Last month, International
Shipbreaking of Brownsville, Texas gave a group of Navy veterans a collection
of historic equipment from the decommissioned carrier USS Ranger. 24 years ago,
six sailors died in a fire in USS Ranger’s Main Machinery Room 4 (MMR4), and
the USS Ranger Association will use donated parts from this compartment to set
up a museum exhibit in their honor.
On November 1, 1983, a fire
broke out in MMR4 during a fuel transfer operation as the Ranger was under way
in the Arabian Sea. Fuel spilled from an open valve and burst into flames, and
six men died and 35 were injured in the blaze that followed. Two enlisted
personnel were charged in connection with the accident, and the Ranger's
commanding officer, former commanding officer, former executive officer and
former chief engineer were all reprimanded.
The 1957-built vessel was
decommissioned in 1993 after a long and storied career. She participated in
numerous military actions, from sustained combat operations in the Vietnam War
to high-tempo sorties during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Southern
Watch. After she was retired from service, she was laid up in Bremerton until
2015, when International Shipbreaking arranged to tow her down the Pacific
coast, through the Straits of Magellan and up through the Atlantic and the Gulf
of Mexico to Brownsville, Texas.
The USS Ranger Association
contacted International Shipbreaking in January 2016 and asked that the gauges,
windows and controls from Main Machinery Room 4 be preserved for a museum
exhibit. The yard agreed to donate these items in honor of the six sailors who
gave their lives for their country.
International has also
recycled the carriers USS Iwo Jima, USS Constellation and USS Independence,
which arrived at her final port of call in May. As a service to veterans who
served aboard Independence, the firm put a selection of items from the ship up
for sale, from signs to gauges to pieces of her armor plate.
USS Ranger (CV-61) General
Characteristics
Keel Laid: August 2, 1954
Launched: September 29, 1956
Commissioned: August 10,
1957
Decommissioned: July 10,
1993
Builder: Newport News
Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Va.
Propulsion system: Eight
boilers
Rudders: Two
Propellers: Four
Blades on each Propeller:
Five
Aircraft elevators: Four
Catapults: Four
Arresting gear cables: Four
Length, overall: 1,063 feet
(324 meters)
Flight Deck Width: 250.3
feet (76.3 meters)
Beam: 129 feet (39.3 meters)
Draft: 37.7 feet (11.3
meters)
Displacement: approx. 78,200
tons full load
Speed: 30+ knots
Planes: approx. 85
Crew: Ship: approx.
2,700 Air Wing: 2,480
Armament: Three Mk 29 NATO
Sea Sparrow launchers, three 20mm Phalanx CIWS Mk 15
Source:
maritime-executive.
10 November 2017
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