During the Gulf War of 1991 United States Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) reported to United States Central Command. After discussions between General H. Norman Schwarzkopf (CINCCENT) and Admiral Huntington Hardisty (CINCPAC), Vice Admiral Henry H. Mauz Jr. ("Hank" Mauz), Commander Seventh Fleet, was appointed as Commander U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT).
After arrival in-theatre in late 1990, Vice Admiral Mauz "retained the Middle East Force, Commander Task Group 150.1 (CTG 150.1), for most warfighting functions inside the Persian Gulf. Under the CTG 150.1 designation, Rear Admiral William M. "Bill" Fogarty would control only the half-dozen ships or so of the Middle East Force, augmented by the battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-64) when it arrived. Under a second hat, CTG 150.2, Fogarty would be the commander of the U.S. Maritime Interception Force. For this job, his authority would extend outside the Persian Gulf to ships operating in the North Arabian Sea and Red Sea, but only for interception operations." [1] The CVBGs in the North Arabian Sea and Red Sea were designated Task Groups 150.4 and 150.5 respectively; the Amphibious and Landing Forces were CTG 150.6 and CTG 150.8 (Major General Jenkins). Rear Admiral Stephen S. Clarey was Commander U.S. Maritime Prepositioning Force, Task Group 150.7, which was disestablished on 12 September 1990. [2] [3]
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) transited from the Mediterranean/Suez Canal into the Red Sea on 8 August 1990 with USS Ticonderoga, USS John L. Hall, USS Suribachi (AE-21) and USNS Neosho (T-AO-143), the last two underway replenishment ships (CH-90, pp13–14). [4] On 23–24 August, the Red Sea Battle Group was turned over to the USS Saratoga group, and 'Eisenhower' and 'Ticonderoga' left Sixth Fleet on 3 September.
From 1 January 1991, the six carriers deployed were divided into Battle Force Yankee (two carriers, including Saratoga, in the Red Sea under Rear Admiral Riley Mixson, Commander, Carrier Group Two/Task Force 155) and Task Force 154, Battle Force Zulu (four carriers in the Arabian Sea/Persian Gulf under Rear Admiral Daniel P. March, Commander, Carrier Group Five). TF 150 was Vice Admiral Henry H. Mauz, Jr. himself, TF 151 the Middle East Force, now including USS Bunker Hill, TG 150.3 Naval Logistics Support Force (Rear Admiral Bob Sutton), and TF 156 the amphibious force. [5] Conduct of the Persian Gulf War Fig VII-3, lists the PG, Red Sea, and Middle East Forces; the Amphibious Force, the Logistics Support Force, at some points, the Mediterranean Strike Group, and NAVCENT Rep Riyadh.
Rear Admiral "Mixson also commanded CTG 150.9, the Mediterranean Strike Group, which included ships and a submarine launching TLAMs (eight) into Iraq several days after" the beginning of the Coalition assault on 17 January 1991. [6]
On 15 February, France placed one frigate, Jean de Vienne (D-643), [7] under U.S. operational control to escort Coalition combat logistics ships, but it was not authorised to take part in offensive operations. [8]
Battle Force Yankee included two carriers, including Saratoga, in the Red Sea under Rear Admiral Riley Mixson, Commander, Carrier Group Two/Task Force 155). [21]
During the Gulf Conflict, the Royal Navy "had a pivotal role in joint operations". Westland Lynx helicopters were tasked with finding and destroying Iraqi Navy vessels. A large element of the Royal Navy undertook the coalition's mine hunting in the northern Gulf. In clearing the Gulf of mines, the Royal Navy minehunters enabled the battleships USS Missouri and USS Wisconsin to sail into Kuwaiti waters, from where they would fire their 16-inch guns on Iraqi positions ashore. The Type 42 destroyers provided air defence for these vessels, notably when HMS Gloucester was able to intercept a missile fired at Missouri. [38] In total, the Fleet Air Arm destroy some 15 Iraqi patrol vessels, achieving a 93% hit rate, and accounting for 1/4 of all ships destroyed in the war. [39]
Preliminary command arrangements for the BAe Nimrod detachment to be sent to the Gulf were made on 10 August 1990:
"The Joint Commander of British forces in the Gulf (the AOC-in-C Strike Command) assumed operational command of the Nimrod detachment, while operational control was vested in the Air Commander British Forces Arabian Peninsular. Tactical command of the Nimrod detachment was exercised by the Detachment Commander, who reported to the Air Commander, but it was accepted that tactical control (TACON) might be delegated to the Royal Navy Task Group already deployed in the Gulf, Task Group 321.1 (under the Commander Task Group (CTG 321.1), the Senior Naval Officer Middle East." [40]
It appears that command of Task Force 321 was retained by the Commander-in-Chief Fleet at Northwood Headquarters in the northwest of London. On 29 November 1990 Commodore Chris Craig relieved Commodore Paul Haddocks as Senior Naval Officer Middle East. [41]
Ashore supporting the 1st (UK) Armoured Division was the Support Helicopter Force Middle East, which included a composite Royal Marine Westland Sea King HC.4 made up of six aircraft each from 845 Naval Air Squadron and 848 Naval Air Squadron, totalling 12. [54]
In September 1990, at one of the early coordinating meetings for the maritime interception operation, French and Italian representatives asked for a separate role for the naval units of the Western European Union (WEU) states. The WEU states were therefore assigned a separate operating area off the United Arab Emirates. [55] The WEU decided to place their ships under the operational command of the French Amiral Ocean Indien (ALINDIEN). [56]
The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFFC) 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.
This is a list of the naval forces from the United Kingdom that took part in the Falklands War, often referred to as "the Task Force" in the context of the war. For a list of naval forces from Argentina, see Argentine naval forces in the Falklands War.
The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with 50 to 70 ships, 150 aircraft and 27,000 sailors and marines. Its principal responsibilities are to provide joint command in natural disaster or military operations and operational command of all U.S. naval forces in the region.
USS Jarrett (FFG-33), was the twenty-fifth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigates, was named for Vice Admiral Harry B. Jarrett (1898–1974).
USS Curts (FFG-38) was the twenty-ninth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class of guided-missile frigates. She was named for Admiral Maurice Curts (1898–1976). Curts is the first ship of that name in the US Navy.
Operation Prime Chance was a United States Special Operations Command operation intended to protect U.S.-flagged oil tankers from Iranian attack during the Iran–Iraq War. The operation took place roughly at the same time as Operation Earnest Will, the largely naval effort to escort the tankers through the Persian Gulf. The operation was begun after the mining of the U.S.-flagged Kuwaiti oil tanker Bridgeton.
USS Elrod (FFG-55), an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, is a ship of the United States Navy named after Captain Henry T. Elrod (1905–1941), a Marine aviator who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the defense of Wake Island in World War II.
The Commander United Kingdom Strike Force is a senior post in the Royal Navy.
A carrier air wing is an operational naval aviation organization composed of several aircraft squadrons and detachments of various types of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. Organized, equipped and trained to conduct modern US Navy carrier air operations while embarked aboard aircraft carriers, the various squadrons in an air wing have different but complementary missions, and provide most of the striking power and electronic warfare capabilities of a carrier battle group (CVBG). While the CVBG term is still used by other nations, the CVBG in US parlance is now known as a carrier strike group (CSG).
846 Naval Air Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm.
857 Naval Air Squadron, was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN). It was established at Squantum in the United States as a Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance squadron in April 1944. It boarded HMS Rajah in June, landed in HMS Gadwall, RNAMY Belfast, Northern Ireland, in July, with anti-submarine training at HMS Landrail, RNAS Machrihanish, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The squadron re-embarked in September for Ceylon, spending time on land at HMS Garuda, RNARY Coimbatore, India and HMS Ukussa, RNAS Katukurunda, Ceylon, before boarding HMS Indomitable in November. Throughout the winter, using the carrier and HMS Nabbington, RNAS Nowra, Australia as a shore base, the squadron targeted locations in Sumatra, including Palembang, before shifting focus to Sakashima Gunto and Formosa in the spring. The squadron returned to the Far East after VJ-Day to engage Japanese suicide boats off Hong Kong. After leaving its aircraft in Australia, the squadron returned home and was disbanded in November 1945.
United States Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) is the United States Navy element of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM). Its area of responsibility includes the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea. It consists of the United States Fifth Fleet and several other subordinate task forces, including Combined Task Force 150, Combined Task Force 158 and others.
In the United States Navy, the expeditionary strike group (ESG) is a coordinated group of surface ships, aircraft, submarines, and other naval assets. In contrast to carrier strike groups (CSGs), which emphasize air power and are led by a supercarrier, ESGs are strongly suited for amphibious warfare and are led by an amphibious assault ship. The ESG concept was introduced in the early 1990s, based on the Naval Expeditionary Task Force. The U.S. Navy fields nine expeditionary strike groups.
Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Seven Seven (HSM-77) "Saberhawks" is a United States Navy helicopter squadron based at Naval Air Facility, Atsugi, Japan. HSM-77 is attached to Carrier Air Wing Five and deploys aboard the George Washington (CVN-73) and air capable ships attached to Carrier Strike Group Five (CSG-5). The squadron was established as Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron (Light) Forty Seven (HSL-47) on 25 September 1987 and was redesignated HSM-77 on 2 Apr 2009.
On 15 August 1944, Allied forces carried out Operation Dragoon, a set of simultaneous amphibious landings by three US infantry divisions followed by four Free French divisions along the Mediterranean coast of France. The main landings were preceded by nighttime paratroop drops and commando beach landings. This was a phase of the European Theatre of World War II.
Carrier Strike Group 10, is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. As of August 2022, CSG-10 consists of USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), the strike group's current flagship, with Carrier Air Wing Seven embarked on board, as well as the Ticonderoga-class cruiserLeyte Gulf, and four ships of Destroyer Squadron 26.
The Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) (or JEF(M)) (formerly the Response Force Task Group (RFTG), and prior to that the Joint Rapid Reaction Force (JRRF)), is the Royal Navy's contribution to the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) maintained at very high-readiness and available at short notice to respond to unexpected global events. In addition to the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, the JEF(M) also includes elements of the British Army and the Royal Air Force. While it is primarily poised to conduct war-fighting or strike operations, the JEF(M) is capable of undertaking a diverse range of activities such as evacuation operations, disaster relief or humanitarian aid.
707 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN) which disbanded during February 1995. The unit was operational during the Second World War, having been established in February 1945 under the designation of Radar Trials Unit and subsequently disbanded in October of that year. It was reformed in December 1964 as an Advanced and Operational Flying Training (AFT/OFT) Commando helicopter squadron.
772 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm (FAA) naval air squadron of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy (RN) which last disbanded during September 1995. 772 Naval Air Squadron formed as a Fleet Requirements Unit out of 'Y' Flight from 771 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Lee-on-Solent in September 1939. While the headquarters remained there, floatplanes were operated out of RNAS Portland, however, mid 1940 saw the whole squadron move north to RNAS Campbeltown and roughly twelve months afterwards the short distance to RNAS Machrihanish. The unit moved to RNAS Ayr in July 1944 and became the Fleet Requirements Unit School. In January 1946 the squadron moved to RNAS Burscough in Lancashire, before moving to RNAS Anthorn in Cumberland, in May. It became the Northern Fleet Requirements Unit upon moving to RNAS Arbroath, in June 1947, but disbanded into 771 Naval Air Squadron in October. 772 Naval Air Squadron reformed as a Helicopter Support Squadron at RNAS Portland in September 1974. In September 1977 the squadron took over responsibility for a number of Ships' Flights of Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships. The squadron was used to reform 848 Naval Air Squadron for the Falklands Task Force in 1982, with the Ships' Flights absorbed into 847 Naval Air Squadron. In August 1982 it took on the Anti-Submarine Warfare Flight from 737 Naval Air Squadron and between 1983 - 1985 a Search and Rescue Flight operated out of RNAS Lee-on-Solent.
In 1989 the Royal Navy was under the direction of the Navy Department in the UK Ministry of Defence. It had two main commands, CINCFLEET and Naval Home Command.
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