Ranger and the Family
The year is 1972, and Ranger has completed her comprehensive overhaul at the Hunters Point shipyard in California. She went from a weary veteran, to a disheveled industrial site, to a floating city prepared to resume service wherever her country needs her.
In recognition of the incalculable support the crew receives from our families, we embark wives, children and others for a Dependent’s Day cruise. The mere anticipation has kept my son up most of the night, and I am anxious to show off where Daddy works. My wife is finally going to get a look at the ship the way she is supposed to be. She has been aboard during the yard period, but there was a lot of noise and dirt and seemingly endless stream of civilians and sailors mixed in.
We sailed out of Alameda, under the Golden Gate Bridge and into the Pacific with more than 5,000 guests aboard.
Various departments aboard hosted meals, movies, demonstrations and we even had an air show for our honored guests.
Dependents Day
It was a bittersweet day for most of us, because it meant we were back as Top Gun of the Pacific, and were ready to deploy. We felt the satisfaction of a job well done; knowledge that we would too soon be separated for an extended period.
November 16th, 1972 we will depart for the Western Pacific, or WESTPAC – But today we are the Ranger Family!
Under the Golden Gate
· Imagine the spectacle of hosting the Rose Festival from the flight deck!
· Imagine a sit down dinner for 2500 of your closest friends in the enclosed hangar deck.
· Imagine the thrill of exploring this magnificent vessel.
This ship was built in the 1950’s and served until the 1990’s. No ships of this generation are currently open to the public. Ranger was fueled by oil. Later ships of this type are nuclear powered, and will never be available for donation.
Please feel free to explore this web site, and consider how you may help. We need your support. Bringing this ship to Portland and turning Ranger into the world’s largest floating museum is no small undertaking. Like everything else worth doing, it requires effort and sacrifice.
Please take a moment to write a letter of support, make a donation and visit the Ship’s Store.
Larry Schmuhl DS2 OZ Division USS Ranger ’71-‘74
Program Manager, USS Ranger Foundation
Ranger is patiently awaiting her call to serve yet again. Though she will never roam the seas under her own power again, her flight deck is still able to host large numbers of visitors and honorary Ranger Crew.
