The United States Eighth Fleet was a

numbered fleet The structure of the United States Navy consists of four main bodies: the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, the operating forces (described below), and the Shore Establishment. Office of the Chief of ...

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 ...

established 15 March 1943 from Northwest African Force. It operated in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II with a main mission of amphibious warfare, and then was active in 1946–47 as the heavy striking arm of 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 fi ...

. In 1941, the forces that eventually evolved into the Eighth Fleet were designated Amphibious Forces, Atlantic Fleet, under the command of Admiral

Henry Kent Hewitt Henry Kent Hewitt (February 11, 1887 – September 15, 1972) was the United States Navy commander of amphibious operations in north Africa and southern Europe through World War II. He was born in Hackensack, New Jersey and graduated from the Unit ...

, who took command in April 1942. This force, also called Task Force 34, became the U.S. component of the

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

landings in November 1942. The force was then renamed U.S. Naval Forces, Northwest Africa Waters or COMNAVNAW. On 1 February 1946, U.S. Naval Forces, Northwest African Waters, were redesignated U.S. Naval Forces, Mediterranean,Thomas A. Bryson, ''Tars, Turks, and Tankers: The Role of the United States Navy in the Middle East'', Scarecrow Press, Inc.,

Metuchen Metuchen ( ) is a suburban borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The borough is a commuter town of New York City, located in the heart of the Raritan Valley region within the New York Metropolitan area. The borough, along wit ...

, NJ, and London, 1980, pp. 89–90. which later became the

United States Sixth Fleet The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in ...

. Still under Hewitt's command, the renamed Eighth Fleet supported the landings in Sicily,

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, and at Salerno, Operation Avalanche, the first sustained land assault and invasion of the European mainland in World War II. Eighth Fleet then supported the August 1944 landing of Allied troops on the coast of southern France,

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil) was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15August 1944. Despite initially designed to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord, th ...

, with heavy naval gunfire and naval air attacks. Hewitt remained as the fleet commander until 1945, when he moved on to chair a

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

investigation. The fleet was disbanded on 15 September 1945, with its forces becoming part of

United States Twelfth Fleet The Twelfth Fleet was a numbered fleet of the United States Navy and was operational from 1 October 1943. The fleet began demobilization in late 1945 and was disestablished in 1946. Twelfth Fleet was established from the U.S. naval forces und ...

. With the reorganization of the Navy after World War II in December 1945, Eighth Fleet was reactivated on 1 March 1946 under the command of Admiral

Marc A. Mitscher Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher (January 26, 1887 – February 3, 1947) was a pioneer in naval aviation who became an Admiral (United States), admiral in the United States Navy, and served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific d ...

. Under the overall command of Commander, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Eighth Fleet was the heavy striking arm of the Atlantic Fleet. It consisted of the preponderance of Atlantic Fleet aircraft carrier assets, initially including the new fast carriers and , and their escorts and support ships. These latter did not include the fast

Battleship Division A BatDiv or BATDIV was a standard U.S. Navy abbreviation or acronym for "battleship division." The Commander of a Battleship Division was known, in official Navy communications, as COMBATDIV (followed by a number), such as COMBATDIV ONE. World Wa ...

(Battleship Division Two?) made up of and , retained under direct command of Atlantic Fleet. In January 1947, the US Eighth Fleet was redesignated as the Second Task Fleet, a part of the Atlantic Fleet.

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Federation of American Scientists The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is an American nonprofit global policy think tank with the stated intent of using science and scientific analysis to attempt to make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1946 by scientists who wo ...

Eighth Fleet
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References

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