Uss Ranger cva 61

• First of Her Kind: USS Ranger (CVA-61) was the first aircraft carrier built from the keel up as an angled-deck carrier, rather than being converted from a straight-deck design. • Commissioned During the Cold War: She was commissioned on August 10, 1957, at a time when the United States and Soviet Union were in the early years of the Cold War naval competition. • Vietnam War Service: Ranger made multiple deployments to the Gulf of Tonkin, launching thousands of sorties in support of U.S. operations during the Vietnam War. • Hollywood Star: USS Ranger appeared in several movies, most notably in "Top Gun" (1986), "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986), and "Flight of the Intruder" (1991). • Operation Desert Storm: The carrier participated in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, launching air strikes against Iraqi forces and providing air cover for coalition operations. • First Female Naval Aviator Carrier Landing: In 1982, Lt. Cmdr. Barbara Allen Rainey became the first female naval aviator to land on a carrier when she landed on the Ranger. • Collision Incident: In February 1979, Ranger was involved in a collision with the Liberian tanker MV Fortune, sustaining damage but managing to avoid a major disaster. • Presidential Visit: President Richard Nixon visited the USS Ranger in 1969, boosting morale and highlighting its importance during the Vietnam War. • Longest Serving Forrestal-Class Carrier: Out of the four Forrestal-class carriers, Ranger had the longest continuous service, serving for almost 37 years before decommissioning. • Decommissioning and Fate: USS Ranger was decommissioned on July 10, 1993, and despite preservation efforts, was eventually scrapped in 2017 in Brownsville, Texas.