Ranger III Virtual Tour

Starboard side of motor vessel Ranger III; a light blue and white ship on a lake with wooden island in background

Starboard side of Ranger III en route to Isle Royale National Park. View looking west from Lily Pond Boat Launch. HDP / HAER / Justin R. Scalera (July 2021)

M/V Ranger III serves a vital role in the operations of Isle Royale National Park. It transports visitors and staff, as well as all the necessary material, equipment, and goods needed to sustain park operations on the island.The vessel is the largest piece of moving equipment in the National Park Service. It was designed and built in 1957-60 as part of the National Park Service's Mission 66 program. Ranger III remains remarkably intact with a high degree of integrity, evidenced in the retention of much of the original layout and design by naval architect R.A. Stearn, the original finishes and furnishings by noted interior designer H. Clifford Burroughes, and even original equipment like the controllable-pitch propellers.

Project Information

Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) undertook Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation of M/V Ranger III in 2021-22. The project was sponsored by Isle Royale National Park. The recording team included Todd A. Croteau (HAER Project Manager) and Paul Davidson (HDP Architect) who did the laser scanning. Jason W. McNatt (HDP Visual Information Specialist) completed the measured drawings and pano-photo tour. Jarob J. Ortiz and Justin R. Scalera (HDP Photographers) produced the large-format photographs. Justine Christianson (HAER Historian) wrote the historical report. Paul Davidson created the point cloud animation.

Update: As of May 2025, the virtual tour is no longer supported on nps.gov. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Screen capture of Ranger III point cloud created from laser scan data

Animation

Animated video of 3D point cloud data

Engineering drawing of Ranger III lines and offsets

HAER Documentation

Archival documentation at the Library of Congress

The chief engineer sits in the ship's bridge and steers the ship through Rock Harbor

Virtual Tour

Panoramic tour of Ranger III

Where this belongs

Isle Royale National Park

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