Task Force 88 (TF88) was the

escort carrier The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...

force, commanded by Rear Admiral Thomas Hope Troubridge 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 ...

, that supported

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil) was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence ( Southern France) on 15August 1944. Despite initially designed to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord ...

, the Allied invasion of southern France. It was activated in August 1944, and dispersed on 29 August when the carrier force departed to operate in the Aegean. TF88 was a mixed task force of Royal Navy and

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 ...

ships that was stationed off

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bo ...

. Its tasks were to achieve

air superiority Aerial supremacy (also air superiority) is the degree to which a side in a conflict holds control of air power over opposing forces. There are levels of control of the air in aerial warfare. Control of the air is the aerial equivalent of com ...

over the landing beaches, provide air support for the ground forces by suppressing enemy resistance and movement, destroying military infrastructure and artillery spotting for the naval bombardment. The TF 88 designation was later used for Operation Argus, an ocean-based US nuclear test series in the late 1950s.

Task Force 88 order of battle

Task Force 88 was made up of two naval groups, 88.1 and 88.2 with VOC-01, a observation composite squadron with 12

Grumman F6F Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United States Navy's dominant fighter in the second ha ...

nightfighters operating out of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

Notes

References

*{{cite book, first=Kev , last= Darling , title=Fleet Air Arm Carrier War: The History of British Naval Aviation, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=re7RAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA100, year=2009, publisher=Pen and Sword, isbn=978-1-84415-903-1, pages=100–101 United States Navy task forces Operation Dragoon