Task Force 44 was an Allied

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It inclu ...

task force during the Pacific Campaign of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The task force consisted of warships from 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 ...

and the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister o ...

(RAN). It was generally assigned as a striking force to defend northeast Australia and the surrounding area from any attacks by Axis forces, particularly from the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...

History

1942

The task force was created on 22 April 1942 from the

ANZAC Squadron The ANZAC Squadron, also called the ''Allied Naval Squadron'', was an Allied naval warship task force which was tasked with defending northeast Australia and surrounding area in early 1942 during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. The squadr ...

as part of

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

South West Pacific Area (command) South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the ...

. The unit's first commander was Rear Admiral John Gregory Crace (

). From 13 June 1942 the task force was commanded by

Victor Crutchley Admiral Sir Victor Alexander Charles Crutchley (2 November 1893 – 24 January 1986) was a British naval officer. He was a First World War recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be ...

, an Australian Rear Admiral of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

(UK). The force saw action during the

Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the batt ...

, in which it helped turn back a Japanese attempt to invade

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

. At the start of May, the Americans learned of an imminent Japanese invasion of Port Moresby, and was sent with to rendezvous with United States forces in the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

.Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 41 At 07:00 on 7 May, Rear Admiral Crace, embarked aboard ''Australia'' as commander of Task Force 44, was ordered to take his ships (''Australia'', ''Hobart'', US cruiser , and US destroyers , , and ) to the Jomard Passage, and engage any Japanese ships found en route to Port Moresby, while several US carrier groups engaged a Japanese force headed for the Solomon Islands.Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 47 The ships reached their patrol area around 14:00, fired on a group of eleven unidentified aircraft at maximum range with no damage dealt at 14:27, and were attacked themselves by twelve Japanese twin-engine torpedo bombers at 15:06; no ships were damaged for the loss of five aircraft. At 15:16, nineteen Japanese heavy bombers dropped their payload on the Allied ships; no ships were hit directly, the only casualties (aboard ''Chicago'') were from shrapnel.Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 50 A few minutes later, the ships were attacked by another three heavy bombers, flying at a higher altitude to the first group; the bombing was much less accurate. It was later learned that the three aircraft belonged to the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF). Although USN Vice Admiral Herbert F. Leary made plans to train aircrews in naval vessel recognition in response, USAAF General

George Brett George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player who played all of his 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman for the Kansas City Royals. Brett's 3,154 career hits are second- ...

refused to implement them or acknowledge that the

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...

incident had happened. With no new orders, Crace decided to relocate his ships during the night to a point from Port Moresby, to better intercept a Japanese invasion force if it came through either the Jomard Passage or the China Strait. Instructions from the American commander of the operation were still not forthcoming, and Crace was forced to rely on intercepted radio messages to track the progress of the main battle. The task force remained in their assigned area until 01:00 on 10 May, when Crace ordered them to withdraw south to Cid Harbour on

Whitsunday Island Whitsunday Island is the largest island in the Whitsunday group of islands located off the coast of Central Queensland, Australia. History Whitsunday Island was inhabited by the sea-faring Ngaro people for around 8,000 years prior to British ...

; the lack of reports and intelligence concerning either the Americans or Japanese led him to conclude that both forces had withdrawn, and there was no immediate threat to Port Moresby. The Task Force was temporarily redesignated Task Group 17.3 (of the U.S. aircraft carrier task force Task Force 17) during the battle. The task force later, under Crutchley, assisted with the initial stages of the

Guadalcanal Campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...

along with escorting Allied convoys around the northeast Australia, New Guinea, and Coral Sea areas. In August 1942, the force participated in the Battle of Savo Island. The next month, the unit served with the U.S. Navy's

Task Force 18 Task may refer to: * Task (computing), in computing, a program execution context * Task (language instruction) refers to a certain type of activity used in language instruction * Task (project management), an activity that needs to be accomplished ...

, centered on the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

1943

When the

Operation Pamphlet Operation Pamphlet, also called Convoy Pamphlet, was a World War II convoy operation conducted during January and February 1943 to transport the 9th Australian Division home from Egypt. The convoy involved five transports, which were protected ...

convoy sailed from Fremantle on 20 February 1943 it was escorted by the Australian

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 ...

, as well as the Dutch cruiser and destroyer . It met the ships of Task Group 44.3, a component of Task Force 44, on 24 February in the

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia. Extent Two definitions of the extent are in use – one used by the International Hydrog ...

. This force comprised ''Australia'' and American destroyers , and , and had been dispatched from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

on 17 February to escort the

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

s.Plowman (2003), p. 381 ''Adelaide'' and the Dutch warships left the convoy shortly afterwards to escort into Melbourne; the liner docked there on the afternoon of 25 February.Gill (1968), p. 287 Task Group 44.3 escorted the remaining ships to

, passing south of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. The escort was strengthened by ''Jacob van Heemskerck'' and the French destroyer en route. The three liners arrived at Sydney on 27 February 1943, completing Operation Pamphlet without loss.Roskill (1956), p. 433 Despite the official secrecy concerning the convoy, large crowds assembled on vantage points around

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane Cove and Parramatta River, Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or harbor, natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. T ...

to watch the ships arrive. '' Queen Mary'' anchored off

Bradleys Head Bradleys Head is a headland protruding from the north shore of Sydney Harbour, within the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is named after the First Fleet naval officer William Bradley. The original Aboriginal inha ...

and the other two liners berthed at

Woolloomooloo Woolloomooloo ( ) is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It is in a lo ...

.Plowman (2003), p. 382 Curtin officially announced that the 9th Division had returned to Australia in a speech to the House of Representatives on 23 March. On 15 March 1943 the organization was redesignated as

Task Force 74 Task Force 74 was a naval task force that has existed twice. The first Task Force 74 was a mixed Allied force of Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, and United States Navy ships which operated against Japanese forces from 1943 to 1945 during th ...

under the

United States Seventh Fleet 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 ...

1944

In mid-1944, Commodore

John Augustine Collins Vice-Admiral Sir John Augustine Collins, (7 January 1899 – 3 September 1989) was a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) officer who served in both World Wars, and who eventually rose to become a vice admiral and Chief of Naval Staff. Collins was one ...

was made commander of the Australian-U.S. Navy Task Force 74, and commander of the Australian Naval Squadron, with the

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval T ...

as his flagship. He became the first graduate of the RAN College to command a naval squadron in action, during the bombardment of Noemfoor, on 2 July 1944. Commodore Collins was badly wounded in an attack which may have been the first

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending ...

strike, which hit ''Australia'' on 21 October 1944, in the lead up to the

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fo ...

. He did not resume his command until July 1945. When the war ended Collins was the RAN's representative at the surrender ceremony in

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populou ...

Ships of the task force

*Heavy cruisers: , , *Light cruiser: *Destroyers: , , (from 7 May 1942), (from 7 May), from 14 May, (from 19 May), (from 21 May), (from ???)

References

Bibliography

* *{{cite book , last = Willmott , first = H. P. , year = 1983 , title = The Barrier and the Javelin: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies February to June 1942 , publisher = Naval Institute Press , location = Annapolis, Maryland , isbn = 0-87021-535-3 , url-access = registration , url = https://archive.org/details/empiresinbalance00will South West Pacific theatre of World War II 1942 in Australia 1943 in Australia Pacific theatre of World War II Military history of Australia during World War II