The U.S. Fourth Fleet is a

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 ...

numbered fleet. It is the Naval Component Command of

U.S. Southern Command The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral, Florida in Greater Miami, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning, o ...

(USSOUTHCOM). The Fourth Fleet is headquartered at

Naval Station Mayport Naval Station Mayport is a major United States Navy base in Jacksonville, Florida. It contains a protected harbor that can accommodate aircraft carrier-size vessels, ship's intermediate maintenance activity (SIMA) and a military airfield (Admi ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which th ...

. It is responsible for U.S. Navy ships, aircraft and submarines operating in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexic ...

, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans around

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...

History

World War II

The 4th Fleet was a major U.S. Navy formation in the

South Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It was originally established to protect the U.S. against Axis surface raiders,

blockade runner A blockade runner is a merchant vessel used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait. It is usually light and fast, using stealth and speed rather than confronting the blockaders in order to break the blockade. Blockade runners usua ...

s, and

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

s. The Fleet was originally a redesignation of the South Atlantic Force. On 12 September 1942, the

Brazilian Navy ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= " Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship '' Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibio ...

was placed under command of the U.S. Navy's Vice Admiral

Jonas Ingram Admiral Jonas Howard Ingram (October 15, 1886 – September 9, 1952) was an officer in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II. He commanded the United States Atlantic Fleet during World War II and was a recipient of the Meda ...

by order of the Brazilian President Vargas. Three days later, on 15 September 1942, Vice Admiral Ingram was appointed as Commander, South Atlantic Force (ComSoLant). Six months later, South Atlantic Force was redesignated the U.S. Fourth Fleet on 15 March 1943. The Fleet worked with Brazil in the South Atlantic using Atlantic Ocean bases at

Recife That it may shine on all (Matthew 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , pushpin_map = Brazil#South Am ...

and elsewhere. The fleet was later commanded by Vice Admiral William Munroe. In all, forces deployed to the 4th Fleet sank 18 German U-boats and one Italian submarine, along with sinking or stopping Axis blockade runners. Three years after its establishment, on April 15, 1945, the Fourth Fleet was dissolved and renamed Task Force 27. Admiral Munroe kept the title and command of Commander, South Atlantic Force. In 1946, the U.S. 4th Reserve Fleet was formed to maintain readiness for war; it was disestablished on January 1, 1947.

2008 reactivation

On 24 April 2008,

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

Gary Roughead announced the reestablishment of the Fourth Fleet. Its formal reestablishment took place on 12 July 2008 at a ceremony at Naval Station Mayport, Florida. The announcement was made before informing foreign governments in the region, several of which expressed concern. The governments of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

made formal inquiries as to the fleet's mission in the region. In

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, President

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...

accused the United States of attempting to frighten the people of Latin America and vowed that his country's new

Sukhoi Su-30 The Sukhoi Su-30 (russian: Сухой Су-30; NATO reporting name: Flanker-C/G/H) is a twin-engine, two-seat supermaneuverable fighter aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by Russia's Sukhoi Aviation Corporation. It is a multirole fighter ...

jets could sink any U.S. ships invading Venezuelan waters. Cuban president

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 20 ...

warned that it could lead to more incidents such as the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis.

Mission

U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (also known as USNAVSO) is the naval element of United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM). Its areas of operation include South America, Central America, the Caribbean and surrounding waters. Its headquarters ...

( USNAVSO) and the Fourth Fleet support USSOUTHCOM joint and combined full-spectrum military operations. They do this by providing principally sea-based forward presence to ensure freedom of maneuver in the maritime domain, to foster and sustain cooperative relationships with international partners, and to fully exploit the sea as maneuver space in order to enhance regional security and promote peace, stability, and prosperity in the Caribbean, Central American, and South American regions. The Fleet has five missions: support for

peacekeeping Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare. Within the United ...

, humanitarian assistance,

disaster relief Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actual ...

, traditional maritime exercises, and counterdrug support operations.

Organization

Naval commanders visit Haiti relief efforts DVIDS249285

Commander, USNAVSO (COMUSNAVSO) also serves as the Navy component commander for USSOUTHCOM. U.S. Fourth Fleet is responsible for U.S. Navy ships, aircraft and submarines operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility, which encompasses the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and surrounding waters. It is an organizational fleet staffed to fulfill a planning and coordination mission; as part of its 2008 reestablishment, no vessels are permanently assigned to the Fourth Fleet. Ships home-ported in the

United States Fleet Forces Command 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 Sta ...

and

United States Third Fleet The United States Third Fleet is one of the numbered fleets in the United States Navy. Third Fleet's area of responsibility includes approximately fifty million square miles of the eastern and northern Pacific Ocean areas including the Bering ...

routinely deploy to the Fourth Fleet area of responsibility (AOR), during which time they are under the operational control of the Fourth Fleet commander. Fourth Fleet headquarters is co-located with USNAVSO headquarters in Naval Station Mayport, Florida, and is commanded by a 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 ...

Fourth Fleet Commanders

* Vice Admiral

Jonas H. Ingram Admiral Jonas Howard Ingram (October 15, 1886 – September 9, 1952) was an officer in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II. He commanded the United States Atlantic Fleet during World War II and was a recipient of the Med ...

(September 1942 11 November 1944) * Vice Admiral

William R. Munroe William Robert Munroe (April 8, 1886 – March 1, 1966) was a decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of Vice Admiral. He trained as submarine commander and at the beginning of World War II, he served as Commander, Battleship ...

(11 November 1944 15 April 1945) * Vice Admiral Thomas R. Cooley (1945 mid 1946) * Vice Admiral

Daniel E. Barbey Vice Admiral Daniel Edward Barbey (23 December 1889 – 11 March 1969) was an officer in the United States Navy who served in World War I and World War II. A graduate of the Naval Academy, he participated in the 1912 United States occupation of ...

(September 1946 March 1947) * Vice Admiral Charles McMorris (mid-1947 July 1948) * Rear Admiral Joseph D. Kernan (1 July 2008 12 June 2009) * Rear Admiral

Victor G. Guillory Victor G. Guillory is a retired United States Navy rear admiral who, in his last position, served as the Commander, United States Fourth Fleet. Early life and career Guillory was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated from Holy Cross School ...

(12 June 2009 5 August 2011) * Rear Admiral Kurt W. Tidd (5 August 2011 22 June 2012) * Rear Admiral Sinclair M. Harris (22 June 2012 17 April 2014) * Rear Admiral George W. Ballance (17 April 2014 12 August 2016) * Rear Admiral Sean Buck (12 August 2016 21 May 2019) *Rear Admiral Donald D. Gabrielson (21 May 2019 present)

References

External links

COMUSNAVSO/C4F Official Website

Navy Times: 4th Fleet returns, gunning for drug smugglers
*Northshorejournal.org
Fourth Fleet is about partnerships
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