United States Fourth Fleet | |
---|---|
Active | 1943–1945 2008–present |
Country | United States of America |
Branch | United States Navy |
Type | Fleet Command |
Role | Direct Fleet Operations |
Part of | U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) |
Garrison/HQ | Naval Station Mayport |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Rear Admiral Carlos A. Sardiello |
The U.S. Fourth Fleet is a United States Navy numbered fleet. It is the Naval Component Command of U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM). The Fourth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida. It is responsible for U.S. Navy ships, aircraft and submarines operating in the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans around Central and South America.
The 4th Fleet was a major U.S. Navy formation in the South Atlantic Ocean during World War II. It was originally established to protect the U.S. against Axis surface raiders, blockade runners, and submarines.
The Fleet was originally a redesignation of the South Atlantic Force. On 12 September 1942, the Brazilian Navy was placed under command of the U.S. Navy's Vice Admiral Jonas Ingram by order of the Brazilian President Vargas. [1] Three days later, on 15 September 1942, Vice Admiral Ingram was appointed as Commander, South Atlantic Force (ComSoLant). Six months later, South Atlantic Force was redesignated the U.S. Fourth Fleet on 15 March 1943. [1]
The Fleet worked with Brazil in the South Atlantic using Atlantic Ocean bases at Recife and elsewhere. [2]
The fleet was later commanded by Vice Admiral William Munroe. In all, forces deployed to the 4th Fleet sank 18 German U-boats and one Italian submarine, along with sinking or stopping Axis blockade runners.
Three years after its establishment, on April 15, 1945, the Fourth Fleet was dissolved and renamed Task Force 27. Admiral Munroe kept the title and command of Commander, South Atlantic Force. In 1946, the U.S. 4th Reserve Fleet was formed to maintain readiness for war; it was disestablished on January 1, 1947. [2]
On 24 April 2008, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead announced the reestablishment of the Fourth Fleet. Its formal reestablishment took place on 12 July 2008 at a ceremony at Naval Station Mayport, Florida. [3]
The announcement was made before informing foreign governments in the region, several of which expressed concern. The governments of Argentina and Brazil made formal inquiries as to the fleet's mission in the region. In Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez accused the United States of attempting to frighten the people of Latin America [4] and vowed that his country's new Sukhoi Su-30 jets could sink any U.S. ships invading Venezuelan waters. Cuban president Fidel Castro warned that it could lead to more incidents such as the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis. [5]
U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (USNAVSO) and the Fourth Fleet support USSOUTHCOM joint and combined full-spectrum military operations. They do this by providing principally sea-based forward presence to ensure freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain, to foster and sustain cooperative relationships with international partners, and to fully exploit the sea as maneuver space in order to enhance regional security and promote peace, stability, and prosperity in the Caribbean, Central American, and South American regions. The Fleet has five missions: support for peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, traditional maritime exercises, and counterdrug support operations.
Commander, USNAVSO (COMUSNAVSO) also serves as the Navy component commander for USSOUTHCOM. U.S. Fourth Fleet is responsible for U.S. Navy ships, aircraft and submarines operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility, which encompasses the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and surrounding waters. It is an organizational fleet staffed to fulfill a planning and coordination mission; as part of its 2008 reestablishment, no vessels are permanently assigned to the Fourth Fleet. Ships home-ported in the United States Fleet Forces Command and United States Third Fleet routinely deploy to the Fourth Fleet area of responsibility (AOR), during which time they are under the operational control of the Fourth Fleet commander.
Fourth Fleet headquarters is co-located with USNAVSO headquarters in Naval Station Mayport, Florida, and is commanded by a two-star rear admiral.
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 (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.
The United States Second Fleet is a numbered fleet in the United States Navy responsible for operations in the East Coast and North Atlantic Ocean. Established after World War II, Second Fleet was deactivated in 2011, when the United States government believed that Russia's military threat had diminished, and reestablished in 2018 amid renewed tensions between NATO and Russia.
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.
The United States Fleet was an organization in the United States Navy from 1922 until after World War II. The acronym CINCUS, pronounced "sink us", was used for the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet. This was replaced by COMINCH in December, 1941, under the Executive Order 8984, when it was redefined and given operational command over the Atlantic, Pacific, and Asiatic Fleets, as well as all naval coastal forces. The Executive Order 9096 authorized the offices of the CNO and COMINCH to be held by a single officer; Admiral Ernest J. King was first to do so, and in 1944 was promoted to the five-star rank of fleet admiral.
The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral in Greater Miami, Florida, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning, operations, and security cooperation for Central and South America, the Caribbean, their territorial waters, and for the force protection of U.S. military resources at these locations. USSOUTHCOM is also responsible for ensuring the defense of the Panama Canal and the canal area.
The United States Naval Forces Europe and Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF), is the United States Navy component command of the United States European Command and United States Africa Command. Prior to 2020, NAVEUR-NAVAF was previously referred to as United States Naval Forces Europe – Naval Forces Africa and sometimes referred to as United States Naval Forces Europe – Africa.
William Robert Munroe was a decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of Vice Admiral. He trained as submarine commander and at the beginning of World War II, he served as Commander, Battleship Division 3 during Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic ocean.
The Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT) was one of two supreme commanders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the other being the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). The SACLANT led Allied Command Atlantic was based at Norfolk, Virginia. The entire command was routinely referred to as 'SACLANT'.
Sea Frontiers were several, now disestablished, commands of the United States Navy as areas of defense against enemy vessels, especially submarines, along the U.S. coasts. They existed from 1 July 1941 until in some cases the 1970s. Sea Frontiers generally started at the shore of the United States and extended outwards into the sea for a nominal distance of two hundred miles.
The Commander, Naval Surface Force, Atlantic (COMNAVSURFLANT) is the Surface Force Type Commander (TYCOM) under the United States Fleet Forces Command. As Naval Surface Force Atlantic, it is a military formation, and the organization is often known as SURFLANT. Its headquarters are at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia. The current commander is Rear Admiral Joseph F. Cahill III. COMNAVSURFLANT supervises all surface ships based on the Eastern United States and Gulf Coast of the United States, as well as ships forward deployed to Naval Station Rota, Spain.
Joseph Devereux Kernan is a retired United States Navy vice admiral and the former under secretary of defense for intelligence. His last military assignment was serving as the military deputy commander of the United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), Miami, Florida, from May 23, 2011, to September 2013. He was the second-in-command of one of nine unified commands under the Department of Defense.
U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command is the naval element of United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM). Its areas of operation include South America, Central America, the Caribbean and surrounding waters. Its headquarters are located at Naval Station Mayport, Florida. USNAVSO is currently under the command of General Laura J. Richardson.
The Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic is the aviation Type Commander (TYCOM) for the United States Naval aviation units operating primarily in the Atlantic under United States Fleet Forces Command. Type Commanders are in administrative control (ADCON), and in some cases operational control (OPCON) of certain types of assets assigned to the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets. AIRLANT is responsible for the material readiness, administration, training, and inspection of units/squadrons under their command, and for providing operationally ready air squadrons and aircraft carriers to the fleet.
Carrier Strike Group 14 was a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. The group was for some time the only U.S. carrier strike group that did not have an assigned aircraft carrier or carrier air wing. As of December 2010, it directed the cruisers USS Gettysburg (CG-64) and USS Philippine Sea (CG-58). Carrier Strike Group 14 was seemingly last based at Naval Station Mayport. Without a carrier flagship, it did not conduct the typical deployments of other carrier strike groups; instead, its two cruisers made independent voyages.
Michael J. Connor, is a retired United States Navy Vice Admiral. Connor held several, concurrent titles during his last assignment including Commander, United States Submarine Forces (COMNAVSUBFOR), Commander, Submarine Forces Atlantic (COMSUBLANT) and Commander, Allied Submarine Command. Connor served as commander of the U.S. submarine forces from September 2012 until September 2015.
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: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .Karen Domabyl Smith; et al. (January 2002). "Is NAVSO Organized and Staffed To Do Its Job" (PDF). Alexandria, Virginia: Center for Naval Analyses . Retrieved 2 March 2023. CRM D0005057.A1/Final