- USS Antietam (CV-36)
The second "Antietam" (CV-36) was an Sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier laid down on
15 March 1943 by thePhiladelphia Navy Yard ; launched on20 August 1944 sponsored by Mrs. Millard E. Tydings, the wife of Senator Tydings ofMaryland (the state in whichAntietam is located); and commissioned on28 January 1945 , Capt. James R. Tague in command.Operations
World War II and Occupation of Japan
The aircraft carrier completed fitting out at
Philadelphia until2 March when she got underway for her shakedown cruise. The ship arrived inHampton Roads on5 March and conducted operations from Norfolk until22 March when she stood out ofChesapeake Bay bound forTrinidad in theBritish West Indies . At the conclusion of her shakedown cruise, "Antietam" returned to Philadelphia on28 April to begin post-shakedown availability. She completed repairs on19 May and departed Philadelphia that same day. After a three-day stop at Norfolk, the warship resumed her voyage to thePanama Canal in company with USS|Higbee|DD-806|2, USS|George W. Ingram|APD-43|2, and USS|Ira Jeffery|APD-44|2. She arrived at Cristóbal on31 May , transited the Panama Canal the next day, and continued her voyage up the coast toSan Diego . She stopped at San Diego from10 June to13 June before beginning the first leg of her transpacific voyage. Antietam arrived inPearl Harbor on19 June and remained in theHawaiian Islands conducting training missions until12 August . On that day, she shaped a course for the westernPacific .Three days out of
Oahu , she received word of theJapan ese capitulation and the consequent cessation of hostilities. Thus, by the time of her arrival inEniwetok Atoll on19 August , her mission changed from combat to occupation support duty. On21 August she exited the lagoon in company with USS|Cabot|CVL-28|2 and a screen of destroyers bound for Japan. En route, she suffered some internal damage which forced her into port atApra Harbor ,Guam , for inspections. The inspection party deemed the damage minimal; and the carrier remained operational, resuming her course on27 August . By that time, however, her destination had been changed to the coast of the Asian mainland. She stopped atOkinawa between30 August and1 September and arrived in Chinese waters nearShanghai the following day.The aircraft carrier remained in the Far East for a little more than three years. The
Yellow Sea constituted her primary theater of operations while her air group provided support for the Allied occupation of NorthChina ,Manchuria , andKorea . During the latter stages of that assignment, her airmen conducted surveillance missions in that area as a result of the civil war in China between communist and nationalist factions which later resulted in the expulsion ofChiang Kai-shek 's forces from mainland China and the establishment ofMao Zedong 's communistPeople's Republic of China . Throughout the period, however, she did depart the Yellow Sea on occasion for visits to Japan, thePhilippines , Okinawa, and the Marianas. Early in 1949, she concluded her mission in the Orient and headed back to theUnited States for deactivation.Korean War
Antietam remained in reserve at
Alameda, California until communist forces from the North invadedSouth Korea in the summer of 1950. She began reactivation preparations on6 December and went back into commission on17 January 1951 , Capt.George J. Dufek in command. Initially, the carrier conducted shakedown training and carrier qualifications along theCalifornia coast, first out of Alameda and—after14 May —out of San Diego. She made one voyage to Pearl Harbor and back to San Diego in July and August before departing the latter port on8 September and heading for the Far East. "Antietam" arrived in the Far East later that fall and, by late November, began the only combat deployment of her career. During that tour, she made four cruises withTask Force 77 , in the combat zone off the coast of Korea. In between fighting assignments, she returned toYokosuka , Japan. During each of those periods, her air group carried out a variety of missions in support ofUnited Nations forces combating North Korean aggression. Those missions included combat air patrol logistics interdiction-particularly against railroad and highway traffic-reconnaissance antisubmarine patrols, and night heckler missions. Between late November 1951 and mid-March 1952, "Antietam"'s air group flew nearly 6,000 sorties of all types. She returned to Yokosuka on21 March 1952 at the conclusion of her fourth cruise with TF 77 to begin preparations for her voyage back to the United States.Later years
The aircraft carrier returned home in April and rejoined the
Pacific Reserve Fleet briefly. She was reactivated later that summer and, in August, transited the Panama Canal to join theU.S. Atlantic Fleet . In September, the warship entered theNew York Naval Shipyard for major alterations. In October, she was redesignated an attack aircraft carrier, CVA-36. In December "Antietam" emerged from the yard as the world's first angled-deck aircraft carrier, excluding earlier trials with painted on angled decks. She operated out ofQuonset Point ,Rhode Island , until the beginning of 1955. During the intervening years, she participated in numerous fleet and independent ship's exercises. After August 1953, during which time she was redesignated an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) carrier, CVS-36 "Antietam" concentrated up on honing her hunter/killer skills. In January 1955, she embarked upon a voyage to the Mediterranean Sea where she served with the6th Fleet until March. Resuming duty with the Atlantic Fleet ASW forces, she operated along the eastern seaboard until the fall of 1956. In October of that year, she cruised to the waters of the eastern Atlantic forNATO ASW exercises and goodwill visits to ports in Allied countries. While the carrier was inRotterdam , the Suez crisis broke out in the eastern Mediterranean. "Antietam" cut short her visit to theNetherlands and headed for the "middle sea" to bolster the 6th Fleet during the evacuation of American citizens fromAlexandria ,Egypt . At the end of that assignment, she conducted ASW training exercises with Italian naval officers embarked before returning to Quonset Point on22 December .After resuming operations along the eastern seaboard early in 1957, "Antietam" was assigned on21 April 1957 to training duty with theNaval Air Training Station , Pensacola, Florida. Mayport however, served as her home port because ships of her draft could not then enter port at Pensacola. For almost two years the aircraft carrier operated out of Mayport training new Navy pilots and conducting tests on new aviation equipment-most noteworthy on the Bell automatic landing system during August 1958. She also participated in annual Naval Academy midshipmen cruises each summer.In January 1959, after the deepening of the channel into Pensacola had been completed, "Antietam"'s home port was changed from Mayport to Pensacola. For the remainder of her active career, the carrier operated out of Pensacola as an aviation training ship.
The deck of the "Antietam" served as the launching pad for the stratospheric balloon flight of Commander Malcolm D. Ross and Lt. Commander Victor A. Prather, both of the United States Navy, on
May 4 ,1961 . This flight set an absolute (and still unbroken) official altitude record for manned balloons of 34,668 meters (113,740 ft). The flight took place over the Gulf of Mexico. During recovery, Prather slipped from the rescue helicopter's lifting harness, fell into the ocean, and died from his injuries onboard "Antietam". Commander Ross was successfully recovered. [cite web | first = Judy | last = Rumerman | url = http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/20th_cent_records-2/LTA12.htm | title = Higher, Farther, and Longer — Record Balloon Flights in the Second Part of the Twentieth Century | publisher = U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission | year = 2003 | accessdate = 2007-10-23 ]On two occasions, she provided humanitarian services to victims of
hurricane damage. The first came in September 1961 when she rushed to theTexas coast to provide supplies and medical assistance to the victims ofHurricane Carla . The second came just over a month later when she carried medical supplies, doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel toBritish Honduras to help the victims ofHurricane Hattie . Otherwise, she spent the final four years of her naval career in routine naval aviation training duty out of Pensacola. On23 October 1962 , "Antietam" was relieved by sister-ship USS|Lexington|CVS-16|2 as aviation training ship at Pensacola and was placed in commission, in reserve, on7 January 1963 . Berthed at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she remained in reserve until May 1973 when her name was struck from the Navy List. On28 February 1974 , she was sold to the Union Minerals & Alloys Corp. for scrapping."Antietam" (CV-36) earned two battle stars for service in the Korean conflict.
See also
*
List of aircraft carriers
*List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy
*List of World War II ships References
*
External links
* [http://www.hullnumber.com/CV-36 CV-36 Personnel Roster at HullNumber.com]
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