USS Ranger - Definition and Overview

Eight ships of the United States Navy have borne the name Ranger.

• The first Ranger was an 18-gun ship sloop built in 1777 and commanded by John Paul Jones. It was the first US ship to be saluted and the first US ship to defeat a British Royal Navy ship, HMS Blake, during the American Revolutionary War. However she was captured by the British in 1780 and renamed HMS Halifax.
• The second Ranger was a schooner mounting a single 18-pounder gun, purchased in 1814 and sold in 1816.
• The third Ranger was a 14-gun brig also purchased in 1814 for operations on Lake Ontario, and sold in 1821.
• The fourth Ranger was an iron vessel mounting four guns, commissioned in 1876, converted to a nautical school ship in 1908, and broken up in 1940.
• The fifth Ranger was a steel yacht commissioned in 1917 and stricken 1918, subsequently serving in the Coast Guard.
• The sixth Ranger was a minesweeper built in 1882 and commissioned 11 September 1918, and used in coastal defense until returned to her owner 10 January 1919.
• The seventh Ranger (CV-4) was the first Navy ship originally designed to be an aircraft carrier, operating in the Atlantic during World War II.
• The eighth Ranger (CVA-61) was also an aircraft carrier, the largest in the world when launched in 1957, decommissioned 1993 and presently mothballed, although some groups have expressed interest in making her into a museum ship.

Additionally, Ranger (CC-4) was laid down in 1921, but canceled and scrapped prior to completion.