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 McCoy Nulton, Louis M. Nulton, 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 V. Pratt, 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 Ely Wetmore Kittelle, 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 cruisers, 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, the United States Pacific Fleet 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