United States First Fleet | |
---|---|
Founded | 1 January 1947 |
Disbanded | 1 February 1973 |
Country | United States of America |
Branch | United States Navy |
Part of | United States Pacific Fleet |
The First Fleet was a numbered fleet of the United States Navy, in operation from January 1947 to 1 February 1973 in the western Pacific Ocean as part of the Pacific Fleet. In 1973, it was disestablished and its duties assumed by the United States Third Fleet.
Vice Admiral Alfred Montgomery was named as Commander, First Task Fleet, in an air station report of July 1947, with an inspection visit by a group of senior officers. The old cruiser Salt Lake City was sunk as an atomic bomb test target during First Task Fleet maneuvers in May 1948. [1] USS Salisbury Sound became the flagship of Vice Admiral Gerald Bogan (Commander First Task Fleet) on 25 March 1949. USS Curtiss served as flagship for Commander First Fleet early in 1949 for three weeks of amphibious operations in Alaskan waters to evaluate cold weather equipment. USS Helena served as flagship for Commander, First Fleet, from January 1960 to March 1963. USS Providence served as flagship in San Diego from 1969 until April 1972, except for yard overhaul in 1970 when USS Chicago assumed the role. [2]
On 17 November 2020, Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite announced the intention to create a new numbered fleet for the Indian Ocean to be called First Fleet. SECNAV Braithwaite speculated that the new fleet could be headquartered in Singapore or Western Australia. [3] [4]
The first ten squadrons and commanders are those of the U.S. Navy type commands in the Pacific Fleet active at the time.
The Navy website says, regarding this list of commanders, that "..This position was originally titled Commander, Central Pacific Force. On 26 April 1944 it was renamed Commander, Fifth Fleet. It then became Commander, First Task Fleet on 1 January 1947. It was subsequently renamed First Fleet on 11 February 1950. The Command was combined with ASW Forces Pacific and became Third Fleet as of 1 February 1973." [6]
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.
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.
The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe-Africa. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in 2011 is that it "conducts the full range of Maritime Operations and Theater Security Cooperation missions, in concert with coalition, joint, interagency, and other parties, in order to advance security and stability in Europe and Africa." The current commander of the Sixth Fleet is Vice Admiral Thomas E. Ishee.
The Fast Carrier Task Force, was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific War from January 1944 through the end of the war in August 1945. The task force was made up of several separate task groups, each typically built around three to four aircraft carriers and their supporting vessels. The support vessels were screening destroyers, cruisers, and the newly built fast battleships.
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 US naval forces in the region.
The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and headquarters with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) in Bahrain. Fifth Fleet/NAVCENT is a component command of, and reports to, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
The United States Second Fleet is a numbered fleet in the United States Navy responsible for the East Coast and North Atlantic Ocean. The Fleet was established following World War II. In September 2011, Second Fleet was deactivated in view of the United States Government's perception that the potential military threat posed by Russia had diminished. On 4 May 2018, Admiral John M. Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations, announced plans to reestablish Second Fleet amid heightened tensions between NATO and Russia. It was reestablished on 24 August 2018, with Vice Admiral Andrew "Woody" Lewis in command.
A destroyer squadron is a naval squadron or flotilla usually consisting of destroyers rather than other types of vessel. In some navies other vessels, such as frigates, may be included. In English the word "squadron" tends to be used for larger and "flotilla" for smaller vessels; both may be used for destroyer units. Similar formations are used in non-English-speaking countries, e.g., the "escadrille"—which would translate directly as "squadron"—in France.
USS Rocky Mount (AGC-3) was an Appalachian-class command ship in the United States Navy.
USS Holland (AS-3) was a submarine tender that served in the United States Navy before and during World War II. Holland was launched by the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington on 12 April 1926, sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Saunders Chase, daughter of Admiral J. V. Chase, and commissioned on 1 June. Stationed at San Diego, California, tending submarine divisions there with periodic tours to Panama to service submarines based at the Canal Zone pre-World War two. Later serving in the Pacific theatre, by close of hostilities having given 55 instances of refit to submarines, provided repair and service to 20 surface craft and completed various jobs on shore installations.
USS Eldorado (AGC-11) was a Mount McKinley-class amphibious force command ship, named after a mountain range in Nevada. The ship was designed as an amphibious force flagship, a floating command post with advanced communications equipment and extensive combat information spaces to be used by the amphibious forces commander and landing force commander during large-scale operations.
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.
The Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic (COMSUBLANT) is the Submarine Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet type commander under the United States Fleet Forces Command.
Nora Wingfield Tyson is a retired United States Navy vice admiral. In 2015, she was installed as commander of the Third Fleet, making her the first woman to lead a United States Navy ship fleet. She retired from service in 2017. Tyson previously served as the commander of Carrier Strike Group Two, from July 29, 2010 to January 12, 2012; she was the first female commander of a United States Navy Carrier Strike Group. She then served as Vice Director of the Joint Staff beginning in February 2012. In July 2013 she was promoted to vice admiral and named as Deputy Commander, United States Fleet Forces Command.
James Henry Doyle was a vice admiral in the United States Navy. During the Korean War, he commanded the U.S. Navy, Marine, and Army forces of Amphibious Group 1, and was personally responsible for the execution of the amphibious phase of the Battle of Inchon in 1950. Admiral Doyle’s naval attack force put 13,000 Marines ashore on a coastline, together with all their heavy weapons and equipment. USS Doyle was named in his honor.
Carrier Strike Group 15, is a training formation of the United States Navy. It trains and certifies Pacific Fleet Carrier Strike Groups, Amphibious Ready Groups, and independently deploying surface ships. It replaced Commander, Strike Force Training Pacific in a title change. Carrier Strike Group Four is the equivalent command for US Fleet Forces ships.
Carrier Strike Group 5, also known as CSG 5 or CARSTRKGRU 5, is the U.S. Navy carrier strike group assigned to the United States Pacific Fleet and permanently forward deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet. The Strike Group Flagship is the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) which also embarks Strike Warfare Commander, Carrier Air Wing Five and its nine squadrons. As of June 2015, CSG 5 includes three Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Destroyer Squadron Fifteen, which serves as the Sea Combat Commander and is responsible for seven assigned Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
Vice Admiral Alfred Eugene Montgomery was an officer in the United States Navy who served in World War I and World War II. A graduate of the Naval Academy, he participated in operations in the Mexican waters during the Mexican Revolution. He trained for submarines, and became executive officer of the submarine USS E-1. In November 1914 he reported to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard where the new submarine USS F-1 was being fitted out, and served as her commander from June 1917 until she was lost on 17 December 1917.
Destroyer Squadron 50 is a destroyer squadron of the United States Navy. The squadron was first formed during World War II when the squadron commodore and his staff led ships in the Pacific Theater from October 1943 until its disestablishment in November 1945. The squadron was equipped with nine Fletcher-class destroyers, comprising Destroyer Divisions (DesDivs) 99 and 100.
Gilbert Corwin Hoover was a United States Naval officer from 1916 to 1947. He served in both world wars, was involved in the early stages of the development of the Atomic Bomb, and managed the Atomic Energy Commission's Boulder facility as a civilian contractor. He was awarded the Navy Cross three times.