CVA-61 USS Ranger

(CVA 61: dp. 56,300 (l.); 1. 1,046'; b. 236'; ew. 249'6"; dr. 37';

s. 34 k.; cpl. 3,826; a. 8 5"; cl. Forrestal)

The seventh Ranger( CVA 61), a Forrestal-class aircraft carrier, waslaid down 2 August 1954 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.,Newport News, Va.; launched 29 September 1956; sponsored by Mrs. ArthurRadford, wife of Admiral Radford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;and commissioned at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard 10 August 1957, Capt CharlesT. Booth II, in command.

Ranger joined the Atlantic Fleet 3 October 1957. Just prior to sailing4 October for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for shakedown, she received the menand planes of Attack Squadron 85. She conducted air operations, individualship exercises, and final acceptance trials along the eastern seaboard andin the Caribbean Sea until 20 June 1958. She then departed Norfolk, Va.,with 200 Naval Reserve officer candidates for a 2-month cruise that tookthe carrier around Cape Horn. She arrived at her new homeport, Alameda,Calif., on 20 August and joined the Pacific Fleet.

The carrier spent the remainder of 1958 in pilot qualification trainingfor Air Group 14 and fleet exercises along the California coast. Departing3 January 1959 for final training in Hawaiian waters until 17 February,she next sailed as the flagship of Rear Adm. H. H. Caldwell, ComCarDiv 2,to join the 7th Fleet. Air operations off Okinawa were followed by maneuverswith SEATO naval units out of Subie Bay. A special weapons warfare exerciseand a patrol along the southern seaboard of Japan followed. During thisfirst WestPac deployment, Ranger launched more than 7,000 sorties in supportof 7th Fleet operations. She returned to San Francisco Bay 27 July.

During the next 6 months, Ranger kept herself in a high state of readinessthrough participation in exercises and coastal fleet operations. With CarrierAir Group 9 embarked, she departed Alameda 6 February 1960 for a secondWestPac deployment and returned to Alameda 30 August. From 11 August 1961through 8 March 1962, Ranger deployed to the Far East a third time.

The next 7 months were filled with intensive training along the westernseaboard in preparation for operations in the troubled waters of SoutheastAsia. Ranger departed Alameda on 9 November for brief operations off Hawaii,thence proceeded via Okinawa to the Philippines. She steamed to the SouthChina Sea 1 May 1963 to support possible Laotian operations. When the politicalsituation in Laos relaxed 4 May, she resumed her operations schedule withthe 7th Fleet. Arriving at Alameda from the Far East 14 June 1963, she underwentoverhaul in the San Francisco Naval Shipyard 7 August 1963 through 10 February1964. Refresher training out of Alameda commenced 25 March, interruptedby an operational cruise to Hawaii from 1 q June to 10 July.

Ranger again sailed for the Far East 6 August 1964. This deployment cameon the heels of the unprovoked assault against Maddox (DD-731) on the nightof 2 August and, two nights later, against both Maddox and Turner Joy (DD-951)by North Vietnamese motor torpedo boats. In retaliation for this aggressionon the high seas by North Vietnam, President Johnson on 5 August directedthe Navy to strike bases used by the North Vietnamese naval craft. As Rangersteamed from the western seaboard, some 60 attack sorties rose from thedecks of Ticonderoga (CVA 14) and Constellation (CVA-64).

Ranger made only an 10 hour stop in Pearl Harbor 10 August then hurriedon to Subic Bay, thence to Yokosuka, Japan. In the latter port on 17 October1964, she became flagship of Rear Admiral Miller who commanded Fast CarrierTask Force 77. In the following months, she helped the 7th Fleet continueits role of steady watchfulness to keep open the sealanes for the Alliesand stop Communist infiltration by sea.

Gen. William Westmoreland, commanding the Military Advisory Command inVietnam, visited Ranger on 9 March 1965 to confer w ith Rear Admiral Miller.Ranger continued air strikes on enemy inland targets until 13 April whena fuel line broke, ignited, and engulfed her No. 1 main machinery room inflames. The fire was extinguished in little over an hour. There was onefatality. She put into Subie Bay 15 April and sailed on the 20th for Alameda,arriving home on 6 May. She entered the San Francisco Naval Shipyard 13May and remained there under overhaul until 30 September.

Following refresher training, Ranger departed Alameda on 10 December1965 to rejoin the 7th Fleet. She and her embarked Carrier Air Wing 14 receivedthe Navy Unit Commendation for exceptionally meritorious service duringcombat operations in Southeast Asia from 10 January to 6 August 1966.

Ranger departed the Gulf of Tonkin 6 August for Subic Bay, thence steamedvia Yokosuka for Alameda, arriving on the 25th. She stood out of San Franciscoflay 28 September and entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 2 days later foroverhaul. The carrier departed Puget Sound 30 May 1967 for training outof San Diego and Alameda. On 21 July 1967, she logged her 88,000th carrierlanding.

From June until November, Ranger underwent a long and intensive periodof training designed to make her fully combat ready. Attack Carrier AirWing 2 (CVW-2) embarked on 15 September 1967, with the new Corsair II jetattack plane and the UH-2C Seasprite turboprop rescue helicopter, makingRanger the first carrier to deploy with these powerful new aircraft. Fromcarrier refresher training for CVW-2, Ranger proceeded to fleet exercise"Moon Festival." From 9 to 16 October, the carrier and her airwing participated in every aspect of a major fleet combat operation.

Her efficiency honed to a fine edge, Ranger departed Alameda 4 November1967 for WestPac. Arriving Yokosuka 21 November, she relieved Constellationand sailed for the Philippines on the 24th. After arriving at Subie Bayon 29 November, she made final preparations for combat operations in theTonkin Gulf. Commander, Carrier Division 3, embarked on 30 November as Commander,TG 77.7, and Ranger departed Subic Bay on 1 December for Yankee Station.

Arriving on station 3 December 1967, Ranger commenced another periodof sustained combat operations against North Vietnam. During the next 5months, her planes hit a wide variety of targets, including ferries, bridges,airfields, and military installations. Truck parks, rail facilities, antiaircraftguns and SAM sites were also treated to doses of Air Wing 2's firepower.Bob Hope's "Christmas Show" came to Ranger in Tonkin Gulf on 21December. Another welcome break in the intense pace of operations came witha call at Yokosuka during the first week of April. Returning to Yankee Stationon 11 April, Ranger again struck objectives in North Vietnam.

After 5 months of intensive operations, Ranger called at Hong Kong 5May 1968 and then steamed for home. There followed a shipyard availabilityat Puget Sound that ended with Ranger's departure 29 July for San Francisco.Three months of leave, upkeep, and training culminated in another WestPacdeployment 26 October 1968 through 17 May 1969. She departed Alameda onyet another WestPac deployment in December 1969 and remained so employeduntil 18 May 1970 at which time she returned to Alameda, arriving 1 June.Ranger spent the rest of the summer engaged in operations off the west coast,departing for her sixth WestPac cruise 27 September. She returned to Alamedaon 7 June 1971 and remained in port for the rest of 1971 and the first 5months of 1972 undergoing regular overhaul. On 27 May 1972 she returnedto west coast operations until 16 November, when she embarked upon her seventhWestPac deployment. Ranger returned to Alameda in August 1973 and has remainedin that area through January 1974.

Ranger has earned 13 battles stars for service in Vietnam.