The last official flight from a Royal Navy carrier deck by a Swordfish was from HMS OCEAN on October 15th 1945. Not long afterwards, OCEAN claimed the first carrier landing of a true jet aircraft when, on 3 ^rd December 1945, at 11.28, Lieutenant Commander Eric Melrose (Winkle) Brown landed a Vampire jet aircraft on the flight deck. Four landings and take-offs were made that day, followed by a further eight on December 6 ^th . Although the US Navy claimed the record in June 1944, when a Ryan XFR I piston jet Fireball landed on the USS WAKE ISLAND, this was not a true jet aircraft.

Serving in the Mediterranean between 1946 and 1948 (with occasional visits to the UK), she experienced a mixture of peace-time fleet work and tension. Rioting in Alexandria called for her to provide support to the British forces ashore. She also claims to have been the first warship to embark servicewomen when, en-route to the for refit, 6 WRNS officers and 1VAD nurse took passage from Gibraltar to the UK. She was involved in the attempts to prevent refugees illegally entering what was then Palestine, and also in the final days of the British rule and the creation of the state of Israel. In October 1946 she was involved in what became known as the Corfu incident, when H M Ships SAUMAREZ and VOLAGE were mined in the Corfu channel. Parties from HMS OCEAN were transferred to assist in fighting fires and her medical teams worked at full stretch. The number of casualties was so great that the sick-bay was overwhelmed and the quarterdeck became and emergency sick bay. She returned to the area in November to lead the sweep of the minefields.

When the Korean War started OCEAN ferried troops and their equipment to the Far East. During 1952 she patrolled off the coast of Korea, and her aircraft carried out numerous missions ranging from strafing to bombing. It was a Sea Fury from OCEAN (piloted by "Hoagy" Carmichael) that is credited with being the first piston-enginedaircraft to shoot down a jet aircraft. The ship also began operating with Rocket Assisted Take Offs (RATOG) – another operational first for the RN. In January 1953 the ship was awarded the Boyd trophy for services in Korea

After a short period in the Mediterranean fleet, OCEAN sailed for the war area once more on April 16th 1953. Based in Kure, she continued to work hard and her ship's company earned a number of honours. On December 17th 1953 HMS OCEAN arrived in Plymouth Sound - home at last after 2 ½ years service in foreign waters; during which the ship had travelled a total of 131,650 miles. Among other statistics - £56,000 had been paid to officers and men, £17,000 of withdrawals had been repaid to 2,200 intrepid "rabbit hunters" and 90,000,000 Japanese Yen and other currencies were exchanged during the tours to the Far East. 90,000 yard of electric cable, 78 arrester hooks for aircraft, 5,000 aircraft propeller washers and 100 sets of aircraft drop tanks had been issued; together with the mundane day to day requirements of 1,709,125 lbs of potatoes, 200,000 lbs of beef, 46,000 lbs of sausages, 18,000 tins of fruit - and a rum ration of 80,000 pints in 520 barrels.

In 1955 HMS OCEAN was refitted to serve as a training ship with the Home Fleet Training Squadron based at Portland . She effectively became a floating, mobile barracks with part of the hangar converted to accommodation. The ship cruised home and European waters giving National Service officers and ratings some experience of life at sea. In 1956 the role was again to change. After exercises off the coast of Spain she returned to Devonport for a further refit and then undertook a trooping role, transporting soldiers of the Royal Artillery and their equipment to Famagusta and carrying me of 40 Cdo RM to Malta during her return to the UK. Later that year she embarked the Joint Experimental Helicopter Unit (a title which was later changed to Joint Helicopter Unit when it was realised that the word experimental did not instil confidence in the troops) and carried out exercises off Southsea which involved landing Royal Marines by helicopter. The process became known as Vertical Envelopment, and in November 1956 HMS OCEAN and her sister ship HMS THESEUS laid joint claim to being the first ships to use vertical envelopment from the sea in earnest, when they landed Royal Marines at Port Said during the Suez landings. From  November 8th to the end of the month OCEAN ferried men and transport from Port Said to Malta and Cyprus.  During this period she recorded the last landing aboard of a fixed wing aircraft when an Army Auster touched down. She sailed for the UK on December 1st with 600 men of 42 Commando, 200 Artillery troops and 5 Sycamore aircraft from JEHU.

After leave and replenishment HMS OCEAN was back on duty in her training role. After a short spell in dry dock the ship she took part in exercises with the home fleet which ended in a rendezvous with the Royal Yacht Britannia. On the same evening, moored at nvergordon, the ship hosted a dinner, given by the officers of the Home Fleet. The Royal Party were welcomed on board by OCEAN's Commanding Officer Captain Beloe, who escorted Her Majesty to B Hangar, decorated for the occasion with false bulkheads. These were created using frames and fabric behind which waiters could move around whilst serving the meal. The after lift well was flooded and a footbridge erected over it - rumour had it that swans were placed on this artificial lake. 

She returned to Devonport for the last time on December 5 ^th , flying a very long paying off pennant with a hydrogen balloon on the end. As the ship acknowledged the Commander in Chief, the pennant was caught by an eddy and was stuck straight up in the air - a salute or a defiant gesture?

In early January 1958 the ship was accepted for extended reserve and in March put up for disposal. In March 1960 it was reported that HMS OCEAN had been sold to Mr H. Pratt of Lambert and Bendall Ltd, ship brokers. It was understood that the intention was to convert the carrier to a fish factory and trawler mother ship. The deal fell through and after a short spell in Devonport dockyard HMS OCEAN was moved to Inverkeithing and then to Faslane on May 6th 1962 where between May and August she was finally broken up.

The ship had twelve years of varied and admirable service in the British Royal Navy. From her last combined action with HMS THESEUS at Suez in November 1956 emerged a new and exciting concept for British Naval Air Power - the helicopter carrier.