The Twelfth 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 ...

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 under Commander Naval Forces Europe, Admiral

Harold Stark Harold Mead Stark (born August 6, 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is an American mathematician, specializing in number theory. He is best known for his solution of the Gauss class number 1 problem, in effect correcting and completing the earli ...

when, on 9 September 1943 Admiral

Ernest King Ernest Joseph King (23 November 1878 – 25 June 1956) was an American naval officer who served as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during World War II. As COMINCH-CNO, he directed the Un ...

ordered the consolidation of all U.S. naval forces in Europe under a new Twelfth Fleet. The fleet was actually organized earlier under

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Alan G. Kirk Alan Goodrich Kirk (October 30, 1888 – October 15, 1963) was a United States Navy admiral during World War II and diplomat. Biography He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1909 and served in the United States Navy during World ...

before all naval forces in Europe were combined. As a command under the United States Naval Forces Europe, the commanders were based from

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. Kirk was replaced by

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

H. 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 ...

in August 1945. The fleet had the following commands: * Task Force 122 under command of Rear Adm. Alan G. Kirk to control operations and training for the cross-Channel assault. Forces from TF 122 made up much of D-Day's

Western Naval Task Force Western Naval Task Force was the name used for several groups of warships during amphibious landings in World War II: * A force under Rear-Admiral Hewitt that landed US Army units during the Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North ...

. * Eleventh Amphibious Force * Landing Craft and Bases, Europe, to receive and control the buildup of landing craft for the invasion. Task Force 129 was the bombarding force during the

Bombardment of Cherbourg The bombardment of Cherbourg took place on June 25, 1944, during World War II, when ships from the United States Navy and the British Royal Navy attacked German fortifications in and near the city, firing in support of U.S. Army units that were e ...

. On 15 April,

United States Eighth Fleet The United States Eighth Fleet was a numbered fleet of the United States Navy 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 wa ...

was disestablished. All U.S. ships and shore bases in the Mediterranean became part of Task Force 125 of the Twelfth Fleet. NAVNAW however was also retained. With the escalating Turkish Straits crisis as well as the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

, Task Group 125.4 led by the carrier departed

Norfolk Naval Base Naval Station Norfolk is a United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, that is the headquarters and home port of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Forces Command. The installation occupies about of waterfront space and of pier and wharf space of the Hamp ...

, Virginia, for the eastern Mediterranean on 8 August 1946 under the command of Rear Admiral John H. Cassady. The key event of this deployment was a highly publicized port visit to

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

, Greece, on 5 September 1946. According to the late American historian

James Chace James Clarke Chace (October 16, 1931 – October 8, 2004) was an American historian, writing on American diplomacy and statecraft. His 12 books include the critically acclaimed ''Acheson: The Secretary of State Who Created the American World'' ...

, this deployment by Task Group 125.4 "symbolized" the true beginning of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

by demonstrating U.S. support of the pro-Western governments of Greece and Turkey in the face of external Soviet pressure and internal Communist insurrections. On 1 November 1946, Mediterranean responsibilities were transferred to United States Naval Forces Mediterranean. On 12 February 1950, Naval Forces Mediterranean 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 ...

Notes

References

* *http://www.seabeecook.com/history/25th_ncr/activities_of_the_25th_ncr/appendxa.htm - shows Task Forces of Twelfth Fleet which took part in the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. 12 12 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 {{USN-stub