William Halsey Jr.
Fleet Admiral William Frederick Halsey Jr. KBE, known as Bill Halsey or "Bull" Halsey, was an American admiral in the United States Navy during World War II, he is one of four individuals to have attained the rank of fleet admiral of the United States Navy, the others being Ernest King, William Leahy, Chester W. Nimitz. Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Halsey graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1904. He, during World War I, commanded the destroyer USS Shaw, he took command of the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga in 1935 after completing a course in naval aviation, was promoted to the rank of rear admiral in 1938. At the start of the War in the Pacific, Halsey commanded the task force centered on the carrier USS Enterprise in a series of raids against Japanese-held targets. Halsey was made commander, South Pacific Area, led the Allied forces over the course of the Battle for Guadalcanal and the fighting up the Solomon chain. In 1943 he was made commander of the post he held through the rest of the war.
He took part in the Battle for Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle of the Second World War and, by some criteria, the largest naval battle in history. He was promoted to fleet admiral in December 1945 and retired from active service in March 1947. Halsey was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on October 30, 1882, the son of U. S. Navy Captain William F. Halsey Sr. Through his father he was a descendant of Senator Rufus King, an American lawyer, politician and Federalist. Halsey attended the Pingry School. After waiting two years to receive an appointment to the United States Naval Academy, Halsey decided to study medicine at the University of Virginia and join the Navy as a physician, he chose Virginia because Karl Osterhause, was there. While there, Halsey joined the Delta Psi fraternity and was a member of the secretive Seven Society. After his first year, Halsey received his appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, entered the Academy in the fall of 1900. While attending the academy he lettered in football as a fullback and earned several athletic honors.
Halsey graduated from the Naval Academy on February 2, 1904. Following graduation he spent his early service years in battleships, sailed with the main battle fleet aboard the battleship USS Kansas as Roosevelt's Great White Fleet circumnavigated the globe from 1907 to 1909. Halsey was on the bridge of the battleship USS Missouri on April 13, 1904, when a flareback from the port gun in her after turret ignited a powder charge and set off two others. No explosion occurred, but the rapid burning of the powder burnt and suffocated to death 31 officers and enlisted; this resulted in Halsey dreading the 13th of every month when it fell on a Friday. After his service on Missouri, Halsey served aboard torpedo boats, beginning with USS Du Pont in 1909. Halsey was one of the few officers, promoted directly from ensign to full lieutenant, skipping the rank of lieutenant. Torpedoes and torpedo boats became specialties of his, he commanded the First Group of the Atlantic Fleet's Torpedo Flotilla in 1912 through 1913.
Halsey commanded a number of torpedo boats and destroyers during the 1920s. At that time, the destroyer and the torpedo boat, though hazardous delivery methods, were the most effective way to bring the torpedo into combat against capital ships. Lieutenant Commander Halsey's World War I service, including command of USS Shaw in 1918, earned him the Navy Cross. In October 1922, he was the naval attaché at the American Embassy in Germany. One year he was given additional duty as naval attaché at the American Embassies in Christiania, Norway, he returned to sea duty, again in destroyers in European waters, in command of USS Dale and USS Osborne. Upon his return to the U. S. in 1927, he served one year as executive officer of the battleship USS Wyoming, for three years in command of USS Reina Mercedes, the station ship at the Naval Academy. Captain Halsey continued his destroyer duty on his next two-year stint at sea, starting in 1930 as Commander Destroyer Division Three of the Scouting Force, before returning to study at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.
In 1934 the chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Admiral Ernest King, offered Halsey command of the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, subject to completion of the course of an air observer. Captain Halsey elected to enroll as a cadet for the full 12-week Naval Aviator course rather than the simpler Naval Aviation Observer program. "I thought it better to be able to fly the aircraft itself than to just sit back and be at the mercy of the pilot." Halsey earned his Naval Aviator's Wings on May 15, 1935, at the age of 52, the oldest person to do so in the history of the U. S. Navy. While he had approval from his wife to train as an observer, she learned from a letter after the fact that he had changed to pilot training, she told her daughter, "What do you think that the old fool is doing now? He's learning to fly!" He went on to command Saratoga, the Naval Air Station Pensacola at Pensacola, Florida. Halsey considered airpower an important part of the future navy, commenting, "The naval officer in the next war had better know his aviation, good."
Captain Halsey was promoted to rear admiral in 1938. During this time he commanded carrier divisions and served as the overall commander of the Aircraft Battle Force. Traditional naval doctrine envisioned naval combat fought between opposing battleship gun lines; this view was challenged when army airman General Billy Mitchell demonstrated the capability of aircraft to substantially
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most capable navy in the world and it has been estimated that in terms of tonnage of its active battle fleet alone, it is larger than the next 13 navies combined, which includes 11 U. S. allies or partner nations. With the highest combined battle fleet tonnage and the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with eleven in service, two new carriers under construction. With 319,421 personnel on active duty and 99,616 in the Ready Reserve, the Navy is the third largest of the service branches, it has 282 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of March 2018, making it the second-largest air force in the world, after the United States Air Force. The U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, established during the American Revolutionary War and was disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter.
The U. S. Navy played a major role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy and seizing control of its rivers, it played the central role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The US Navy emerged from World War II as the most powerful navy in the world; the 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a sizable global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, it is a blue-water navy with the ability to project force onto the littoral regions of the world, engage in forward deployments during peacetime and respond to regional crises, making it a frequent actor in U. S. foreign and military policy. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, headed by the civilian Secretary of the Navy; the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is the most senior naval officer serving in the Department of the Navy.
The mission of the Navy is to maintain and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression and maintaining freedom of the seas. The U. S. Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States; the Navy's three primary areas of responsibility: The preparation of naval forces necessary for the effective prosecution of war. The maintenance of naval aviation, including land-based naval aviation, air transport essential for naval operations, all air weapons and air techniques involved in the operations and activities of the Navy; the development of aircraft, tactics, technique and equipment of naval combat and service elements. U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is "to be prepared to conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest." As part of that establishment, the U. S. Navy's functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to "sealift" duties, it follows as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, with it, everything honorable and glorious.
Naval power... is the natural defense of the United States The Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia; the rationale for establishing a national navy was debated in the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, make it easier to seek out support from foreign countries. Detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy the world's preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships and reported the captures to the Congress. On 13 October 1775, the Continental Congress authorized the purchase of two vessels to be armed for a cruise against British merchant ships. S. Navy; the Continental Navy achieved mixed results.
In August 1785, after the Revolutionary War had drawn to a close, Congress had sold Alliance, the last ship remaining in the Continental Navy due to a lack of funds to maintain the ship or support a navy. In 1972, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, authorized the Navy to celebrate its birthday on 13 October to honor the establishment of the Continental Navy in 1775; the United States was without a navy for nearly a decade, a state of affairs that exposed U. S. maritime merchant ships to a series of attacks by the Barbary pirates. The sole armed maritime presence between 1790 and the launching of the U. S. Navy's first warships in 1797 was the U. S. Revenue-Marine, the primary predecessor of the U. S. Coast Guard. Although the USRCS conducted operations against the pirates, their depredations far outstripped its abilities and Congress passed the Naval Act of 1794 that established a permanent standing navy on 27 March 1794; the Naval Act ordered the construction and manning of six frigates and, by October 1797, the first three were brought into service: USS United States, USS Constellation, USS Constitution.
Due to his strong posture on having a strong standing Navy during this period, John Adams is "often called the father of the American Navy". In 1798–99 the Navy was involved in an undeclared Quasi-War with France. From 18
California
California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents, California is the most populous U. S. the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento; the Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 9.7 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, the country's second most populous, after New York City. California has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, its largest county by area, San Bernardino County; the City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. California's $3.0 trillion economy is larger than that of any other state, larger than those of Texas and Florida combined, the largest sub-national economy in the world. If it were a country, California would be the 5th largest economy in the world, the 36th most populous as of 2017.
The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and third-largest urban economies, after the New York metropolitan area. The San Francisco Bay Area PSA had the nation's highest GDP per capita in 2017 among large PSAs, is home to three of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization and four of the world's ten richest people. California is considered a global trendsetter in popular culture, innovation and politics, it is considered the origin of the American film industry, the hippie counterculture, fast food, the Internet, the personal computer, among others. The San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Area are seen as global centers of the technology and entertainment industries, respectively. California has a diverse economy: 58% of the state's economy is centered on finance, real estate services and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5% of the state's economy, California's agriculture industry has the highest output of any U.
S. state. California is bordered by Oregon to the north and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; the state's diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast in the west to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, from the redwood–Douglas fir forests in the northwest to the Mojave Desert in the southeast. The Central Valley, a major agricultural area, dominates the state's center. Although California is well-known for its warm Mediterranean climate, the large size of the state results in climates that vary from moist temperate rainforest in the north to arid desert in the interior, as well as snowy alpine in the mountains. Over time and wildfires have become more pervasive features. What is now California was first settled by various Native Californian tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries; the Spanish Empire claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its successful war for independence but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War.
The western portion of Alta California was organized and admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850. The California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom; the word California referred to the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico. The name derived from the mythical island California in the fictional story of Queen Calafia, as recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo; this work was the fifth in a popular Spanish chivalric romance series that began with Amadis de Gaula. Queen Calafia's kingdom was said to be a remote land rich in gold and pearls, inhabited by beautiful black women who wore gold armor and lived like Amazons, as well as griffins and other strange beasts. In the fictional paradise, the ruler Queen Calafia fought alongside Muslims and her name may have been chosen to echo the title of a Muslim leader, the Caliph. It's possible.
Know ye that at the right hand of the Indies there is an island called California close to that part of the Terrestrial Paradise, inhabited by black women without a single man among them, they lived in the manner of Amazons. They were robust of body with great virtue; the island itself is one of the wildest in the world on account of the craggy rocks. Shortened forms of the state's name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America. Various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000; the Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups were diverse in their political organization with bands, villages, on the resource-rich coasts, large chiefdoms, such as the Chumash and Salinan.
Trade, intermarriage a
USS Missouri (BB-63)
USS Missouri is an Iowa-class battleship and was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after the U. S. state of Missouri. Missouri was the last battleship commissioned by the United States and is best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II. Missouri was ordered in 1940 and commissioned in June 1944. In the Pacific Theater of World War II she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands, she fought in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953, she was decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets, but reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan, provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January/February 1991. Missouri received a total of 11 battle stars for service in World War II, the Persian Gulf, was decommissioned on 31 March 1992 after serving a total of 17 years of active service, but remained on the Naval Vessel Register until her name was struck in January 1995.
In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor. Missouri was one of the Iowa-class "fast battleship" designs planned in 1938 by the Preliminary Design Branch at the Bureau of Construction and Repair, she was laid down at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 6 January 1941, launched on 29 January 1944 and commissioned on 11 June with Captain William Callaghan in command. The ship was the third of the Iowa class, but the fourth and final Iowa-class ship commissioned by the U. S. Navy; the ship was christened at her launching by Mary Margaret Truman, daughter of Harry S. Truman a United States Senator from Missouri. Missouri's main battery consisted of nine 16 in /50 cal Mark 7 guns, which could fire 2,700 lb armor-piercing shells some 20 mi, her secondary battery consisted of twenty 5 in /38 cal guns in twin turrets, with a range of about 10 mi. With the advent of air power and the need to gain and maintain air superiority came a need to protect the growing fleet of allied aircraft carriers.
When reactivated in 1984 Missouri had her 20 mm and 40 mm AA guns removed, was outfitted with Phalanx CIWS mounts for protection against enemy missiles and aircraft, Armored Box Launchers and Quad Cell Launchers designed to fire Tomahawk missiles and Harpoon missiles, respectively. Missouri and her sister ship Wisconsin were fitted with thicker traverse bulkhead armor, 14.5 inches, compared to 11.3 inches in the first two ships of her class, the Iowa and New Jersey. Missouri was the last U. S. battleship to be completed. Wisconsin, the highest-numbered U. S. battleship built, was completed before Missouri. The last-two Iowa-class battleships and Kentucky, were ordered but cancelled, all five of the twelve-gun Montana-class vessels, BB-67 to BB-71, that were ordered in May 1942, were cancelled by late July 1943. After trials off New York and shakedown and battle practice in the Chesapeake Bay, Missouri departed Norfolk, Virginia on 11 November 1944, transited the Panama Canal on 18 November and steamed to San Francisco for final fitting out as fleet flagship.
She stood out of San Francisco Bay on 14 December and arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 24 December 1944. She arrived in Ulithi, West Caroline Islands on 13 January. There she was temporary headquarters ship for Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher; the battleship put to sea on 27 January to serve in the screen of the Lexington carrier task group of Mitscher's TF 58, on 16 February the task force's aircraft carriers launched the first naval air strikes against Japan since the famed Doolittle raid, launched from the carrier Hornet in April 1942. Missouri steamed with the carriers to Iwo Jima where her main guns provided direct and continuous support to the invasion landings begun on 19 February. After TF 58 returned to Ulithi on 5 March, Missouri was assigned to the Yorktown carrier task group. On 14 March, Missouri departed Ulithi in the screen of the fast carriers and steamed to the Japanese mainland. During strikes against targets along the coast of the Inland Sea of Japan beginning on 18 March, Missouri shot down four Japanese aircraft.
Raids against airfields and naval bases near the Inland Sea and southwestern Honshū continued. When the carrier Franklin incurred battle damage, the Missouri's carrier task group provided cover for the Franklin's retirement toward Ulithi until 22 March set course for pre-invasion strikes and bombardment of Okinawa. Missouri joined the fast battleships of TF 58 in bombarding the southeast coast of Okinawa on 24 March, an action intended to draw enemy strength from the west coast beaches that would be the actual site of invasion landings. Missouri rejoined the screen of the carriers as Marine and Army units stormed the shores of Okinawa on the morning of 1 April. An attack by Japanese forces was repulsed successfully. On 11 April, a low-flying kamikaze Zero, although fired upon, crashed on Missouri's starboard side, just below her main deck level; the starboard wing of the plane was thrown far forward, starting a gasoline fire at 5 in Gun Mount No. 3. The battleship suffered only superficial damage, the fire was brought under control.
The remains of the pilot were recovered on board the ship just aft of one of the 40 mm gun tubs. Although crewmen wanted to hose the remains over the side, Captain Callaghan decided that the young Japanese pilot had done his job to the best of his ability, with honor, so he should be given a military funeral; the foll
Auxiliary ship
An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to operate in support of combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliaries are not primary combatants, although they may have some limited combat capacity of a self-defence nature. Auxiliaries are important for navies of all sizes, as without them, the primary fleet vessels cannot be effective. Thus, nearly every navy maintains an extensive fleet of auxiliaries. However, the composition and size of these auxiliary fleets varies depending on the nature of each navy and its primary mission. Smaller coastal navies tend to have smaller auxiliary vessels focusing on littoral and training support roles. Larger blue-water navies tend to have large auxiliary fleets comprising longer-range fleet support vessels designed to provide support far beyond territorial waters. Replenishment One of the most direct ways that auxiliaries support the fleet is by providing underway replenishment to major fleet units; this allows the fleet to remain on station, with the replenishment vessels bringing up fuel, ammunition and supplies from shore to the fleet wherever it is operating.
Oilers are vessels designed to bring fuel oil to the fleet, while the earlier Colliers supplied coal burning steamships. Some replenishment vessels: Combat stores ship, Depot ship, General stores issue ship and Ammunition ship. Tenders are designed to support a type of smaller naval unit, like submarines and seaplanes, providing a mobile base of operations for these units. Tenders: Destroyer Tender, Submarine tender, Seaplane Tender, Torpedo boat tender and Miscellaneous Auxiliary. Transport Supporting forward operating bases requires immense transportation capacity. Transports are converted merchant ships commissioned into naval service. Tankers are transports designed to ship fuel to forward locations. Transports are employed not only carrying cargo for naval support, but in support of all forces of a nation's military. In particular, troopships are used to carry large number of soldiers to operational theatres; some transport ships are specialized, like the ammunition ships employed by the US Navy.
Large ocean tugs are used to tow large auxiliary ships, like: barges, floating repair dock and floating cranes in open sea disabled ships. Repair Repairing ships at sea or in forward areas is important as it allows these units to return to service quicker, while increasing the chance of survival for ships critically damaged in battle. Repair vessels range from small equipment ships to Auxiliary repair docks, lager Auxiliary floating drydock. Harbor Harbor support is a critical support role, with various types of vessels including tugboats, lighters, derrick-crane vessels, others, used to move ships and equipment around the port facilities, depot ships and tenders to service ships in the harbor; these vessels help maintain the harbor by dredging channels, maintaining jetties and buoys, providing floating platforms for port defense weapons. Tugboats are YTB, YTM, YTL or a Type V ship. Barges are classified as a Type B ship or YF, YFN YFR and YFRN. Support Radar picket to increase the radar detection range around a force.
Communications Relay Ships are floating communications stations. Tracking ship or Range Instrumentation Ship are equipped with antennas and electronics to support the launching and tracking of missiles and rockets. Command ship are flagships of the commander of a fleet. Wind-class icebreaker are support ships. Rescue and salvage ship and Submarine rescue ship for surface support ship for ship and submarine rescue. Barracks ship or Auxiliary Personal Living, are vessels-barges for service men to live on. Research A wide variety of vessels are employed for research, Environmental Research Ships, Hydrofoil Research Ships and survey to provide a navy with a better understanding of its operating environment, or to assist in testing new technologies for employment in other vessels. Hospital Hospital ship are able to provide care in remote locates. List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy List of auxiliary ship classes in service Cutler, Deborah W.. Dictionary of Naval Terms. Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 978-1591141501. Morris, Christopher G.. Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0127356327. Media related to Auxiliary ships at Wikimedia Commons
British Pacific Fleet
The British Pacific Fleet was a Royal Navy formation which saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels; the BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships of the former Eastern Fleet being re-designated the East Indies Fleet and continuing to be based in Trincomalee. The British Pacific Fleet's main base was at Sydney, with a forward base at Manus Island. One of the largest fleets assembled by the Royal Navy, by VJ Day it had four battleships and six fleet aircraft carriers, fifteen smaller aircraft carriers, eleven cruisers, numerous smaller warships and support vessels. Following their retreat to the western side of the Indian Ocean in 1942, British naval forces did not return to the South West Pacific theatre until 17 May 1944, when an Anglo-American carrier task force implemented Operation Transom, a joint raid on Surabaya, Java; the US was extending its influence. It was therefore seen as a political and military imperative by the British Government to restore a British presence in the region and to deploy British forces against Japan.
The British Government was determined that British territories, such as Hong Kong, should be recaptured by British forces. The British Government was not unanimous on the commitment of the BPF. Churchill, in particular, argued against it, not wishing to be a visibly junior partner in what had been the United States' battle, he considered that a British presence would be unwelcome and should be concentrated on Burma and Malaya. Naval planners, supported by the Chiefs of Staff, believed that such a commitment would strengthen British influence and the British Chiefs of Staff considered mass resignation, so held were their opinions; the Admiralty had proposed a British role in the Pacific in early 1944 but the initial USN response had been discouraging. Admiral Ernest King, Commander-in-Chief United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations, an Anglophobe, was reluctant to concede any such role and raised a number of objections, insisted that the BPF should be self-sufficient; these were overcome or discounted and at a meeting, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt "intervened to say that the British Fleet was no sooner offered than accepted.
In this, though the fact was not mentioned, he overruled Admiral King's opinion."The Australian Government had sought US military assistance in 1942, when it was faced with the possibility of Japanese invasion. While Australia had made a significant contribution to the Pacific War, it had never been an equal partner with its US counterparts in strategy, it was argued that a British presence would act as a counterbalance to the powerful and increasing US presence in the Pacific. The fleet was founded when Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser struck his flag at Trincomalee as Commander-in-Chief of the British Eastern Fleet and hoisted it in the gunboat Tarantula as Commander-in-Chief British Pacific Fleet, he transferred his flag to a more suitable vessel, the battleship Howe. The Eastern Fleet was based in Ceylon, reorganised into the British East Indies Fleet, subsequently becoming the British Pacific Fleet; the BPF operated against targets in Sumatra, gaining experience until early 1945, when it departed Trincomalee for Sydney.
The Royal Navy provided the majority of the fleet's vessels and all the capital ships but elements and personnel included contributions from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, as well as the Commonwealth nations, including the Royal Australian Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy. With its larger vessels integrated with United States Navy formations since 1942, the RAN's contribution was limited. A high proportion of naval aviators were Canadians; the USN contributed to the BPF, as did personnel from the South African Navy. Port facilities in Australia and New Zealand made vital contributions in support of the British Pacific Fleet. During World War II, the fleet was commanded by Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser. In practice, command of the fleet in action devolved to Vice-Admiral Sir Bernard Rawlings, with Vice-Admiral Sir Philip Vian in charge of air operations by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm; the fighting end of the fleet was referred to as Task Force 37 or 57 and the Fleet Train was Task Force 113.
The 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron was the lead carrier formation. No. 300 Wing RAF was established in Australia in late 1944 to fly transport aircraft in support of the BPF, came under the direct command of Fraser. The wing was expanded to a group in 1945 and conducted regular flights from Sydney to the fleet's forward bases; the requirement that the BPF be self-sufficient meant the establishment of a fleet train that could support a naval force at sea for weeks or months. The Royal Navy had been accustomed to operating close to its bases in Britain, the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. Infrastructure and expertise were lacking in the Pacific rim. In the north Atlantic and Mediterranean, the high risk of submarine and air attack precluded routine refuelling at sea. For the BPF "the American logistics authorities... interpreted self-sufficiency in a liberal sense." American officers told Rear Admiral Douglas Fisher, commander of the British Fleet Train, that he could have anything and everything "that could be given without Admiral King's knowledge."The Admiralty sent Vice Admiral Charles Daniel to the United States for consultation about the supply and administration of the fleet.
He proceeded to Australia where he became Vice Admiral, British Pacifi
Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more advanced derivatives of the F/A-18C and D Hornet; the Super Hornet has an internal 20 mm M61 rotary cannon and can carry air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface weapons. Additional fuel can be carried in up to five external fuel tanks and the aircraft can be configured as an airborne tanker by adding an external air refueling system. Designed and produced by McDonnell Douglas, the Super Hornet first flew in 1995. Low-rate production began in early 1997 with full-rate production starting in September 1997, after the merger of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing the previous month; the Super Hornet entered service with the United States Navy in 1999, replacing the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, retired in 2006. The Royal Australian Air Force, which has operated the F/A-18A as its main fighter since 1984, ordered the F/A-18F in 2007 to replace its aging F-111C fleet.
RAAF Super Hornets entered service in December 2010. The Super Hornet is an evolutionary redesign of the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet; the Super Hornet's unique wing and tail configuration can be traced back to an internal Northrop project P-530, c. 1965. Flying as the Northrop YF-17 "Cobra", it competed in the United States Air Force's Lightweight Fighter program to produce a smaller and simpler fighter to complement the larger McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle; the Navy directed that the YF-17 be redesigned into the larger F/A-18 Hornet to meet a requirement for a multi-role fighter to complement the larger and more expensive Grumman F-14 Tomcat serving in fleet defense interceptor and air superiority roles. The Hornet proved to be limited in combat radius; the concept of an enlarged Hornet was first proposed in the 1980s, marketed by McDonnell Douglas as Hornet 2000. The Hornet 2000 concept was an advanced F/A-18 with a larger wing and a longer fuselage to carry more fuel and more powerful engines.
The end of the Cold War led to a period of considerable restructuring. At the same time, U. S. Naval Aviation faced a number of problems; the McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II was canceled in 1991 after the program ran into serious problems. The Navy considered updating an existing design as a more attractive approach to a clean-sheet program; as an alternative to the A-12, McDonnell Douglas proposed the "Super Hornet", an improvement of the successful previous F/A-18 models, which could serve as an alternate replacement for the A-6 Intruder. The next-generation Hornet design proved more attractive than Grumman's Quick Strike upgrade to the F-14 Tomcat, regarded as an insufficient technological leap over existing F-14s. At the time, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the Navy's primary air superiority fighter and fleet defense interceptor. Then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney described the F-14 as 1960s technology, drastically cut back F-14D procurement in 1989 before cancelling production altogether in 1991, in favor of the updated F/A-18E/F.
The decision to replace the Tomcat with an all-Hornet Carrier Air Wing was controversial. In 1992, the Navy canceled the Navy Advanced Tactical Fighter, which would have been a navalized variant of the Air Force's Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor; as a cheaper alternative to NATF, Grumman proposed substantial improvements to the F-14 beyond Quick Strike, but Congress rejected them as too costly and reaffirmed its commitment to the less expensive F/A-18E/F. The Super Hornet was first ordered by the U. S. Navy in 1992; the Navy retained the F/A-18 designation to help sell the program to Congress as a low-risk "derivative", though the Super Hornet is a new aircraft. The Hornet and Super Hornet share many characteristics, including avionics, ejection seats, armament, mission computer software, maintenance/operating procedures; the initial F/A-18E/F retained most of the avionics systems from the F/A-18C/D's configuration at the time. The design would be expanded in the Super Hornet with an empty weight greater than the F-15C.
The Super Hornet first flew on 29 November 1995. Initial production on the F/A-18E/F began in 1995. Flight testing started in 1996 with the F/A-18E/F's first carrier landing in 1997. Low-rate production began in March 1997 with full production beginning in September 1997. Testing continued through 1999, finishing with aerial refueling demonstrations. Testing involved 3,100 test flights covering 4,600 flight hours; the Super Hornet underwent U. S. Navy operational tests and evaluations in 1999, was approved in February 2000. With the retirement of the F-14 in 2006, all of the Navy's combat jets have been Hornet variants until the F-35C Lightning II enters service; the F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F two-seat aircraft took the place of the F-14 Tomcat, A-6 Intruder, Lockheed S-3 Viking, KA-6D aircraft. An electronic warfare variant, the EA-18G Growler, replaces the EA-6B Prowler; the Navy calls this reduction in aircraft types a "neck-down". During the Vietnam War era, the Super Hornet's roles were performed by a combination of the A-1/A-4/A-7, A-6, F-8/F-4, RA-5C, KA-3
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