Ranger

Armor Model

Overview

USS Ranger became the first American ship designed and built as an aircraft carrier. In 1926, a technical specification was formulated for an aircraft carrier with a flush deck and a range of 10,000 miles, with displacement not exceeding 18,000 tons. The aircraft carrier was built at the shipyards in Newport News, Virginia. In terms of the number of aircraft in its air group, the Ranger was only slightly inferior to larger predecessor carriers. However, cramped conditions, overcrowding, and poor seaworthiness made the Ranger not very suitable for use as a full combat unit, so before the start of World War II, the ship was mainly used for training. For most of World War II, the Ranger served in the Atlantic, escorting Arctic convoys from America to Iceland and transporting army units for the landings in Africa. From 1944, the carrier served as a training center.