USS Antietam (CV/CVA/CVS-36) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during and shortly after World War II for the United States Navy.

However, she received no major modernizations other than this, and thus throughout her career largely retained the classic appearance of a World War II Essex-class ship.

After a three-day stop at Norfolk, the warship resumed her voyage to the Panama Canal in company with Higbee, George W. Ingram, and Ira Jeffery.

Antietam arrived in Pearl Harbor on 19 June and remained in the Hawaiian Islands conducting training missions until 12 August.

[citation needed] Three days out of Oahu, she received word of the Japanese capitulation and the consequent cessation of hostilities.

Thus, by the time of her arrival in Eniwetok Atoll on 19 August, her mission changed from combat to occupation support duty.

The Yellow Sea constituted her primary theater of operations while her air group provided support for the Allied occupation of North China, Manchuria, and Korea.

She made one voyage to Pearl Harbor and back to San Diego in July and August before departing the latter port on 8 September and heading for the Far East.

During each of those periods, her air group carried out a variety of missions in support of United Nations forces combating North Korean aggression.

She returned to Yokosuka on 21 March 1952 at the conclusion of her fourth cruise with TF 77 to begin preparations for her voyage back to the United States.

Two days of flight operation took place with all sorts of Royal Navy aircraft making touch and gos.

[citation needed] After August 1953, during which time she was redesignated an Anti-submarine warfare carrier (ASW), CVS-36 Antietam concentrated up on honing her hunter/killer skills.

In October of that year, she cruised to the waters of the eastern Atlantic for NATO ASW exercises and goodwill visits to ports in Allied countries.

Antietam cut short her visit to the Netherlands and headed for the Mediterranean to bolster the 6th Fleet during the evacuation of American citizens from Alexandria, Egypt.

At the end of that assignment, she conducted ASW training exercises with Italian naval officers embarked before returning to Quonset Point on 22 December.

[citation needed] After resuming operations along the eastern seaboard early in 1957, Antietam was assigned on 21 April 1957 to training duty with the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.

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.

During recovery, Prather slipped from the rescue helicopter's lifting harness and fell into the ocean; he died from his injuries onboard Antietam.