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52-600: 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–Hickam , Hawaii , with large secondary facilities at Naval Air Station North Island , California . A Pacific Fleet was created in 1907 when

104-404: A Japanese reinforcement group belatedly arrived on the scene and, in retiring, sank USS  Strong with a long-range torpedo shot. After another trip to Rice Anchorage with supplies and ammunition, Schley sailed from Espiritu Santo on 1 August for overhaul at Mare Island . Schley left the west coast for Pearl Harbor on 7 October, but engine repairs at Pearl Harbor took most of the rest of

156-761: A large number of other vessels: USS  Midway , USS  Curts , USS  Rodney M. Davis , USS  Thach , USS  Arkansas , USS  McClusky , USS  St. Louis , USS  San Bernardino , MV  1st Lt Lummus , MV  American Condor , USS  Niagara Falls , USNS  Ponchatoula , USNS Passumpsic , USNS  Hassayampa , USS  Haleakala , USNS  Spica , USS  Cape Cod . (CNA, 1994, 113) Further operations included JTF Marianas (August–September 1992) and JTF Hawaii (September–October 1992). Other contingency operation after 1991 included Operation Sea Angel (Bangladesh relief) (led by Commander III Marine Expeditionary Force ), Operation Eastern Exit , and involvement in

208-531: A mission to deliver aircraft to Wake Island , while Lexington had just departed on a similar mission to Midway . The Amphibious Force was formally known as Commander, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet ( ComPhibPac ). On 7 December 1941 the Amphibious Force comprised the Army's 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, under Army operational control, the 2nd Marine Division , the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing ,

260-574: A patrol and escort vessel, and operated as a transport between the Solomons , the New Hebrides, American Samoa , and New Zealand . Schley first participated in a landing under combat conditions on 30 June at New Georgia . With two other APDs and some smaller ships, she put troops ashore at Wickham Anchorage at the southwest end of Vangunu . On 5 July, she landed a second group of troops at Rice Anchorage , New Georgia. During this operation,

312-474: A retreat is taking place, or that upon the one an army is acting defensively, whilst an offensive is being carried on upon the other. Such a clearly defined idea as this is not capable of universal application; it is here used merely to indicate the line of distinction. Theater of operations (TO) is a sub-area within a theater of war. The boundary of a TO is defined by the commander who is orchestrating or providing support for specific combat operations within

364-517: A theater. The Russian-language term for a military "theater" is театр военных действий , teatr voennykh deistvii (literally: "theater of military operations"), abbreviated ТВД , TVD . This geographical division aids strategic and operational planning, allowing military operations of fronts . Fronts were originally named in accordance with their theater of operations; for example the Southwestern Front (Russian Empire) (1914–1918),

416-609: A year. On 13 December 1942, she departed Hawaiian waters for conversion into a fast transport at the Puget Sound Navy Yard . Schley was reclassified APD-14 effective 6 February 1943. Schley returned to Pearl Harbor on 22 February and proceeded to the New Hebrides , arriving at Espiritu Santo on 27 March. In the South Pacific , she trained intensively with Marine raiders and other troops, acted as

468-761: The Mayaguez Incident of 1975, as well as post-Vietnam related operations such as Operation New Arrivals . The RIMPAC exercise series began in 1971. On 7 March 1984, the Secretaries of Transportation and Navy signed a Memorandum of Agreement which created the Maritime Defense Zones (MDZ). The Pacific MDZ is an echelon three Navy command under the Commander U.S. Pacific Fleet. The Pacific MDZ has responsibility for coastal defense up to 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) around

520-781: The 1st Ukrainian Front (1943–1945, which fought in Ukraine, Poland, Germany, and Czechoslovakia), and the Northern Front (Soviet Union) (June to August 1941). In peacetime, lacking the urgencies of a strategic direction, fronts were transformed into military regions (districts) responsible for an assigned section of operations. In 1986 the U.S. Department of Defense's Soviet Military Power identified ten continental and four oceanic TVDs, however, most being merely geographical areas without forces or headquarters: North American, South American, African, Australian, Antarctic, Arctic Ocean, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and Pacific. Four others -

572-1039: The Asiatic Squadron and the Pacific Squadron were combined. In 1910, the ships of the First Squadron were organized back into a separate Asiatic Fleet . The General Order 94 of 6 December 1922 organized the United States Fleet , with the Battle Force as the Pacific presence. Until May 1940, the Battle Force was stationed on the West Coast of the United States . Headquarters, battleships, aircraft carriers and heavy cruisers were stationed at San Pedro close to

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624-673: The Battle of Dutch Harbor . The Submarine Force began a sustained campaign of commerce raiding against Japan's merchant marine , beginning the first day of the war, which ultimately claimed 1,314 ships totalling about 5.3 million tons (by the imperfect postwar reckoning of the Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee , JANAC). The West Loch disaster occurred at Pearl Harbor on 21 May 1944. The Pacific Fleet took part in Operation Magic Carpet ,

676-912: The Battle of Guam , the Marshalls-Gilberts raids , the Doolittle Raid , the Solomon Islands campaign , the Battle of the Coral Sea , the Battle of Midway , the Battle of the Eastern Solomons , the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands , the Battle of the Philippine Sea , the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign , the Battle of Leyte Gulf , and the Battle of Okinawa . More minor battles included

728-770: The Far East Military District and the Transbaikal Military District . An official military encyclopedia published after the Fall of the Soviet Union stated, said Harrison, that the Soviet Pacific Fleet , an air army , and an air defence corps were also operationally subordinated to the new formation; and that the high command "coordinated" with the armies of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Mongolia. The headquarters

780-485: The Long Beach Naval Shipyard . Light cruisers, destroyers and submarines were stationed at San Diego . During the summer of 1940, as part of the U.S. response to Japanese expansionism , the fleet was instructed to take an "advanced" position at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii. Admiral James O. Richardson , the fleet's commander, strongly opposed long-term basing at Pearl Harbor, feeling that it would leave

832-634: The Mediterranean Sea . On 24 January 1919 at Taranto , Italy , she embarked Rear Admiral Mark L. Bristol , Senior American Naval Officer in Turkey , and transported him to Constantinople . Schley next assumed duty in the Adriatic Sea , acting as station ship at Pola , Italy, from 17 February to 15 April, and then visiting Italian and Yugoslav ports on the Adriatic until heading for

884-738: The Somali Civil War – 'Restore Hope'. During 'Restore Hope,' Navy command arrangements underwent a number of changes during the operation. At the start, the principal naval forces were the Ranger battle group (with Commander, Carrier Group One embarked on USS  Ranger as Commander, Naval Forces), the Kitty Hawk battle group, an amphibious task unit including USS  Tripoli , USS  Juneau , USS  Rushmore , and MV Lummus , and three ships from MPSRON TWO (MV Anderson , MV Bonnyman , and MV Phillips ). Other events led to

936-490: The United States on 2 July. Schley returned to San Diego on 8 September 1919 and, except for trips to San Francisco for repairs, remained there until she was placed out of commission, in reserve , on 1 June 1922. With Europe again at war and war threatening in the Pacific Ocean , Schley was recommissioned at San Diego on 3 October 1940. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 17 December for patrols and exercises there

988-483: The 2nd Defense Battalion (see Marine defense battalions ), and a depot. One of PhibPac's subordinate commands during World War II was Transports, Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet, or TransPhibPac. The commander of TransPhibPac was known as ComTransPhibPac. In addition to the ships assigned directly to the Pacific Fleet, Destroyer Division 80, consisting of the destroyers Schley , Chew , Ward and Allen ,

1040-515: The APD group that occupied the small islands at the mouth of Leyte Gulf , clearing the way for the invasion of Leyte three days later. After a month of convoy operations, Schley joined the task group which carried out landings in Ormoc Bay on 7 December. The group came under intense kamikaze attack; although her sister ship , Ward , was sunk, Schley escaped damage. She then participated in

1092-779: The Far Eastern, Western, South-Western, and Southern, had identified headquarters established in 1979 and 1984. Plans appear to have existed to form a Northwestern TVD headquarters on the basis of the Staff of the Leningrad Military District . In their most modern form, High Commands for the TVDs were first reestablished in February 1979 for the Far East. Harrison wrote in the 2020s that the new command encompassed

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1144-657: The Fleet consisted of the Battle Force, Scouting Force , Base Force, Amphibious Force ( ComPhibPac ), Cruiser Force ( COMCRUPAC ), Destroyer Force ( COMDESPAC ), and the Submarine Force ( COMSUBPAC ). Also in Hawaii was the Fourteenth Naval District , commanded by Rear Admiral Claude C. Bloch . § = Divisional flagship These nine battleships were intended to counterbalance the ten battleships of

1196-539: The Imperial Japanese Navy. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor , Pennsylvania was in dry dock undergoing maintenance, and Colorado was in the midst of a refit at Bremerton Navy Yard , Washington . When the attack took place, all three carriers were absent – Saratoga was in San Diego collecting her air group following a major refit, Enterprise was en route back to Hawaii following

1248-576: The Japanese Combined Fleet carried out the attack on Pearl Harbor, drawing the United States into World War II in the Pacific. The Pacific Fleet's Battle Line took the brunt of the attack, with two battleships destroyed, two salvageable but requiring lengthy reconstruction, and four more lightly to moderately damaged, forcing the U.S. Navy to rely primarily on aircraft carriers and submarines for many months afterward. Subsequently, Pacific Fleet engagements during World War II included

1300-643: The Naval portion of the Joint and Combined Exercise Northern Edge , and coordinates high-visibility U.S. Navy ship visits throughout Alaska in support of public relations and recruiting initiatives. The very large PACEX 89 in the North Pacific involved the USN, Canadian Navy, Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force , and ROK Navy. At the end of Exercise PACEX '89 a 54-ship formation was assembled for photos. It included

1352-517: The Pacific Fleet, notably USS  Mobile Bay , a Ticonderoga -class cruiser , provided support to the entry of INTERFET in East Timor in 1999. Between 25 and 27 March 2006, Carrier Strike Group Nine participated in a series of anti-submarine warfare exercises (ASW) in Hawaiian waters while en route to the U.S. Seventh Fleet 's area of responsibility. In addition to the strike group,

1404-466: The Philippine Sea, chopped to JTF Philippines. During the operations, the carriers maintained deck alerts and 24-hour coverage of Manila with E-2C aircraft. Around 10 September 1990, USS  Princeton and USS  Reuben James visited Vladivostok . This marked the first United States Navy visit to the Soviet Union 's Pacific port of Vladivostok since before World War II. Before the visit

1456-628: The TO. Theater of operations is divided into strategic directions or military regions depending on whether it is a war or peacetime. Unified combatant commands of the Department of Defense (United States) have responsibility for military activities (combat and non-combat) within their area of responsibility . The Soviet and Russian Armed Forces classify a large geographic subdivision—such as continental geographic territories with their bordering maritime areas, islands, adjacent coasts and airspace—as

1508-553: The U.S. Pacific Fleet's surface ships were to be reorganized into six core battle groups and eight destroyer squadrons. Permanent core battle groups were to include a battle group commander, aircraft carrier, carrier air wing and at least two cruisers. Commander, Naval Surface Forces Pacific : In 1996 two carrier battle groups were sent to the Taiwan area during the Third Taiwan Straits Crisis . Later ships of

1560-545: The U.S. West Coast, Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii during times of hostility. On 1 October 1990, Commander U.S. Naval Forces Alaska (COMUSNAVAK) was established as the Naval Component Commander to Commander, Alaskan Command (COMALCOM). Since its inception, COMUSNAVAK has grown to become responsible for coordinating all Navy activity in the Alaska and Aleutian area, for detailed planning and coordination for

1612-506: The area of active fighting, and the communications zone, or area required for administration of the theater. As the armies advanced, both these zones and the areas into which they were divided would shift forward to new geographic areas of control. USS Schley (DD-103) USS Schley (DD-103) was a Wickes -class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I and later designated, APD-14 in World War II . She

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1664-492: The assault on Manila Bay and, two days later, put troops ashore under enemy fire on Corregidor , climaxing and completing her operations in the Philippines. Schley departed Manila Bay on the 19th and left the Philippines for Ulithi on 25 February. She then escorted convoys in the western Pacific, and was briefly at Okinawa with one from 26 April to 28 April. On 29 May, Schley arrived at San Diego for repairs, and

1716-544: The crew of a wrecked American gasoline barge off Wakde Island and then sank two Japanese barges and silenced an enemy shore battery . The busy ship landed troops on Biak on 27 May and at Cape Sansapor at the western end of New Guinea on 30 July. She then proceeded to Australia for repairs. Schley next participated in two important preliminaries for the reconquest of the Philippines . She landed troops on Morotai on 9 September, and, on 17 October, formed part of

1768-505: The departure of the carriers and, as a result, Commander, Naval Forces responsibilities devolved first to Commander, Carrier Group Three, on Kitty Hawk , and thence to Commander, Amphibious Group Three. Finally Commander, Amphibious Squadron 3 became COMNAVFOR on 15 January with the departure of COMPHIGRU THREE after the completion of the MPF offload. (CNA, 1994, 168) In 1995, Pacific Fleet surface ships were reshuffled. Effective 1 October 1995,

1820-487: The exercise also included the nuclear-powered attack submarines Seawolf , Cheyenne , Greeneville , Tucson , and Pasadena , as well as land-based P-3 Orion aircraft from Commander Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 2 and associated patrol squadrons VP-4 , VP-9 , and VP-47 . As of 2011, the Pacific Fleet has authority over: Naval shore commands over which USPACFLT has authority: Theater (warfare) In his book On War , Carl von Clausewitz defines

1872-519: The flagship, USS  Blue Ridge , the USS ; Enterprise Battle Group, the USS  Carl Vinson Battle Group, two battleship surface action groups formed around USS  New Jersey and USS  Missouri , and a Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force task force. Missouri and New Jersey performed a simultaneous gunfire demonstration for the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Nimitz during PACEX. The highlight of PacEx for Missouri

1924-589: The fleet vulnerable to Japanese attack, and personally protested the move in Washington, D.C. Political considerations were thought sufficiently important that he was relieved by Admiral Husband E. Kimmel , who was in command at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor . The Pacific Fleet was formally recreated on 1 February 1941, when General Order 143 split the United States Fleet into separate Atlantic, Pacific, and Asiatic Fleets . On 7 December,

1976-490: The landings at Mindoro on 15 December 1944 and at Lingayen on 9 January 1945; and, during each operation, evaded an attacking kamikaze . At Mindoro, American planes shot down the kamikaze a scant thousand yards from Schley . At Lingayen, the kamikaze veered off at the last minute to attack another ship but missed. Schley remained on patrol off Lingayen until 18 January. On 15 February, she landed troops at Mariveles Bay in order to cut off Japanese escape routes during

2028-413: The next month. On 22 April, she participated in the landings at Aitape , putting troops ashore and providing gunfire support. The next day at Tumleo Island , her boats landed troops from a larger transport while Schley again provided gunfire support . After repairs to a damaged propeller, Schley landed a company of troops on Niroemoar Island to set up a radar unit on 19 May. The next day, she rescued

2080-419: The next year. When Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the destroyer was moored in a nest of ships undergoing overhaul and, as her guns were dismantled, was able to do little besides reply with small arms fire. Her overhaul was rushed to completion; and, on 20 December, she took up a patrol station off the channel approaching Pearl Harbor. She operated there and off Honolulu for almost

2132-421: The rest of the space embraced in the war. Such a portion is not a mere piece of the whole, but a small whole complete in itself; and consequently it is more or less in such a condition that changes which take place at other points in the seat of war have only an indirect and no direct influence upon it. To give an adequate idea of this, we may suppose that on this portion an advance is made, whilst in another quarter

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2184-777: The return of U.S. servicemen, after the end of the Second World War. The organization of the Pacific Fleet in January 1947 is shown in Hal M. Friedman's Arguing over the American Lake: Bureaucracy and Rivalry in the U.S. Pacific, 1945–1947. Since 1950, the Pacific Fleet has been involved in the Korean War , the Vietnam War , the two Taiwan Straits Crises , and a number of other operations including

2236-414: The term Kriegstheater (translating the older, 17th-century Latin term theatrum belli ) as one that: Denotes properly such a portion of the space over which war prevails as has its boundaries protected, and thus possesses a kind of independence. This protection may consist of fortresses, or important natural obstacles presented by the country, or even in its being separated by a considerable distance from

2288-676: The versatility of the small, fast transports. She arrived on 17 February and, that night, put her troops ashore on Bpgon Island to prevent enemy infiltration from Engebi, which American troops had invaded earlier in the day. The next morning, she began seizing the remaining islands west of the main island of Eniwetok. That day, her troops captured five islands and helped to secure Engebi and Bogon . On 24 February, after transferring her troops to other transports, she got underway for Kwajalein to escort two transports from that atoll to her new area of operations, New Guinea . Schley arrived off New Guinea on 12 March and conducted convoy operations for

2340-496: The year. On 30 December 1943, she arrived at San Diego to join the task force training for the invasion of the Marshall Islands . The force sailed from the west coast on 13 January 1944 and arrived off Kwajalein on 31 January. Schley landed her troops that day and then performed antisubmarine patrol duty until she reembarked her troops on 7 February. She sailed for Eniwetok a week later. Her activities there showed

2392-882: Was a port visit in Pusan , Republic of Korea . Other operations undertaken since include participation in the Alaskan Oil Spill Joint Task Force, including participation of Commander, Amphibious Group Three, as deputy CJTF. This was the defence response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill of March 1989. Also, the Pacific Fleet was involved in Joint Task Force Philippines during the December 1989 coup attempt there, which involved two carrier battle groups, USS Midway and USS Enterprise -with their associated air wings operating in

2444-534: Was assigned directly to the Fourteenth Naval District for the defence of the base and the fleet. In December 1941, the fleet consisted of nine battleships , three aircraft carriers , 12 heavy cruisers , eight light cruisers , 50 destroyers , 33 submarines , and 100 patrol bombers . This was approximately the fleet's strength at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That day,

2496-714: Was completed, the crew received word that their Pacific cruise was canceled. They returned to Long Beach and joined the USS  Ranger Battle Group preparing to deploy to the Persian Gulf . During Operation Fiery Vigil in June 1991, the following vessels and groups participated in the sealift phase of the evacuation: the Abraham Lincoln battle group (COMCARGRU 3 embarked): USS  Abraham Lincoln , USS  Long Beach , USS  Lake Champlain , USS  Merrill , USS  Gary , USS  Ingraham , USS  Roanoke , Amphibious Ready Group Alpha (COMPHIBRON 3 embarked): USS  Peleliu , USS  Cleveland , USS  Comstock , USS  Bristol County , and

2548-411: Was defined in the American field manuals as the land and sea areas to be invaded or defended, including areas necessary for administrative activities incident to the military operations (chart 12). In accordance with the experience of World War I , it was usually conceived of as a large land mass over which continuous operations would take place and was divided into two chief areas—the combat zone, or

2600-406: Was redesignated DD-103 effective 5 July "for duty as rear-area escort and training vessel", as she was then too worn out for further front-line service. She was still under overhaul when the war ended, and after being made seaworthy, sailed on 17 September 1945 for inactivation at Philadelphia . Schley was decommissioned on 9 November 1945 and struck from the Navy list on 5 December 1945. Scrapping

2652-463: Was set up at Ulan-Ude , near Lake Baikal . The RAND Corporation said in 1984 that the Soviet air and ground forces in Mongolia [subordinate to the Transbaikal Military District] and elements of the Mongolian Ground Forces and Mongolian Air Force were also at its disposal. In September 1984 three more High Commands were established: the Western (HQ Legnica ), South-Western (HQ Kishinev ), and Southern (HQ Baku ) The term theater of operations

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2704-457: Was the first ship named in honor of Winfield Scott Schley . Schley was laid down on 29 October 1917 by Union Iron Works , San Francisco, California . The ship was launched on 28 March 1918, sponsored by Miss Eleanor Martin. The destroyer was commissioned on 20 September 1918, Commander Robert C. Giffen in command. Schley sailed from San Diego on 10 October 1918 for the east coast and, on 12 November, departed New York for

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