Task Force 74

Task Force 74 was a naval task force that has existed twice. The first Task Force 74 was a mixed Allied force of Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, and United States Navy ships which operated against Japanese forces from 1943 to 1945 during the Pacific campaign. The second Task Force 74 was assembled from the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet that was deployed to the Bay of Bengal by the Nixon administration in December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War. The fleet was sent to intimidate Indian forces at the height of the conflict.^[1][2] The Soviet Union, which was actively backing Indian actions both politically and militarily during the war responded by deploying two groups of cruisers and destroyers as well as a submarine armed with nuclear warheads in response to the American military presence in the area.^[3] From 18 December 1971 to 7 January 1972, the Soviet Navy trailed the American fleet throughout the Indian Ocean. The task force number is now used by the U.S. Seventh Fleet's submarine force.^{[citation needed]}