United States Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet ( USPACFLT ) is a Pacific Ocean theater - level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to the United States Pacific Command . Fleet headquarters is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base , Hawaii , with large secondary facilities at North Island , San Diego Bay on the Mainland . A Pacific Fleet was created in 1907 when 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 of 6 December 1922 organized the United States Fleet , with the Battle Fleet as the Pacific presence . Until May 1940 , the Battle Fleet was stationed on the west coast of the United States ( primarily at San Diego ) . During the summer of that year , as part of the U . S . response to Japanese expansionism , it was instructed to take an " advanced " position at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii . Long term basing at Pearl Harbor was so strongly opposed by the commander , Admiral James O . Richardson , that he personally protested in Washington . 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 . On that day General Order 143 split the United States Fleet into separate Atlantic , Pacific , and Asiatic Fleet s . Composition of the Pacific Fleet in May 1941 . On 7 December , 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 . The Battle Force consisted of Battleships , Battle Force , made up of three Battleship Divisions : Battleship Division 1 with and with ; Battleship Division 2 with and with ; and , and . These nine battleships were intended to counterbalance the ten battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy . At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor , was in dry dock and was being refitted at Bremerton Navy Yard , Washington State . was mated with and at that time . Other components of the Battle Force included Aircraft , Battle Force , with Carrier Division One and Carrier Division Two , plus Cruiser Divisions 4 , 5 , and 6 , as well as Destroyers , Battle Force . The Scouting Force included Cruiser Division Three ( , , and ) and Cruiser Division Nine and Submarines , Scouting Force . 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 , 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 December 1941 , the fleet consisted of nine battleship s , three aircraft carrier s , 12 heavy cruisers , eight light cruisers , 50 destroyer s , 33 submarine s , and 100 patrol bomber s . This was approximately the fleet ' s strength at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . That day , 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 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 the Battle of Dutch Harbor . The Submarine Force began a sustained campaign of commerce raiding against Japan ' s merchant marine , beginning the very 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 . Post 1945 . The Pacific Fleet took part in Operation Magic Carpet , 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 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 around the U . S . West Coast , Alaska , 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 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 the flagship , , the Battle Group , the Battle Group , two battleship surface action groups formed around the and , and a Japanese Maritime Self - Defence Force task force . 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 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 September 10 , 1990 , and the 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 was completed , the crew received word that their Pacific cruise was canceled . They returned to Long Beach and joined the Battle Group preparing to deploy to the Persian Gulf . During Operation Fiery Vigil in June 1991 , the following vessels participated in the sealift phase of the evacuation : the " Lincoln " battle group ( COMCARGRU 3 embarked ) : , , , , , , , Amphibious Ready Group Alpha ( COMPHIBRON 3 embarked ) : , , , , and a large number of other vessels : USS " Midway " , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . ( 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 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 as Commander , Naval Forces ) , the " Kitty Hawk " battle group , an amphibious task unit including , , , and MV " Lummus " , and three ships from MPSRON TWO ( MV " Anderson " , MV " Bonnyman " , and MV " Phillips " ) . Other events led to 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 Oct . 1 , 1995 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 probably directed . . In 1996 two carrier battle groups were sent to the Taiwan area during the Third Taiwan Straits Crisis . Later ships of the Pacific Fleet , notably the provided support to the entry of INTERFET in East Timor in 1999 . Between 25 – 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 , the exercise also included the nuclear - powered attack submarines , , , , and , 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 consists of the numbered Third and Seventh Fleet s , as well as Naval Air Force , Pacific ; Commander , Naval Surface Forces Pacific ; Naval Submarine Force , Pacific ; and other commands . The naval shore commands Commander Naval Forces Korea ; Commander Naval Forces Japan ; and Commander Naval Forces Marianas are also under the authority of the Pacific Fleet . " See List of units of the United States Navy "