Task Force 77

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Task Force 77 has been the aircraft carrier battle/strike force of the Seventh Fleet in the United States Navy (USN) since the Seventh Fleet was formed.

Task Force 77 performed a number of combat deployments, beginning with its mission in the Korean War, where it provided air support and performed interdiction missions as part of the United Nations forces. Task Force 77 had carrier stations in both the Sea of Japan (East Coast Task Force) and the Yellow Sea (West Coast Task Force, designated Task Force 95), the latter consisting of carriers of the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, and USN escort carriers due to its proximity to the People's Republic of China. Seventeen USN, one RAN, and five RN carriers served in United Nations carrier operations at some point in time during the Korean War.

Between conflicts Task Force 77 was held in readiness for supporting French operations during the siege of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, and off Formosa (now Taiwan) during the several Quemoy-Matsu Crises. It also conducted limited operations over Laos in 1962 and 1964 before the commitment of U.S. combat forces to the Vietnam War.

During the Vietnam War Task, Force 77 conducted carrier strike operations from the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea for nine years, from 1964 to 1973. Twenty-one of the Navy's 23 operational carriers made at least one cruise in the Task Force and served over 9,100 days on the line.