, twenty-three years later the idea reached its purest form in the launching of the USS Ranger, CV-4, the first vessel designed from the keel to superstructure specifically to carry air- planes. She had been born right at the beginning of the Thirties, a decade of making do, of stretching out, of tightening the belt, but the aircraft carrier was a new concept whose time had come. Even bureau- AS cratic purse-wringing and the insults of the battle- ship admirals failed to stem its gradual growth as the reckoning power and factor in naval strategy. Eight years prior to her launching, General Billy Mitchell had predicted the helplessness of the world's navies before land-based aircraft: eight years after CV-4 slid down the quays, the Japanese made it quite clear that the struggle for the Pacific was going to hinge on contests between fleets centered around ship-based air power. Only later could Billy MitchelI's land aircraft contribute, after strips had been se- cured for them.