United States Pacific Fleet

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U.S. Pacific Fleet
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United States Pacific Fleet
The seal of the Commander of the United States Pacific Fleet
Founded1907; 117 years ago (1907)
CountryUnited States
BranchUnited States Navy
TypeTheater-level command
Size250,000 Navy sailors and Marines
2,000 aircraft
200 ships
Part ofIndo-Pacific Command
Garrison/HQNaval Station Pearl Harbor
Engagements
Websitehttps://www.cpf.navy.mil/
Commanders
Blake L. Converse
Fleet Master ChiefFLTCM James R. Tocorzic[2]

The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii, with large secondary facilities at Naval Air Station North Island, California.

Origins

A Pacific Fleet was created in 1907 when the

Battle Force as the Pacific presence. Until May 1940, the Battle Force was stationed on the West Coast of the United States. Headquarters, battleships, aircraft carriers and heavy cruisers were stationed at San Pedro close to the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Light cruisers, destroyers and submarines were stationed at San Diego
.

During the summer of 1940, as part of the U.S. response to

Asiatic Fleets
.

Composition of the Pacific Fleet in December 1941

USS Pennsylvania
USS Lexington

On 7 December, the Fleet consisted of the Battle Force,

COMSUBPAC).[note 1] Also in Hawaii was the Fourteenth Naval District, commanded by Rear Admiral Claude C. Bloch
.

§ = Divisional flagship

Battle Force, Pacific Fleet

Battleships, Battle Force

These nine battleships were intended to counterbalance the ten battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. At the time of the

Bremerton Navy Yard, Washington
.

Aircraft, Battle Force

When the attack took place, all three carriers were absent – Saratoga was in San Diego collecting her air group following a major refit, Enterprise was en route back to Hawaii following a mission to deliver aircraft to Wake Island, while Lexington had just departed on a similar mission to Midway.

Cruisers, Battle Force

Destroyers, Battle Force

  • Destroyer Flotilla One[6] (Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald)
  • Destroyer Flotilla Two (Rear Admiral Milo F. Draemel)
    • Destroyer Squadron 4
    • Destroyer Squadron 6
    • Destroyer Division 50

Scouting Force, Pacific Fleet

USS Richmond

Cruisers, Scouting Force

Submarines, Scouting Force

Aircraft, Scouting Force

Other elements of the Pacific Fleet

The Amphibious Force was formally known as Commander, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet (

Ward and Allen
, was assigned directly to the Fourteenth Naval District for the defence of the base and the fleet.

In December 1941, the fleet consisted of nine

patrol bombers.[citation needed] This was approximately the fleet's strength at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That day, the Japanese Combined Fleet carried out the attack on Pearl Harbor, drawing the United States into World War II in the Pacific. The Pacific Fleet's Battle Line
took the brunt of the attack, with two battleships destroyed, two salvageable but requiring lengthy reconstruction, and four more lightly to moderately damaged, forcing the U.S. Navy to rely primarily on aircraft carriers and submarines for many months afterward.

Subsequently, Pacific Fleet engagements during World War II included the

occurred at Pearl Harbor on 21 May 1944.

Post-1945

The Pacific Fleet took part in Operation Magic Carpet, the return of U.S. servicemen, after the end of the Second World War. The organization of the Pacific Fleet in January 1947 is shown in Hal M. Friedman's Arguing over the American Lake: Bureaucracy and Rivalry in the U.S. Pacific, 1945–1947.[9]

Since 1950 the Pacific Fleet has been involved in the

RIMPAC
exercise series began in 1971.

On 7 March 1984, the Secretaries of Transportation and Navy signed a Memorandum of Agreement which created the Maritime Defense Zones (MDZ).[10] The Pacific MDZ is an echelon three Navy command under the Commander U.S. Pacific Fleet. The Pacific MDZ has responsibility for coastal defense up to 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) around the U.S. West Coast, Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii during times of hostility. On 1 October 1990, Commander U.S. Naval Forces Alaska (COMUSNAVAK) was established as the Naval Component Commander to Commander, Alaskan Command (COMALCOM). Since its inception, COMUSNAVAK has grown to become responsible for coordinating all Navy activity in the Alaska and Aleutian area, for detailed planning and coordination for the Naval portion of the Joint and Combined Exercise Northern Edge, and coordinates high-visibility U.S. Navy ship visits throughout Alaska in support of public relations and recruiting initiatives.

The very large

Republic of Korea.[11]

Other operations undertaken since include participation in the Alaskan Oil Spill Joint Task Force, including participation of Commander, Amphibious Group Three, as deputy CJTF. This was the defence response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill of March 1989. Also, the Pacific Fleet was involved in Joint Task Force Philippines during the December 1989 coup attempt there, which involved two carrier battle groups, USS Midway and USS Enterprise-with their associated air wings operating in the Philippine Sea, chopped to JTF Philippines. During the operations, the carriers maintained deck alerts and 24-hour coverage of Manila with E-2C aircraft.[12]

Around 10 September 1990,[13] USS Princeton and USS Reuben James visited Vladivostok. This marked the first United States Navy visit to the Soviet Union's Pacific port of Vladivostok since before World War II. Before the visit was completed, the crew received word that their Pacific cruise was canceled. They returned to Long Beach and joined the USS Ranger Battle Group preparing to deploy to the Persian Gulf.

During

USS Cape Cod
. (CNA, 1994, 113) Further operations included JTF Marianas (August–September 1992) and JTF Hawaii (September–October 1992).

Other contingency operation after 1991 included

Carrier Group One embarked on USS Ranger as Commander, Naval Forces), the Kitty Hawk battle group, an amphibious task unit including USS Tripoli, USS Juneau, USS Rushmore, and MV Lummus, and three ships from MPSRON TWO (MV Anderson, MV Bonnyman, and MV Phillips). Other events led to the departure of the carriers and, as a result, Commander, Naval Forces responsibilities devolved first to Commander, Carrier Group Three, on Kitty Hawk, and thence to Commander, Amphibious Group Three. Finally Commander, Amphibious Squadron 3
became COMNAVFOR on 15 January with the departure of COMPHIGRU THREE after the completion of the MPF offload. (CNA, 1994, 168)

In 1995 Pacific Fleet surface ships were reshuffled.[14] Effective 1 October 1995, the U.S. Pacific Fleet's surface ships were to be reorganized into six core battle groups and eight destroyer squadrons. Permanent core battle groups were to include a battle group commander, aircraft carrier, carrier air wing and at least two cruisers.

Commander, Naval Surface Forces Pacific
:

In 1996 two carrier battle groups were sent to the Taiwan area during the

in 1999.

Between 25 and 27 March 2006,

As of 2011, the Pacific Fleet has authority over:

Naval shore commands over which USPACFLT has authority:

Commanders

See also

Notes

  1. Wilhelm L. Friedell that fall.[4]
  2. ^ The Fourteenth Naval District was an administrative organization responsible for communications and shore activities; its commander reported directly to the Navy Department rather than the commander of the Pacific Fleet.
  3. formation
    , but the organization is often known as COMNAVSURFPAC. Its headquarters are on the West Coast of the United States.

References

  1. ^ "Leaders — U.S. Pacific Fleet". Cpf.navy.mil. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Fleet Master Chief James "Smitty "Tocorzic"". Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  3. ^ Orbat.com/Niehorster, Administrative Order of Battle 7 December 1941
  4. .
  5. ^ Cruisers, Battle Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, 7.12.1941
  6. ^ Destroyers, Battle Force Destroyer Flotilla 1
  7. ^ Orbat.com/Niehorster, Amphibious Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet
  8. ^ Blair, pp.877–8.
  9. , 105–108.
  10. , p. 104.
  11. ^ See Missouri Command History
  12. Center for Naval Analysis, Joint Task Force Operations since 1983
    , CRM94-42, July 1994
  13. ^ "Still Asset Details for DNSC9102252". DefenseLink. Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2007.
  14. ^ Kitsap Sun, Pacific Fleet Changes, July 25, 1995
  15. ^ "USS Abraham Lincoln II (CVN-72)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  16. ^ Photographer's Mate Airman Tim Roache and Journalist 2nd Class Michael Cook (17 March 2006). "Lincoln Carrier Strike Group Conducts Undersea Warfare Training". NNS060317-06. USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 13 September 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links