United States First Fleet

United States First Fleet
Founded	1 January 1947
Disbanded	1 February 1973
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Navy
Part of	United States Pacific Fleet

The First Fleet was a numbered fleet of the United States Navy, in operation from January 1947 to 1 February 1973 in the western Pacific Ocean as part of the Pacific Fleet. In 1973, it was disestablished and its duties assumed by the United States Third Fleet.

Vice Admiral Alfred Montgomery was named as Commander, First Task Fleet, in an air station report of July 1947, with an inspection visit by a group of senior officers. The old cruiser Salt Lake City was sunk as an atomic bomb test target during First Task Fleet maneuvers in May 1948.^[1] USS Salisbury Sound became the flagship of Vice Admiral Gerald Bogan (Commander First Task Fleet) on 25 March 1949. USS Curtiss served as flagship for Commander First Fleet early in 1949 for three weeks of amphibious operations in Alaskan waters to evaluate cold weather equipment. USS Helena served as flagship for Commander, First Fleet, from January 1960 to March 1963. USS Providence served as flagship in San Diego from 1969 until April 1972, except for yard overhaul in 1970 when USS Chicago assumed the role.^[2]

On 17 November 2020, Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite announced the intention to create a new numbered fleet for the Indian Ocean to be called First Fleet. SECNAV Braithwaite speculated that the new fleet could be headquartered in Singapore or Western Australia.^[3][4]