The Day The USS Ranger Burned
11 min readApr 23, 2022
“This is the most boring f**king watch I’ve ever stood.” These words came from MM2 White, the ‘topwatch’, the senior watchstander in #2 Main Machinery Room (2MMR, or “2 Main” for short) on the USS Ranger (CV-61). He was seated and leaned forward, resting his head on crossed arms on the desk in 2 Main’s Console Booth from where he could monitor the status of the 1200-PSI superheated steam propulsion plant and the turbine that provided…
