The Philippine Sea Frontier (PHILSEAFRON) was a

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 ...

Sea Frontier active in 1941, and reformed in 1944. On 8 December 1941 it was part of the 16th Naval District, a component of the

United States 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 ...

. (Naval Coastal Frontier until 6 February 1942) Inactive from 6 May 1942 to 13 November 1944) Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell: 7 December 1941--18 March 1942 Captain Kenneth M. Hoeffel: 18 March 1942--6 May 1942 The Philippine Sea Frontier (Rear Admiral James L. Kauffman, Commander) was reestablished as a separate command under Commander Seventh Fleet (Southwest Pacific Area) on 13 November 1944. Rear Admiral J. L. Kauffman embarked in the amphibious force command ship to establish his temporary headquarters aboard while the ship was berthed at San Pedro Bay,

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

as Commander, Philippine Sea Frontier, from 29 November to 2 December 1944. Kauffman was later promoted to vice admiral. He was charged with the mission of safeguarding and protecting shipping in the area under his cognizance. He maintained an Operations Board at his headquarters at Tolosa,

, on which was kept a running record of the scheduled and actual arrival and departure of vessels of all categories in the area under his cognizance. His Headquarters was given intelligence of all

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

activity in the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a List of seas#Marginal seas by ocean, marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean east of the list of islands of the Philippines, Philippine Archipelago (hence the name) and the List of seas#Largest seas ...

. During the period of the loss of the cruiser , Commander, Philippine Sea Frontier, Vice Admiral Kauffman was absent from his command since 1 July 1945, on temporary duty status in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

; Commodore Norman C. Gillette was in temporary command; and the Operations Officer of the Headquarters Staff, Captain A. M. Granum, was intensively occupied in diversion of shipping in

typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

areas and operations.USS Indianapolis
/ref> Vice Admiral Kauffman handed over command on 2 September 1945. served as a unit of Submarines, Philippine Sea Frontier, from September 1945 to April 1946.

References

* Samuel Eliot Morison. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II... Victory in the Pacific 1945. .

External links

Admiral Richard Bates Papers

reported to General Douglas MacArthur as Commander Philippine Sea Frontier. In May 1946, Vice Admiral Kauffman...
Philippine Sea Frontier {{US-mil-stub