{{more footnotes, date=October 2013
COMBATPAC was the title, from 1922 to 1944, 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 ...
officer who commanded the
battleships
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type o ...
of the larger United States
Battle Fleet
The United States Battle Fleet or Battle Force was part of the organization of the United States Navy from 1922 to 1941.
The General Order of 6 December 1922 organized the United States Fleet, with the Battle Fleet as the Pacific presence. This f ...
in the
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
(Commander, Battleships, Pacific).
When formed in 1922, the Battle Fleet (renamed
Battle Force
The United States Battle Fleet or Battle Force was part of the organization of the United States Navy from 1922 to 1941.
The General Order of 6 December 1922 organized the United States Fleet, with the Battle Fleet as the Pacific presence. This ...
in 1930 and Pacific Fleet in 1941), included various type commands. The battleship type was led by the COMBATPAC, generally a three-star vice admiral or two-star
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 rega ...
. The COMBATPAC had five rear admirals (lower half) reporting to him, each leading a Battleship Division of four ships.
In late 1944, the battleships was reorganized into two type commands, each led by a vice admiral. Battleships Squadron One consisted of the Old Battleships, while Battleship Squadron Two consisted of the Fast Battleships.
William R. Shoemaker
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...
, USN (1922)
*Vice Admiral Henry A. Wiley, USN (20 June 1923 - 26 August 1925)
*Vice Admiral
Richard H. Jackson
Richard Harrison Jackson (May 10, 1866 – October 2, 1971) was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy. Originally cashiered from the Navy for poor grades at the U.S. Naval Academy, he was commissioned ensign by special act of Congress for ...
, USN (5 October 1925 - 4 September 1926)
*Vice Admiral Louis R. de Steiguer, USN (1926-1927)
*Vice Admiral William V. Pratt, USN (1927-1928)
*Vice Admiral Louis M. Nulton, USN (26 June 1928 - 21 May 1929)
*Vice Admiral Lucius A. Bostwick, USN (May 1929 - May 1930)
Former Commanders, Battleships, Battle Force
*Vice Admiral Richard H. Leigh, USN (May 1930-1931)
*Vice Admiral
Luke McNamee
Luke McNamee (April 4, 1871 – December 30, 1952) was a United States Navy Admiral, businessman, and the 10th and 12th Naval Governor of Guam. He served in the Navy for 42 years, during which time he held multiple commands. During the Spanish–A ...
Edward C. Kalbfus
Edward Clifford Kalbfus (November 24, 1877 – September 6, 1954), nicknamed "Old Dutch", was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy who was commander of the Battle Force of the United States Fleet from 1938 to 1939 and President of the N ...
, USN (2 January 1937 - 29 January 1938)
*Vice Admiral John W. Greenslade, USN (29 January 1938 to 20 May 1939)
*Vice Admiral Charles P. Snyder (admiral), USN (1939 - January 1940)
*Vice Admiral William S. Pye, USN (January 1940 - January 1941)
*Rear Admiral Walter S. Anderson, USN (January 1941 - 10 April 1942)
Former Commanders, Battleships, Pacific Fleet
*Rear Admiral Walter S. Anderson, USN (10 April 1942 - 28 September 1942)
*Vice Admiral
Herbert Fairfax Leary
Herbert Fairfax Leary (May 31, 1885 – December 3, 1957) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of vice admiral. A son of Rear Admiral Richard P. Leary, he distinguished himself during World War I while on the st ...
, USN (28 September 1942 - 16 April 1943)
*Vice Admiral
Willis Augustus Lee
Willis Augustus "Ching" Lee Jr. (May 11, 1888 – August 25, 1945) was a vice admiral of the United States Navy during World War II. Lee commanded the American ships during the second night of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (November 14–15, 1 ...
, USN (16 April 1943 - 15 December 1944)
Former Commanders, Battleship Squadrons, Pacific Fleet
Squadron One
*Vice Admiral
Jesse B. Oldendorf
Jesse Barrett "Oley" Oldendorf (16 February 1887 – 27 April 1974) was an admiral in the United States Navy, famous for defeating a Japanese force in the Battle of Leyte Gulf during World War II. He also served as commander of the American naval ...
, USN (15 December 1944 - 2 September 1945)
Squadron Two
* Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee, USN (15 December 1944 - 25 August 1945)
* Rear Admiral
John F. Shafroth Jr.
John Franklin Shafroth Jr. (March 31, 1887 – September 1, 1967) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of Vice Admiral. He distinguished himself as Commander of destroyer USS ''Terry'' during World War I and r ...
, USN (25 August 1945 - 2 September 1945)
See also
*
Battleships in World War II
World War II saw the end of the battleship as the dominant force in the world's navies. At the outbreak of the war, large fleets of battleships—many inherited from the dreadnought era decades before—were one of the decisive forces in naval th ...
*
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
The ''History of United States Naval Operations in World War II'' is a 15-volume account of the United States Navy in World War II, written by Samuel Eliot Morison and published by Little, Brown and Company between 1947 and 1962.
Background
Im ...
* Further information on Battleship Divisions ( BatDiv)
References
* Battle Force of 194 * Change of Command announced for 193 * Report of Commander, Battleships, Battle Force following the attack on Pearl Harbo *1941-1945 Commander, Battleships, Pacific lis *1945 Organization of the US Pacific Fleet, US Navy History and Heritage Comman *1934 Photo of US Fleet Staff, VADM Walton Sexton include * Battleships, Battle Force, U.S. Fleet, Commander Vice Admiral Greenslade and Staff, circa 1938 photo, US Navy History and Heritage Comman *US Navy Biography of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee, Jr *US Navy Biography of Admiral Jesse B. Oldendor *US Navy Photo of Vice Admiral Leahy as Commander, Battleships, Battle Force 193 *US Navy Photo of Vice Admiral Leahy and Battleships, Battle Force Staf *US Navy Photo of Vice Admiral Clarence S. Kempff assuming command of Battleships, Battle forc *US Navy Photo of Vice Admiral Davis F. Sellers and Battleships, Battle Force Staff 193
*US Navy Biography of Admiral Louis M. Nulton, USN (Retired *US Navy Photo Vice Admiral H. A. Wiley, USN as Commander, Battleship *US Navy Biography of Admiral Henry A. Wiley, USN (Retired *US Navy Biography of Admiral Louis Rudolph De Steigue *US Navy Biography of Admiral Joseph M. Reeves, USN (Retired *VADM W.R. Shoemaker, Commander Battleships 1922 listed in Army-Navy Register Defense Time *VADM William R. Shoemaker listed as Commander, Battleships 1922 in Our Navy, the Standard Publication of the U.S. Navy, Volume 1 *1940 New York Times Obituary of Admiral Lucius A. Bostwic *NH 55465 Admiral William V. Pratt, Admiral Louis McCoy Nulton, and Vice Admiral Lucius A. Bostwick Photo * Admiral William V. Pratt, USN, Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Fleet (left); Admiral Louis McCoy Nulton, USN, Commander-in-Chief, Battle Fleet (center); and Vice Admiral Lucius A. Bostwick, USN, Commander Battleship Divisions, Battle Fleet, on a battleship, circa 1930 photo. *US Navy History and Heritage Command DANFS information on USS Bostwick (DE-103), which includes biographical information and service summary for Vice Admiral Lucius A. Bostwic Type commands of the United States Navy, BatPacBattleship units and formations of the United States Navy