The United States Battle Fleet or Battle Force was part of the organization of the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
from 1922 to 1941.
The General Order of 6 December 1922 organized the
United States Fleet
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 Commander in Chief, United States Fleet. This was replaced by COMINCH in December 1941 ...
, with the Battle Fleet as the Pacific presence. This fleet comprised the main body of ships in the Navy, with the smaller
Scouting Fleet
The Scouting Fleet was created in 1922 as part of a major, post-World War I reorganization of the United States Navy. The Atlantic and Pacific fleets, which comprised a significant portion of the ships in the United States Navy, were combined into ...
as the Atlantic presence. The
battleships, including most of the modern ones, and new
aircraft carriers were assigned to the Battle Fleet.
Organization
On September 1, 1923, the Battle Fleet was under the command of Admiral
Samuel S. Robison.
Battleships, Battle Fleet was under the command of Vice Admiral
Henry A. Wiley, with his flag aboard . Battleship Division Three, under Rear Admiral
Louis M. Nulton
Louis McCoy Nulton (August 8, 1869 – November 10, 1954) was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy who was List of Superintendents of the United States Naval Academy, superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy from 1925 to 1928 and command ...
, consisted of (F), under Captain A. M. Proctor, under Captain W. F. Scott, and under Captain H. H. Christy, which was also the Battle Fleet
flagship. Battleship Division Four, under Rear Admiral
William Veazie Pratt, comprised (F), under Captain J. R. Y. Blakely, , , and . Battleship Division Five under Vice Admiral Wiley himself comprised , , , and . Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet, under Captain A. W. Marshall, comprised (F), , and the tender . Destroyer Squadrons, Battle Fleet, under Rear Admiral
Sumner E. W. Kittelle, comprised
Destroyer Squadron 11 and
Destroyer Squadron 12. Submarine Divisions, Pacific, was under Captain A. Bronson, Jr.
In 1930, the name of the fleet was changed to "Battle Force", but the structure remained the same. In 1931, the force was based in Pearl Harbor and consisted of a majority of the United States' surface fleet: all of the newer battleships, all of the carriers, a light cruiser squadron and "three or four" destroyer squadrons were all a part of the Battle Force. In 1939, the Battle Force had five aircraft carriers, 12 battleships, 14
light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...
s, and 68
destroyers.
[Morison, 28.]
On 1 February 1941, General Order 143 reorganized the United States Fleet with three separate fleets, the
United States Atlantic Fleet
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
, the
United States Pacific Fleet
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 Harborâ ...
and the
Asiatic Fleet.
Commander in Chief, Battle Fleet (COMBATFLT)
Commander Battle Force (COMBATFOR)
References
Bibliography
*{{cite book, author=Morison, Samuel Eliot , title=Volume III, The Rising Sun in the Pacific , publisher=Little, Brown and Company , location=Boston and Toronto , year=1948 , id=
Fleets of the United States Navy