431.Photograph. 'File No: ES-163-201246 February 20, 1944 Saga of the Ranger First vessel of the U. S. Navy to be designed and constructed as an aircraft carrier, the veteran USS Ranger has behind her a long and outstanding record of achievements. Perhaps the most colorful of her many blows against the Axis was her strike against the German shipping off the coast of Norway in October, 1943, when her planes sank (word blacked out not legible) 40,000 tons of shipping, including four merchant vessels, a tanker and an oil barge. The Ranger also played a dramatic role in the invasion of North Africa, when a three day series of raids by her planes was of m,ajor importance in the smashing of enemy resistance. In addition the flat-top has ferried hundreds of Army fighter planes across the sub-infested Atlantic. Named after the flagship of Commodore John Paul Jones, the first 'true flat-to' has and will continue to give her utmost efforts to emphasize the vital importance of carriers in th blueprint for victory. Enemy Ship Heads for Bottom --- Quivering and smoking from mortal wounds administered by planes of the USS Ranger, this Nazi merchantman lies dead in the water. . . waiting for the 'coup de grace' which sent it below during the Ranger's October, 1943, raid off Bode, Norway. (word blacked out not legible) 40,000 tons of shipping was sunk.' 10 February 1944