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The 7th Fleet was formed on March
15, 1943
in Brisbane,
Australia, during World
War II. It served in the South
West Pacific Area (SWPA) under General Douglas
MacArthur, and the 7th Fleet commander also served as commander
of Allied
naval forces in the SWPA.
Most of the ships of the Royal
Australian Navy were also part of the fleet during 1943–45.
The 7th Fleet formed a large part of the Allied forces at the Battle
of Leyte Gulf, October 1944,
which is often said to have been the largest
naval battle in history. After the end of the war, the 7th Fleet
relocated to Japan.
After the war, on January 1, 1947, the Fleet's name was changed
to Naval Forces Western Pacific. On August 19, 1949, just prior to
the outbreak of the Korean War, the force was designated as United
States Seventh Task Fleet. On February 11, 1950 the force assumed
the name United States Seventh Fleet, which it holds today.
Seventh Fleet units participated in every major operation of the Korean
War. The first Navy jet aircraft used in combat was launched
from a Task
Force 77 aircraft carrier on July
3, 1950.
The landings at Inchon,
Korea were conducted by Seventh Fleet amphibious ships. The
battleships Iowa, New
Jersey, Missouri
and Wisconsin
all served as flagships
for Commander US Seventh Fleet during the Korean
War.
Over the next decade the Seventh Fleet responded to numerous
crisis situations including contingency operations conducted in Laos
in 1959
and Thailand
in 1962.
During the Vietnam
War, Seventh Fleet engaged in combat operations against enemy
forces through attack carrier air strikes, naval gunfire support,
amphibious operations, patrol and reconnaissance operations and mine
warfare. After the 1973 cease-fire,
the Fleet conducted mine countermeasure operations in the coastal
waterways of North
Vietnam. Two years later, ships and aircraft of the Fleet
evacuated thousands of US citizens and refugees from South
Vietnam and Cambodia
as those countries fell to opposing forces.
A carrier task force of the Seventh Fleet, Task Force 74, made a
U.S. incursion into the Bay of Bengal at the height of the Indo-Pakistani
War of 1971 in December 1971.
Task Force 74 comprised the nuclear-armed carrier USS
Enterprise, the amphibious assault carrier USS
Tripoli, four destroyers, three guided-missile escorts,
and a nuclear-powered attack submarine.
On December 15, a day before the surrender of East Pakistan, the
task force entered the Bay of Bengal, at a distance of some 1,760 km
from Dhaka.
Although the objective of this naval deployment appeared to be an
attempt to assist Pakistan, the nature and extent of this assistance
remained unclear.
Since Vietnam, the Seventh Fleet has participated in a
joint/combined exercise called Team
Spirit, conducted with the Republic
of Korea armed forces. With capability to respond to any
contingency, Fleet operations are credited with maintaining security
during the Asian
Games of 1986 and the Seoul
Olympics of 1988. During 1989, Seventh Fleet units participated
in a variety of exercises called PACEX,
the largest peacetime exercises since World War II.
In response to the August
2, 1990
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, President George
H. W. Bush ordered Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet to assume
additional responsibilities as Commander, U.S.
Naval Forces Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT). The Fleet Commander
departed Yokosuka,
Japan immediately, heading for the Persian
Gulf, and joined the remainder of his staff aboard the flagship USS
Blue Ridge on September
1, 1990.
During Operation
Desert Shield/Storm, COMUSNAVCENT exercised command and control
of the largest US Navy armada since World War II. At the peak of
combat operations, over 130 US Navy ships joined more than 50 allied
ships from a multi-national force to conduct maritime intercept
operations, minesweeping and combat strike operations against enemy
forces in Iraq
and Kuwait.
COMUSNAVCENT included six aircraft carrier battle groups, two
battleships, two hospital ships, 31 amphibious assault ships, four
minesweeping vessels and numerous combatants in support of allied
air and ground forces. After a decisive allied victory in the Persian
Gulf War, Commander US Seventh Fleet relinquished control of
COMUSNAVCENT to Commander, Middle East Force on April
24, 1991
and returned to Yokosuka, Japan to continue the duties of Commander,
US Seventh Fleet.
Following the end of the Cold
War, the two major military scenarios in which the 7th Fleet
would be used would be in case of conflict in Korea
or a conflict between People's
Republic of China and the Republic
of China (Taiwan) in the Taiwan
Strait.
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