Ranger (CVA 61) - Naval Cruise Book

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l l First Landing On Board CV-4. An O3U-3 Passes Over Ranger, Minutes Later The Bi- Wing Was Into The Groove And Was Paddled ln. 21 June 1934 Yes, the Pacific war was a carrier war, and naval aviation learned most of its lessons from it. But the Rangers fight took place in the more limited Atlantic, where the German Navy had chosen to specialize in convoy destruction rather than controlling the sea. Often, she was the only American carrier in the entire ocean, and her daily concerns were sub packs or the occasional surface and air raiders. She worked swiftly and efficiently. Diving and strafing her planes led and covered the assault at Casablanca which opened the Second Front in North Africa. In the latter part of the war, her aircraft searched out the enemy in his lair and brazenly ruled the sky above the ocean. The Ranger was Aft. Elevator Was Inset. known as a lucky ship, for of the three pre-Pearl Harbor carriers to survive the conflict, she was the only one to have gone untouched by bomb, torpedo or shell. By the beginning of 1947, the year that the average crewman aboard today's Ranger was busy being born, the USS Ranger was purchased for one-sixty- eighth of her value by a scrapping company. Lieute- nant Commander Ed Nowak, currently aboard as a member of the AIIVID Department, remembers that his last glimpse of the CV-4 was when she was being towed down the Chesapeake. On her side, in huge letters, was the word Gillette . One can only con- clude that heroes come rather cheaply after wars.

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TAKEMOFF OI A GREAT LAKES BOMBE.RcE3GW1,'i17 MARCH 1937 RANGERMEN--OF CV-4 OR CVA-61. . . SIMILAR IN STRENGTH, SIMILAR IN PURPOSE But what of the men of the Ranger? How did the life of the crew in the Thirties differ from that of today? ln most respects, of course, there were simi- larities, but it is still safe to assume that few sailors of the modern Ranger would enjoy their stay if they had suddenly found themselves aboard CV-4. When the Ranger first joined the fleet in 1933, the men who manned her fell fairly predictably into certain catagories. A high number were the peace- time professionals who planned to make the Navy their life's workg much of the airwing was youngsters fascinated by the novel opportunities of aviation, and a fair number were men who felt more secure in the service than they did in the unsettled economic conditions of the Depression. Of course, there was the usual scattering of kids who just plain wanted to See the world. Later, during the Forties, the draft encouraged a more diverse sample of the nation's youth to join the Navy. Nevertheless, the new seaman apprentice toting his seabag up the brow remained largely similar to his pre-war counterpart in certain res- pects. Generally, he had received less education than today's sailor, who is usually a high school graduate and has often spent time in college. More- over, he would appear astonishingly innocent to the television-bred and somewhat cynical young seaman of the 1960's: rarely having left his hometown before going to boot camp. The World War ll sailor held opinions about the world and .its inhabitants that were sometimes startling in their naivete. His day started with reveille at 0545, and during wartime steaming he promptly slipped into his dungarees and General Quarters at 0600. Breakfast would be served after G.Q., which, according to a plan of the Day for August 2, 1942, would last two hours. Since this was a Sunday, Holiday Routine was declared, and continued uninterrupted except by working parties and unreps. Air Defense watches were a continuous part of the watch bill, and no one was free from the nagging thought that a raider, below, on or above the surface, could strike at any time. Living conditions aboard the old Ranger were cramped, to say the least. She rode poorly, and the Atlantic never let her forget it. Mess cooks slept in hammocks across the mess decks. Air conditioning did not exist, there were no phones or public radios.