U.S. Atlantic Fleet

The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFF) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) under the authority of the Secretary of Defense. Originally formed as United States Atlantic Fleet (USLANTFLT) in 1906, it has been an integral part of the defense of the United States of America since the early 20th century. In 2002, the Fleet comprised over 118,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel serving on 186 ships and in 1,300 aircraft, with an area of responsibility ranging over most of the Atlantic Ocean from the North Pole to the South Pole, the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the waters of the Pacific Ocean along the coasts of Central and South America (as far west as the Galapagos Islands).

In 2006 the U.S. Atlantic Fleet was renamed United States Fleet Forces Command.

The command is based at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads in Norfolk, Virginia and is the Navy's service component to U.S. Northern Command and is the Joint Functional Maritime Component Command under the U.S. Strategic Command.

The command's mission is to organize, man, train, and equip naval forces for assignment to Unified Command Combatant commanders; to deter, detect, and defend against homeland maritime threats; and to articulate Fleet warfighting and readiness requirements to the Chief of Naval Operations.

History

Expansion and contraction

The Atlantic Fleet was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, at the same time as the Pacific Fleet, as protection for new bases in the Caribbean acquired as a result of the Spanish–American War. The Fleet was a combination of the North Atlantic Fleet and the South Atlantic Squadron.

The first commander of the fleet was Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, who hoisted his flag in the battleship on 1 January 1906. The following year, he took his 16 battleships, now dubbed the Great White Fleet, on a round-the-world cruise that lasted until 1909, a goodwill tour that also served the purpose of advertising the United States' naval strength and reach to all other nations of the globe.

In January 1913 the fleet consisted of six first-line divisions, a torpedo flotilla, submarines, and fleet auxiliaries. The fleet was under the command of Rear Admiral Hugo Osterhaus.
* The First Division, under Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, consisted of (flag), , and .
* The Second Division, under Rear Admiral Nathaniel R. Usher with his flag aboard the , consisted of , , , and .
* The Third Division, under Rear Admiral Cameron McR. Winslow, comprised (flag), , , , and .
* The Fourth Division, under Rear Admiral Frank F. Fletcher, consisted of the , , , , and . (See United States occupation of Veracruz).
* Fifth and Sixth Divisions were made up of protected cruisers, , , , and , , , and .

The Cruiser and Transport Force, under Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves served in Atlantic waters during World War I moving the American Expeditionary Forces to Europe. United States Battleship Division Nine joined the Grand Fleet in the UK.

The Atlantic Fleet was reorganized into the Scouting Force in 1923, which was under the United States Fleet along with the Pacific Fleet. In January 1939 the Atlantic Squadron, United States Fleet, was formed, with Vice Admiral Alfred Wilkinson Johnson commanded. The aircraft carrier was transferred to the Atlantic Ocean, to join three battleships.

On 1 November 1940 the Atlantic Squadron was renamed the Patrol Force. The Patrol Force was organized into type commands: Battleships, Patrol Force; Cruisers, Patrol Force; Destroyers, Patrol Force; and, Train, Patrol Force (the logistics arms).

World War II

On 1 February 1941, the Atlantic Fleet was resurrected and organized from the Patrol Force. Along with the Pacific Fleet and Asiatic Fleet, the fleet was to be under the command of a full admiral, which jumped the fleet's commander Ernest J. King from a two-star to a four-star. King's flagship was .

Subsequently, the headquarters was in a rather odd assortment of ships; the , then the old wooden ship , , and then . In 1948, the HQ moved into the former naval hospital at Norfolk, Virginia, and has remained there ever since.

In July 1942, eight months after the United States entered the war, the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy's America and West Indies Station based at Admiralty House, Bermuda had his title changed to ''Senior British Naval Officer, Western Atlantic.'' visited Bermuda in September, 1941.

Composition of the Atlantic Fleet in December 1941

On 7 December 1941 the Fleet comprised a number of separate components:

*United States Atlantic Fleet - Commander: Admiral Ernest J. King (Flagship: )
**Battleships, Atlantic Fleet (made up of three Battleship Divisions) - Commander: Rear Admiral David M. LeBreton (Flagship: USS ''New York'')
**Aircraft, Atlantic Fleet (made up of one Carrier Division) - Commander: Rear Admiral Arthur B. Cook (Flagship: USS ''Yorktown'')
**Cruisers, Atlantic Fleet (made up of four Cruiser Divisions) - Commander: Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt (Flagship: USS ''Philadelphia'')
**Destroyers, Atlantic Fleet (made up of three Destroyer Flotillas) - Commander: Rear Admiral Ferdinand L. Reichmuth (Flagship: )
**Patrol Wings, Atlantic Fleet (made up of five Patrol Wings) - Commander: Rear Admiral Ernest McWhorter (Flagship: )
**Submarines, Atlantic Fleet (made up of four Submarine Squadrons) - Commander: Rear Admiral Richard S. Edwards (Flagship: )

§ = Divisional flagship

=Battleships, Atlantic Fleet

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Battleships, Atlantic Fleet was made up of three Battleship Divisions

*Battleship Division 3 (Rear Admiral William R. Munroe)
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*Battleship Division 5 (Rear Admiral David M. LeBreton)
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*Battleship Division 6 (Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox Jr.)
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Of these, Battleship Division 5 was a training unit consisting of the oldest remaining battleships in service, while Division 6 was responsible for working up the two most recently commissioned battleships, ''North Carolina'' and ''Washington''.

=Aircraft, Atlantic Fleet

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*Carrier Division 3 (Rear Admiral Arthur B. Cook)
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*

The aircraft carriers ''Yorktown'' and ''Long Island'' were directly attached to Aircraft, Atlantic Fleet, as was the newly commissioned ''Hornet'', which was in the process of working up.

=Cruisers, Atlantic Fleet

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*Cruiser Division 2 (Rear Admiral Jonas H. Ingram)
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*Cruiser Division 7 (Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen)
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*Cruiser Division 8 (Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt)
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=Destroyers, Atlantic Fleet

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*Destroyer Flotilla Three
**Destroyer Squadron 7
**Destroyer Squadron 9
**Destroyer Squadron 11
*Destroyer Flotilla Four
**Destroyer Squadron 2
**Destroyer Squadron 8
*Destroyer Flotilla Eight
**Destroyer Squadron 27
**Destroyer Squadron 30
**Destroyer Squadron 31

=Patrol Wings, Atlantic Fleet

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*Patrol Wing Three
**VP-31
**VP-32
*Patrol Wing Five
**VP-51
**VP-52
*Patrol Wing Seven
** VP-71
** VP-72
** VP-73
** VP-74
*Patrol Wing Eight
** VP-81
**VP-82

=Submarines, Atlantic Fleet

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*Submarine Squadron One
**Submarine Division 11
**Submarine Division 12
**Experimental Division 1
*Submarine Squadron Three
**Submarine Division 72
*Submarine Squadron Five
**Submarine Division 51
**Submarine Division 52
**Submarine Division 53
*Submarine Squadron Seven
**Submarine Division 31
**Submarine Division 4
**Submarine Division 71

=Other elements of the Atlantic Fleet

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During World War II "Transports, Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet" was part of this command (ComTransPhibLant). Smaller units included the Antisubmarine Development Detachment, Atlantic Fleet (ASDEVLANT) located at Quonset Point, Rhode Island. The detachment was responsible for the study and development of antisubmarine gear during World War II. The Commander of the detachment was known as COMASDEVLANT.

Admiral King was appointed Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet, on 20 December 1941. Rear Admiral Royal E. Ingersoll was designated, with the rank of vice admiral, to relieve him as Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet. He took command on 1 January 1942, and was advanced to the rank of admiral on 1 July 1942. To carry out this mission and other tasks CinCLant had in the meantime been reorganized, as of 1 March 1941, into ten task forces (commanded by flag officers) numbered from one to ten and named according to their intended employment. Task Force One was the Ocean Escort Force, TF2—Striking Force, TF3—Scouting Force, TF4—Support Force, TF5—Submarine Force, TF6—Naval Coastal Frontier Forces, TF7—Bermuda Force, TF8—Patrol Wings, TF9—Service Force, and Task Force 10, 1st Marine Division (commanded by a Brigadier General).

Of many significant engagements, Captain Daniel Gallery's capture of the German submarine U-505 stands out. The capture was so top secret (because of the enigma code books captured) that the ship's flag was kept by the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet, and not handed over to Navy authorities until after the war.

Cold War

On 1 January 1946, Commander Minesweeping Forces, Atlantic Fleet (ComMinLant) was activated to command minesweepers assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. The Commander, Mine Forces, Atlantic was responsible for all Fleet minecraft operations. Units under his command were divided into Minesweeping Squadrons (MineRon)s.

Between 1947 and 1985, the fleet command was a concurrent appointment with the United States Atlantic Command. The Commander-in-Chief Atlantic Fleet (CINCLANTFLT) was traditionally a navy four-star admiral who also then held the positions of Commander-in-Chief United States Atlantic Command (CINCLANT) and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT). But after a major reorganization of the U.S. armed forces structure following the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986, CINCLANFLT was separated from the two other billets. The admiral commanding the Atlantic Fleet was designated as the Deputy Commander in Chief of the Atlantic Command until 1986.

Major crises the Atlantic Fleet was involved in during the Cold War included the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and the 1965 United States occupation of the Dominican Republic.

The general purpose forces of the Army, Navy, and Air Force began to be reorganized in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis on 16 October 1962. The command organization, as finally developed, called for the Commander in Chief, Atlantic (CINCLANT), Admiral Robert Dennison, to provide the unified command. He also retained control of all naval components involved in tactical operations, as the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet. The responsibility for Army and Air Force components was assigned to the Continental Army Command (CONARC) and the Tactical Air Command under the designation of Army Forces, Atlantic (ARLANT), and Air Forces, Atlantic (AFLANT). The commander of the Army XVIII Airborne Corps was designated Joint Task Force Commander to plan for any joint operations that might become necessary. Over-all direction was exercised by the President and the Secretary of Defense through the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who named the Chief of Naval Operations as their representative for the quarantine.

Major elements of the Strategic Army Corps were designated for use by ARLANT and placed in advanced alert status. Logistic support for the more than 100,000 men involved was directed by a newly established Peninsula Base Command. Preparatory steps were taken to make possible the immediate callup of high priority Army National Guard and Army Reserve units. Tactical Air Command moved hundreds of tactical fighter, reconnaissance, and troop carrier aircraft to the southeast. To make room for all these units, the bombers, tankers, and other aircraft not required for the current operations were ordered to other bases in the United States.

From the late 1960s, nuclear ballistic missile submarines of the fleet began to make thousands of deterrent patrols. The first patrol in the Atlantic Fleet area of operations