The United States Battle Fleet or Battle Force was part of the organization of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

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 fleet comprised the main body of ships in the Navy, with the smaller Scouting Fleet as the Atlantic presence. Most

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

s, including the most modern ones, and new

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s were assigned to the Battle Fleet.

Organization

On 1 September 1923, the Battle Fleet was under the command of Admiral Samuel S. Robison. Battleships, Battle Fleet was under the command of Vice Admiral Henry A. Wiley, with his flag aboard . Battleship Division Three, under Rear Admiral Louis M. Nulton, consisted of (F), under Captain A. M. Proctor, under Captain W. F. Scott, and under Captain H. H. Christy, which was also the Battle Fleet

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

. Battleship Division Four, under Rear Admiral William Veazie Pratt, comprised (F), under Captain J. R. Y. Blakely, , , and . Battleship Division Five under Vice Admiral Wiley himself comprised , , , and . Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet, under Captain A. W. Marshall, comprised (F), , and the tender . Destroyer Squadrons, Battle Fleet, under Rear Admiral Sumner E. W. Kittelle, comprised Destroyer Squadron 11 and Destroyer Squadron 12. Submarine Divisions, Pacific, was under Captain A. Bronson, Jr. In 1930, the name of the fleet was changed to "Battle Force", but the structure remained the same. In 1931, the force was based in Pearl Harbor and consisted of a majority of the United States' surface fleet: all of the newer battleships, all of the carriers, a light cruiser squadron and "three or four" destroyer squadrons were all a part of the Battle Force. In 1939, the Battle Force had five aircraft carriers, 12 battleships, 14

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 ...

s, and 68

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

s.Morison, 28. On 1 February 1941, General Order 143 reorganized the United States Fleet with three separate fleets, the

United States Atlantic Fleet United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

, the

United States Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

and the

Asiatic Fleet The United States Asiatic Fleet was a fleet of the United States Navy during much of the first half of the 20th century. Before World War II, the fleet patrolled the Philippine Islands. Much of the fleet was destroyed by the Japanese by Februar ...

Commander in Chief, Battle Fleet (COMBATFLT)

Commander Battle Force (COMBATFOR)

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book, author=Morison, Samuel Eliot , title=Volume III, The Rising Sun in the Pacific , publisher=Little, Brown and Company , location=Boston and Toronto , year=1948 , id= Fleets of the United States Navy