USS Antietam (CV-36)

The second Antietam (CV-36) was laid down on 15 March 1943 at Philadelphia, Pa., by the Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched on 20 August 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Millard E. Tydings, the wife of Senator Tydings of Maryland; and commissioned on 28 January 1945, Capt. James R. Tague in command.

The aircraft carrier completed fitting out at Philadelphia until 2 March 1945 when she got underway for her shakedown cruise. The ship arrived in Hampton Roads on the 5th and conducted operations from Norfolk until 22 March when she stood out of Chesapeake Bay bound for Trinidad in the British West Indies. At the conclusion of her shakedown cruise, Antietam returned to Philadelphia on 28 April to begin post-shakedown availability. She completed repairs on 19 May and departed Philadelphia that same day. After a three-day stop at Norfolk, the warship resumed her voyage to the Panama Canal in company with the destroyer Higbee (DD-806), and the high speed transports George W. Ingram (APD-43), and Ira Jeffery (APD-44). She arrived at Cristobal on 31 May, transited the canal the next day, and continued her voyage up the coast to San Diego. She stopped at San Diego from 10 to 13 June before beginning the first leg of her transpacific voyage. Antietam arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 19th and remained In the Hawaiian Islands conducting training missions until 12 August. On that day, she shaped a course for the western Pacific.

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 the 19th, her mission changed from combat to occupation support duty. On the 21st, she exited the lagoon in company with the small aircraft carrier Cabot (CVL-28) and a screen of destroyers bound for Japan. En route, she suffered some internal damage which forced her into port at Apra Harbor, Guam, for inspections. The inspection party deemed the damage minimal; and the carrier remained operational, resuming her course on the 27th. By that time, however, her destination had been changed to the coast of the Asian mainland. She stopped at Okinawa between 30 August and 1 September and arrived in Chinese waters near Shanghai the following day.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Antietam II (CV-36)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.