United States Third Fleet

The Third Fleet is one of seven 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 Sea, Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and a sector of the Arctic. Major oil and trade sea lines of communication within this area are critically important to the economic health of the United States and friendly nations throughout the Pacific Rim region.^[1]

History

The Third Fleet was originally formed during World War II on 15 March 1943 under the command of Admiral William F. Halsey. Its on-shore headquarters in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was established on 15 June 1944. The fleet operated in and around the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, Taiwan, Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands with the USS New Jersey and (from May 1945 to the end of the war), the USS Missouri as its flagship. It also operated in Japanese waters launching attacks on Tokyo, the naval base at Kure and the island of Hokkaidō as well as bombardments of several Japanese coastal cities.

The ships of the Third Fleet also formed the basis of the Fifth Fleet, which was the designation of the "Big Blue Fleet" when under the command of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. Spruance and Halsey would alternate command of the fleet for major operations, allowing the other admiral and his staff time to prepare for the subsequent one. A secondary benefit was confusing the Japanese into thinking that they were actually two separate fleets as the fleet designation flipped back and forth.

Embarked aboard his flagship Missouri, Admiral Halsey led his fleet into Tokyo Bay on 29 August 1945. On 2 September, the documents of surrender of the Japanese Empire ending the war were signed on her decks. Third Fleet remained in Japanese waters until late September when its ships were directed to sail for the West Coast of the United States. On 7 October 1945 Third Fleet was designated a reserve fleet and decommissioned from active status.

On 1 February 1973, following a reorganization of the Pacific Fleet, the Third Fleet was recommissioned as an active fleet and assumed the duties of the former First Fleet and Pacific Anti-Submarine Warfare Force located at Ford Island, Hawaii. Third Fleet trains naval forces for overseas deployment and evaluates state-of-the-art technology for fleet use. Additionally, Third Fleet could deploy in the event of a major conflict.

On 26 November 1986, Commander, Third Fleet shifted his flag from his headquarters ashore to resume status as an afloat commander for the first time since World War II, aboard USS Coronado. In August 1991, Third Fleet’s commander, his staff and the command ship Coronado shifted homeports to San Diego, California. In September 2003, Commander, Third Fleet shifted his flag from the command ship Coronado to headquarters ashore at Point Loma, San Diego, California.^[2]

USS Ronald Reagan and other U.S. Third Fleet ships participated in the International Fleet Review (IFR) commemorating the 100th birthday of the Royal Canadian Navy in Victoria, British Columbia.^[3] Joining the Reagan for the naval review were the cruiser Chosin, the destroyer Sampson, and the frigate Ford.^[4] The naval review took place 9–12 June 2010, and it involved 21 naval ships and more than 8,000 naval personnel from Canada, France, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.^[5]

Current operations

The U.S. Third Fleet is assigned a number of missions and responsibilities. Third Fleet's primary mission is one of conflict deterrence, but in the event of general war, it would conduct prompt and sustained combat operations at sea to carry out the Pacific Fleet strategy in the theater. Such operations would be executed well forward and early in a conflict to carry out the primary wartime mission of Third Fleet—the defense of the western sea approaches to the United States, including Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The primary means of carrying out these missions are the five Nimitz class aircraft carriers attached to the Third Fleet:

• USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and Carrier Strike Group Eleven
• USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and Carrier Strike Group One
• USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and the Carrier Strike Group Nine
• USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74)and the Carrier Strike Group Three
• USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)and the Carrier Strike Group Fifteen

In addition, Commander, Third Fleet is designated as a Joint Task Force (JTF) Commander. In that capacity, the Commander and his staff may be assigned responsibilities for command of joint U.S. forces deployed in response to a specific event or contingency. As such, the JTF Commander reports via a joint chain of command to a unified commander. The Commander, U.S. Pacific Command is the unified commander in the Pacific theater.

In peacetime, Third Fleet continually trains Navy and Marines forces for their expeditionary warfare mission. In keeping with the Department of the Navy strategic concept "Forward... from the Sea", these forces provide the flexibility and immediate response necessary to react to any emerging crisis from humanitarian and peacekeeping missions to major regional conflicts. These forces are prepared to provide the critical first response in a transition between peacetime operations and escalating regional tensions. If required, these forces carry the power and capabilities necessary to establish and hold an initial foothold to allow larger joint operations to follow on a large scale in the event a major conflict ensues. Finally, when the conflict is resolved, those naval expeditionary forces remain on the scene to help shape the peace and ensure compliance. Third Fleet training has been designed to ensure that deploying forces are fully prepared for joint operations. All training is conducted within a joint environment—employing joint terminology, doctrine, procedures, command and control—to ensure that forces are ready to join with other branches of the Military under a joint command structure.

Task Force units

References

External links

• Commander, United States Navy Third Fleet homepage