Task Force 61 (CTF-61) is a task force 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 ...

that today denotes what used to be designated the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

Amphibious ready group An amphibious ready group (ARG) of the United States Navy consists of a naval element—a group of warships known as an Amphibious Task Force (ATF)—and a landing force (LF) of U.S. Marines (and occasionally U.S. Army soldiers), in total about ...

(MARG) of 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 ...

. It is composed of approximately three

Amphibious assault ship An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, a ...

s, but in 2008 is designated the

Expeditionary Strike Group In the United States Navy, the expeditionary strike group (ESG) is a coordinated group of surface ships, aircraft, submarines, and other naval assets. In contrast to carrier strike groups (CSGs), which emphasize air power and are led by a super ...

that includes their embarked landing craft. From these ships,

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

ground forces can move ashore by sea and air in

amphibious assault Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...

or emergency evacuation missions. Once ashore, the ships of Task Force 61 are able to logistically support the ground forces, until the objective of the landing has been accomplished. The TF 61 designation has been used by the United States Navy since

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

World War II

Task Force 61 seems to have first been formed in advance 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 th ...

of 1942. Admiral

Robert L. Ghormley Vice Admiral Robert Lee Ghormley (October 15, 1883 – June 21, 1958) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served as Commander, South Pacific Area during World War II. Early years Born in Portland, Oregon, Ghormley was the oldest of six ...

, Commander,

South Pacific Area The South Pacific Area (SOPAC) was a multinational U.S.-led military command active during World War II. It was a part of the U.S. Pacific Ocean Areas under Admiral Chester Nimitz. The delineation and establishment of the Pacific Ocean Areas was ...

, issued his Operation Plan No. 1–42 on 16 July 1942. It was to govern the execution of Task One which was to be divided into three phases. The first would be a rehearsal in the Fiji Islands; the second would be the seizure and occupation of

Tulagi Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island——in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 18 ...

and

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

( Operation Watchtower). Additionally, the task force executed Operation Cleanslate on the

Russell Islands :''See also Russell Island (disambiguation).'' The Russell Islands are two small islands ( Pavuvu and Mbanika), as well as several islets, of volcanic origin, in the Central Province of Solomon Islands. They are located approximately northwest o ...

in August 1942. The projected occupation of Ndeni in the Santa Cruz Islands would be the third and final phase. Operation Plan No. 1–42 organized two forces, Task Forces 61 and 63. The Expeditionary Force of eighty-two ships (designated as Task Force 61), was to be commanded by Vice-Admiral

Frank Jack Fletcher Frank Jack Fletcher (April 29, 1885 – April 25, 1973) was an admiral in the United States Navy during World War II. Fletcher commanded five different task forces through WWII; he was the operational task force commander at the pivotal battle ...

, and included the amphibious force of Task Group 61.2 under Rear Admiral

Richmond K. Turner Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner (May 27, 1885 – February 12, 1961), commonly known as Admiral Kelly Turner, served in the United States Navy during World War II, and is best known for commanding the Amphibious Force during the campaign across ...

, escorted by the vessels of Task Group 61.1 Rear Admiral

Leigh Noyes Leigh Noyes (December 15, 1885 – March 24, 1961) was a Vice Admiral in the United States Navy during World War II. He was Director of Naval Communications before the outbreak of World War II and later served as Commander, Carrier Division 3 an ...

. The main landing force was to be the 1st Marine Division. Later, in October 1942, the Task Force, now under Rear Admiral

Thomas C. Kinkaid Thomas Cassin Kinkaid (3 April 1888 – 17 November 1972) was an admiral in the United States Navy, known for his service during World War II. He built a reputation as a "fighting admiral" in the aircraft carrier battles of 1942 and commanded t ...

, confronted a force directed by Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in the same area. In late October, the Task Force consisted of the USS ''Enterprise'', USS ''South Dakota'', the cruisers USS ''Portland'' and USS ''San Juan'', and eight destroyers. The Task Force formed one of the two U.S. carrier groups that took part in the

Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, fought during 25–27 October 1942, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Santa Cruz or Third Battle of Solomon Sea, in Japan as the Battle of the South Pacific ( ''Minamitaiheiyō kaisen''), was the fourt ...

. As such it represented the combined command of

Task Force 11 Task Force 11 (TF 11 or alternately Commander Task Force 11, CTF 11) is a designation that has been used by the United States armed forces for two separate units. World War II During World War II, Task Force 11 was a United States Navy aircraft ...

Task Force 16 Task Force 16 (TF16) was one of the most storied task forces in the United States Navy, a major participant in a number of the most important battles of the Pacific War. It was formed in mid-February 1942 around ''Enterprise'' (CV-6), with Vic ...

and

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 accomplish ...

. Task Force 61 was dissolved in the Pacific Theater and became Task Group 92.4 while TF-61 was reactivated in the Atlantic under the Royal Navy command, and participated in convoy escort duties, although initially it included US Navy Destroyer Division 60, Destroyer Escort Division 5, and a number of

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

and

Free French Navy The Free French Naval Forces (french: Forces Navales Françaises Libres, or FNFL) were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Émile Muselier. History In the wake of the Armistic ...

vessels. In May 1944 it included , ''Richelieu'', , the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...

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 thi ...

HNLMS ''Tromp'', 21st Carrier Squadron, and HM Destroyers , , , and .

Cold War

The TF 61 designation has been used in the Mediterranean since the late 1940s. In the early 1960s the Task Force included rotation of Amphibious Squadron Six CTF , and Amphibious Squadron Four CTF . On 22 July 1974, 466 foreign nationals were air-lifted via helicopter to the and of Task Force 61 for transport to Beirut, Lebanon.Polmar et al. ''Chronology of the Cold War at Sea'', p. 153. U.S. naval forces in the area remained on high state of readiness through 2 September 1974 as the situation on Cyprus began to stabilize. In 1982, during the Multi-National Force deployment to Lebanon, the Commander, Amphibious Task Force (CTF 61) was designated Commander, U.S. Forces Lebanon.

Fiction literature

Task Force 61 is the subject of several

military fiction Military fiction is a genre of fiction, focusing on military activities, such as war, battles, combat, fighting; or military life. Classes of military fiction Types of military fiction include: * War novels, including written military fiction * ...

novels by David Poyer.

Notes

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References

* Lane, Kerry, ''Guadalcanal Marine'', University Press of Mississippi, 2004 * Griffith, Samuel B., The Battle for Guadalcanal, University of Illinois Press, 2000 * Andrews, Jr., Lewis M., Andrews, Lewis M., ''Tempest, Fire and Foe: Destroyer Escorts in World War II and the Men Who Manned Them'', Trafford Publishing, 2004 United States Navy task forces