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This is a List of task forces of the Royal Navy. A task force can be described as a temporary grouping of naval units under one commander, formed for the purpose of carrying out a specific operation or mission [1] they vary in size but usually comprise two or more task groups.
Grouping combatant ships is as old as navies. Assemblies of warships was have been given the name fleets, divisions, or on the smaller scale, squadrons, and flotillas.
The term "task force" was popularized by the United States Navy in the course of the Second World War. [2] A task force can be assembled using ships from different units and formations, without requiring a formal and permanent fleet reorganization. It can be easily dissolved following completion of the operational task they can be formed by a sole navy or as part of a combined operation involving naval forces from more than one country. A Joint Task Force groups elements from more than one armed service.
Earlier in the Second World War, the British Royal Navy had already devised its own system of Forces, they mainly assigned a letter occasionally a number.
Originally stationed at Malta took part in the Battle of Calabria [4] in 1940 it transferred Trincomalee and became the fast force of the Eastern Fleet during the Indian Ocean raid April to May 1942.
Originally stationed at Malta, took part in the Battle of Calabria on 9 July 1940, took part in the Battle of Cape Spartivento, 27 November 1940, was involved in the First Battle of Sirte, 17 December 1941 it then moved to Trincomalee in March 1942 and became the slow force, made up of R-class battleships, of the Eastern Fleet during the Indian Ocean raid April to May 1942.
Formed during the Battle of Calabria.
Stationed at Malta, took part in the Battle of Cape Spartivento, 27 November 1940.
Formed as part of a number of hunting task for groups 5 October 1939 as a prelude to Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939 was stationed at Malta, took part in the Battle of Cape Spartivento, 27 November 1940.
Formed as part of a number of hunting task groups on 5 October 1939 as a prelude to Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939.
Formed as part of a number of hunting task groups on 5 October 1939 as a prelude to Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939 and part of the South America Division after which it was stationed at, Gibraltar, took part in Operation Catapult, 3 July 1940, took part in Operation Rheinübung 19 May - 15 June 1941, took part in Operation Harpoon, took part in Operation Husky, 9 July-17 August 1942, also involved in Operation Torch as a component of a larger task force, 8–16 November 1942 the force was disbanded in September 1943.
Stationed at Ceylon, formed as part of a number of hunting task groups on 5 October 1939 as a prelude to Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939.
Covered North Atlantic, originally formed as part of a number of hunting task groups on 5 October 1939 as a prelude to Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939.
Part of a number of hunting task groups on 5 October 1939 as a prelude to Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939 based in Freetown it was then stationed at, Malta, took part in the Battle of the Tarigo Convoy, 16 April 1941, was involved in the First Battle of Sirte, 17 December 1941 then moved to Freetown in December 1941.
Stationed at, Freetown, was part of a number of hunting task groups on 5 October 1939 as a prelude to Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939, took part in the Battle of Dakar, 23–25 September 1940.
Formed at Freetown and placed under the Command of Vice-Admiral John D. Cunningham, it was assembled using available naval units from the Home Fleet and Force H and took part in the Battle of Dakar code-named 'Operation Menace'.
A sub-component of a larger covering force escorting Convoy PQ 13 20 March - 1 April 1942 was involved in the Battle of Skerki Bank, 2 December 1942.
Formed at Murmansk and was involved at Battle of the Barents Sea and the Attack on Convoy JW 51B, 31 December 1942.
Originally formed at, Pernambuco-Dakar, transferred to the Mediterranean and took part in Operation Harpoon, 12–15 June 1942, also was involved in the Attack on Mers-el-Kébir, 3 July 1940.
Operational area was originally in the West Indies, was part of a number of hunting task groups on 5 October 1939 as a prelude to Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939, transferred to West Africa and was later allocated to the French component force during the Battle of Dakar, 23–25 September 1940.
Stationed at Singapore, known for the destruction of its two capital ships in the Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse.
Formed to deal with the Tirpitz Sortie against convoys PQ 12 and QP8, 6–13 March 1942.
Formed to deal with the Tirpitz Sortie against convoys PQ12 and QP8, 6–13 March 1942.
Formed and took part in the Battle off Penang - the Battle of the Malacca Strait (Loss of IJN Haguro), 15 May 1945. [14]
Formed 13 May 1945 and took part in the Battle off Penang - the Battle of the Malacca Strait. [14]
Formed 13 May 1945 and took part in the Battle off Penang - the Battle of the Malacca Strait. [14]
Formed 13 May 1945 and took part in the Battle off Penang - the Battle of the Malacca Strait. [14]
Which was the composition of the British Pacific Fleet 23 March 1945. [15]
Formed to take part in the Carrier Raids on the Japanese Home Islands 24–28 July 1945. [16]
Both the Eastern Task Force and the Western Task Force were formed as part of the allied Normandy landings code named "Operation Neptune" taking place on 6 June 1944. [17] It was the Royal Navy's largest ever naval force assembled for a specific operation. It was part of the Allied Naval Expeditionary Force under Admiral Bertram Ramsay.
Commanded by Rear-Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt USN this task force supported allied troop landings at Casablanca, Morocco as part of Operation Torch it consisted of 105 ships of all types. [19]
Commanded by Commodore Thomas H. Troubridge RN this task force supported allied troop landings at Oran, Algeria as part of Operation Torch. Consisted of 105 ships of all types. [20]
Commanded by Harold M. Burrough RN this task force supported allied troop landings at Algiers, Algeria as part of Operation Torch it consisted of 105 ships of all types. [21]
Consisted 52 ships that took part in the Battle of Anzio, 22 January 1944; part of the larger Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle.
After the Second World War, US/UK cooperation was supplemented by more multinational arrangements, which came to be regulated by the Combined Communications-Electronics Board via Allied Communications Publications. From the 1960s at least the Royal Navy has been allocated Task Force numbers in the 300s.
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The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade. The campaign peaked from mid-1940 through to the end of 1943.
Operation Torch was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to begin their fight against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on a limited scale. It was the first mass involvement of US troops in the European–North African Theatre and saw the first large-scale airborne assault carried out by the United States.
The military history of the United Kingdom in World War II covers the Second World War against the Axis powers, starting on 3 September 1939 with the declaration of war by the United Kingdom and France, followed by the UK's Dominions, Crown colonies and protectorates on Nazi Germany in response to the invasion of Poland by Germany. There was little, however, the Anglo-French alliance could do or did do to help Poland. The Phoney War culminated in April 1940 with the German invasion of Denmark and Norway. Winston Churchill became prime minister and head of a coalition government in May 1940. The defeat of other European countries followed – Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France – alongside the British Expeditionary Force which led to the Dunkirk evacuation in June 1940.
A task force (TF) is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology. Many non-military organizations now create "task forces" or task groups for temporary activities that might have once been performed by ad hoc committees. In non-military contexts, working groups are sometimes called task forces.
Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in late-June 1940, to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany. The force occupied an odd place within the naval chain of command. Normal British practice was to have naval stations and fleets around the world, whose commanders reported to the First Sea Lord via a flag officer. Force H was based at Gibraltar but there was already a flag officer at the base, Flag Officer Commanding, North Atlantic. The commanding officer of Force H did not report to this Flag Officer but directly to the First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound.
The Battle of the Mediterranean was the name given to the naval campaign fought in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II, from 10 June 1940 to 2 May 1945.
HMS Argonaut was a Dido-class cruiser of the British Royal Navy which saw active service during the Second World War. Constructed at the Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead, Argonaut was laid down in 1939, launched in September 1941, and formally commissioned into service on 8 August 1942.
HMCS Alberni was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) during the Second World War. The Flower-class corvettes were warships designed for anti-submarine warfare. The ship was constructed by Yarrows Ltd. in Esquimalt, British Columbia, laid down on 19 April 1940, launched on 22 August and commissioned on 4 February 1941. The corvette sailed east to join the RCN's fleet in the Atlantic via the Panama Canal, where upon arrival, the vessel began escorting trans-atlantic convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic. Alberni took part in the key convoy battle of Convoy SC 42. In 1942, the corvette was transferred to Allied convoy assignments associated with Operation Torch in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1944, Alberni was among the Canadian naval vessels assigned to Operation Neptune, the naval component of the invasion of Normandy and escorted support ships to and from the United Kingdom on D-day.
The history of the Royal Australian Navy traces the development of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from the colonisation of Australia by the British in 1788. Until 1859, vessels of the Royal Navy made frequent trips to the new colonies. In 1859, the Australia Squadron was formed as a separate squadron and remained in Australia until 1913. Until Federation, five of the six Australian colonies operated their own colonial naval force, which formed on 1 March 1901 the Australian Navy's (AN) Commonwealth Naval Force which received Royal patronage in July 1911 and was from that time referred to as Royal Australian Navy (RAN). On 4 October 1913 the new replacement fleet for the foundation fleet of 1901 steamed through Sydney Heads for the first time.
HMS Wrestler (D35) was a V and W-class destroyer built by the Royal Navy during the First World War and active from 1939 to 1944 during the Second World War. She was the first Royal Navy ship to bear that name, and the only one to do so to date.
The Eastern Fleet, later called the East Indies Fleet, was a fleet of the Royal Navy which existed between 1941 and 1952.
At the beginning of World War II, the Royal Navy was the strongest navy in the world, with the largest number of warships built and with naval bases across the globe. It had over 15 battleships and battlecruisers, 7 aircraft carriers, 66 cruisers, 164 destroyers and 66 submarines. With a massive merchant navy, about a third of the world total, it also dominated shipping. The Royal Navy fought in every theatre from the Atlantic, Mediterranean, freezing Northern routes to Russia and the Pacific Ocean.
HMS Witch (D89) was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.
HMS Wishart (D67) was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II. She spent most of her wartime career based at Gibraltar, engaged in convoy defence, but also served in various naval and military operations in the Mediterranean Sea.
HMS Vanquisher (D54) was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War I and World War II.
The second HMS Wivern, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II.
HMS Bulolo was a 6,267 ton passenger and cargo ship of the Burns, Philp Shipping Company operating in the South Pacific. In 1939 she was converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser, then a Landing Ship Headquarters (LSH) in 1942. She directed the landings in North Africa, Sicily, Anzio and Normandy during World War II.
HMS Aubrietia (K96) was a Flower-class corvette built for the Royal Navy (RN) from 1941-1946. She was active as a convoy escort in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. In May 1941, Aubrietia sighted and depth charged the German submarine U-110, leading to its capture and the seizure of a German Naval Enigma and its Kurzsignale code book.
HMS Puckeridge was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy and first and so far only warship to bear the Name. The vessel was ordered on 4 September 1939 as part of the 1939 wartime emergency program. She was laid down on 1 January 1940 at the J. Samuel White yard, East Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, launched on 6 March 1941 and commissioned on 30 July 1941.
Argo was a French Navy Redoutable-class submarine of the M6 series commissioned in 1933. She participated in World War II, first on the side of the Allies from 1939 to June 1940, then in the navy of Vichy France until November 1942, and finally in the Free French Naval Forces through the end of the war. Along with Archimède, Casabianca, Le Centaure, and Le Glorieux, she was one of only five out of the 31 Redoutable-class submarines to survive the war.