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A BatDiv or BATDIV was a standard U.S. Navy abbreviation or acronym for "battleship division." The Commander of a Battleship Division was known, in official Navy communications, as COMBATDIV (followed by a number), such as COMBATDIV ONE.
BatDivs existed from at least 1913, when there were four Battleship Divisions in the US Atlantic Fleet.
By April 1917, with the American entry into World War I, there were at least nine Battleship Divisions, as BatDiv 9 was dispatched to operate with the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet. [1]
Before the Second World War, the U.S. Navy battleship force was organized into five Battleship Divisions of three battleships each. Only two of these BATDIVs were composed of three battleships of the same class, but mixing battleships of separate two-ship classes to form three-ship BATDIVs was facilitated by the "Standard type battleship" concept of the US Navy, a design concept developed before 1922 calling for uniform top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h) and a tight tactical radius of 700 yards (640 m) for all battleships of the Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Tennessee and Colorado classes.
Stationed at Pearl Harbor as part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were three battleship divisions; BatDiv 1, 2 and 4. These nine battleships were intended to counterbalance the ten capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. At the time of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Pennsylvania was in dry dock and Colorado was being refitted at Bremerton Navy Yard, Washington. Arizona was mated with Nevada and Oklahoma at that time.
The U.S. Atlantic Fleet contained BatDiv 3 and 5. BatDiv3 had been part of the Pacific Fleet until 20 May 1941 when its three ships were transferred to the Atlantic Fleet for Neutrality Patrol duty. BatDiv 5 was a training division consisting of three older battleships. An additional BATDIV (BatDiv 6) was attached to the Atlantic Fleet during 1941; this consisted of the new battleships North Carolina and Washington, both of which were in the process of undergoing post-commissioning work up.
After the Pearl Harbor attack, the BATDIV was replaced by the Task Group (TG) as the operational wartime unit. [2] However, the BATDIV remained the administrative unit for purposes of personnel, training, maintenance and the like. Moreover, a Battleship Division could function in the operational chain of command, for example at the Battle of Surigao Strait, where BATDIV FOUR (Maryland, Mississippi and West Virginia) and BATDIV TWO (Pennsylvania, Tennessee and California) operated as units under BATFOR (Battleship Force) SEVENTH FLEET; Commander, Battle Force (COMBATFOR) Rear Admiral Oldendorf, was overall commander of the Surigao force (Task Group 77.2).
Battleship Division 1 was active in the Pacific at least until 1946, according to U.S. Navy records with the National Archives and Records Administration. [3] On June 7, 1954, under the direction of Battleship Division 2, Norfolk, Virginia, the four battleships of the Iowaclass operated together for the only time under the flag of RAdm George R. Cooper. [4]
On January 15, 1957, Wisconsin reported to Commander Fleet Training Group, Guantanano Bay, Cuba and Rear Admiral Henry Crommelin, Commander Battleship Division Two broke his flag in Wisconsin. On May 27, 1957 Rear Admiral Lewis S. Parks relieved Rear Admiral Crommelin as Commander Battleship Division Two.
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 Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, with large secondary facilities at North Island, San Diego Bay on the Mainland.
USS Arizona (BB-39) was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class of "super-dreadnought" battleships built for the United States Navy in the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48th state's recent admission into the union and commissioned in 1916, the ship remained stateside during World War I. Shortly after the end of the war, Arizona was one of a number of American ships that briefly escorted President Woodrow Wilson to the Paris Peace Conference. The ship was sent to Turkey in 1919 at the beginning of the Greco-Turkish War to represent American interests for several months. Several years later, she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet and remained there for the rest of her career.
USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) was the lead ship of the Pennsylvania class of super-dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1910s. The Pennsylvanias were part of the standard-type battleship series, and marked an incremental improvement over the preceding Nevada class, carrying an extra pair of 14-inch (356 mm) guns for a total of twelve guns. Named for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, she was laid down at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in October 1913, was launched in March 1915, and was commissioned in June 1916. Equipped with an oil-burning propulsion system, Pennsylvania was not sent to European waters during World War I, since the necessary fuel oil was not as readily available as coal. Instead, she remained in American waters and took part in training exercises; in 1918, she escorted President Woodrow Wilson to France to take part in peace negotiations.
USS Utah (BB-31/AG-16) was the second and final member of the Florida class of dreadnought battleships. The first ship of the United States Navy named after the state of Utah, she had one sister ship, Florida. Utah was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, laid down in March 1909 and launched in December of that year. She was completed in August 1911, and was armed with a main battery of ten 12-inch (305 mm) guns in five twin gun turrets.
USS California (BB-44) was the second of two Tennessee-class battleships built for the United States Navy between her keel laying in October 1916 and her commissioning in August 1921. The Tennessee class was part of the standard series of twelve battleships built in the 1910s and 1920s, and were developments of the preceding New Mexico class. They were armed with a battery of twelve 14-inch (356 mm) guns in four three-gun turrets. California served as the flagship of the Battle Fleet in the Pacific Ocean for duration of her peacetime career. She spent the 1920s and 1930s participating in routine fleet training exercises, including the annual Fleet Problems, and cruises around the Americas and further abroad, such as a goodwill visit to Australia and New Zealand in 1925.
USS Tennessee (BB-43) was the lead ship of the Tennessee class of dreadnought battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1910s. The Tennessee class was part of the standard series of twelve battleships built in the 1910s and 1920s, and were developments of the preceding New Mexico class. They were armed with a battery of twelve 14-inch (356 mm) guns in four three-gun turrets. Tennessee served in the Pacific Fleet for duration of her peacetime career. She spent the 1920s and 1930s participating in routine fleet training exercises, including the annual Fleet Problems, and cruises around the Americas and further abroad, such as a goodwill visit to Australia and New Zealand in 1925.
USS Maryland (BB-46), also known as "Old Mary" or "Fighting Mary" to her crewmates, was a Colorado-class battleship. She was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the seventh state. She was commissioned in 1921, and serving as the flagship of the fleet, cruised to Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil.
USS West Virginia (BB-48) was the fourth dreadnought battleship of the Colorado class, though because Washington was cancelled, she was the third and final member of the class to be completed. The Colorado class proved to be the culmination of the standard-type battleship series built for the United States Navy in the 1910s and 1920s; the ships were essentially repeats of the earlier Tennessee design, but with a significantly more powerful main battery of eight 16-inch (406 mm) guns in twin-gun turrets. West Virginia was built between her keel laying in 1920 and her commissioning into the Navy in 1923. The ship spent the 1920s and 1930s conducting routine training exercises, including the typically-annual Fleet Problems, which provided invaluable experience for the coming war in the Pacific.
The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFF) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) under the authority of the Secretary of Defense. Originally formed as United States Atlantic Fleet (USLANTFLT) in 1906, it has been an integral part of the defense of the United States of America since the early 20th century. In 2002, the Fleet comprised over 118,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel serving on 186 ships and in 1,300 aircraft, with an area of responsibility ranging over most of the Atlantic Ocean from the North Pole to the South Pole, the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the waters of the Pacific Ocean along the coasts of Central and South America.
Jesse Barrett "Oley" Oldendorf was an admiral in the United States Navy, famous for defeating a Japanese force in the Battle of Leyte Gulf during World War II. He also served as commander of the American naval forces during the early phase of the Battle of the Caribbean. In early 1942, a secret group of senior Navy officers empaneled by President Franklin D. Roosevelt assessed him as one of the 40 most competent of the 120 flag officers in the Navy.
Isaac Campbell Kidd was an American Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. He was the father of Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, Jr. Kidd was killed on the bridge of USS Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The highest ranking casualty at Pearl Harbor, he became the first U.S. Navy flag officer killed in action in World War II as well as the first killed in action against any foreign enemy.
USS Crommelin (FFG-37), twenty-eighth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class of guided-missile frigates, was named for five brothers: Rear Admiral John G. Crommelin (1902–1996), Vice Admiral Henry Crommelin (1904–1971), Commander Charles L. Crommelin (1909–1945), Lieutenant Commander Richard Crommelin (1917–1945), and Captain Quentin C. Crommelin (1919–1997). The Crommelin brothers were the only group of five siblings ever to graduate from the United States Naval Academy. Four of them became pilots, and Time magazine dubbed them "The Indestructibles." The brothers saw action in more than ten campaigns in the Pacific Theater. Henry, the second-oldest, became a Surface Warfare Officer while Richard and Charles died in combat as naval aviators in 1945. Individually and as a fighting family, they gained fame in World War II, attaining outstanding combat records and multiple decorations. Crommelin (FFG-37) is the first ship of that name in the United States Navy.
Vice Admiral William Satterlee Pye was a U.S. Navy officer who served during World War I and World War II, but never saw combat action. His last active-duty appointment was as President of the Naval War College, in 1942–1946. His awards included the Navy Cross for his distinguished service as a staff officer during World War I.
James Otto Richardson was an admiral in the United States Navy who served from 1902 to 1947.
Thomas Cassin Kinkaid was an admiral in the United States Navy, known for his service during World War II. He built a reputation as a "fighting admiral" in the aircraft carrier battles of 1942 and commanded the Allied forces in the Aleutian Islands Campaign. He was Commander Allied Naval Forces and the Seventh Fleet under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur in the Southwest Pacific Area, where he conducted numerous amphibious operations, and commanded an Allied fleet during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle of World War II and the last naval battle between battleships in history.
The United States Battle Fleet or Battle Force was part of the organization of the United States Navy from 1922 to 1941.
The Standard-type battleship was a series of twelve battleships across five classes ordered for the United States Navy between 1911 and 1916 and commissioned between 1916 and 1923. These were considered super-dreadnoughts, with the ships of the final two classes incorporating many lessons from the Battle of Jutland.
Commander, Strike Force Training Pacific, abbreviated as CSFTP or COMSTRKFORTRAPAC, was the U.S. Fleet Forces Command formation charged with training and certifying Pacific Fleet Carrier Strike Groups, Amphibious Ready Groups, and independently deploying surface ships.
Rear Admiral Herbert James Ray was an officer in the United States Navy who served in World War I and World War II. A 1914 graduate of the Naval Academy, he served on the submarines USS H-2 and N-3 during World War I. In March 1942, as Chief of Staff and Aide to the Commandant of the Sixteenth Naval District, Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, he participated in General Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines. In Australia, he served with MacArthur's General Headquarters, Southwest Pacific Area staff. In September 1943, he became Captain of the battleship USS Maryland, which he commanded in the Battle of Tarawa, Battle of Kwajalein, Battle of Saipan and the Battle of Peleliu. In October 1944, he participated in the Battle of Surigao Strait, in which Maryland joined the other battleships in engaging the Japanese battleships Fusō and Yamashiro and their escorts. Ray left Maryland in December 1944, and was promoted to Commodore and appointed deputy director of the Naval Division of the US Control Group Council for Germany. After VE Day, he became the Junior United States Member of the Tripartite Naval Commission in Berlin. He retired from the Navy on 30 June 1949, and received a tombstone promotion to rear admiral due to his combat decorations.
William Rea Furlong was United States Navy Rear admiral during World War II, who served as the Chief of Naval Ordnance from 1937 to 1941. After Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, Furlong was tasked with the salvaging and repairing of the sunken U.S. ships.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .