OtherUS Carrier Strike Group Five
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CARRIER STRIKE GROUP FIVE History
On 25 April 1944, Rear Admiral Frank Wagner formed Carrier Division Five when he assumed command aboard USS Wasp and USS Hornet in Pearl Harbor. Rear Admiral J.J. Clark succeeded Wagner and commanded the division through 12 months of sustained combat operations in the Western Pacific and waters surrounding Japan, working for both Third Fleet (ADM William Halsey) and Fifth Fleet (ADM Raymond Spruance). This included participation in the First and Second Philippine Sea Battles and the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns.
During the Korean War, Rear Admiral G.R. Henderson commanded Carrier Division 5 and served as Commander, Task Force (CTF) 70 and 77 aboard USS Princeton (CV 37). Carrier Division 5 moved back and forth between Yokosuka, Japan and the Korean Theater, serving as CTF 70 or 77 on multiple occasions.
On 1 August 1955, Carrier Division 5 comprised of USS Essex (Bremerton), USS Kearsarge, and USS Shangri-La (both homeported in San Diego).
Prior to the Vietnam War, the location of Carrier Division 5 moved between several Pacific ports and utilized rotating carriers from the West coast of the U.S. as its flagship. During the Vietnam War, 12 different commanders led Carrier Division 5 and Task Force 77 in numerous combat deployments to the Vietnam War zone. Beginning in 1964 Carrier Group Five was permanently deployed to the Western Pacific and dual-hatted CTF 70/77, homeported at Naval Air Station Cubi Point in the Philippines.
In December 1971, Commander Carrier Division 5, Rear Admiral Damon W. Cooper, led Task Force 74 aboard Enterprise to the Indian Ocean following the outbreak of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
Carrier Division 5 became Carrier Group 5 on 30 June 1973, and in October, Carrier Group 5 arrived in Yokosuka, Japan aboard USS Midway marking the first forward deployment of a complete Carrier Battle Group in a Japanese port (the associated Air Wing, CVW-5, moved into Atsugi, Japan this same year). On 1 January 1974, still homeported at Cubi Point, the group was responsible for three carriers: USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 and USS Constellation CV-64 both homeported at San Diego and USS Enterprise CVAN-65 homeported at Alameda. Carrier Group Five shifted its forward deployed location from Cubi Point, Republic of Philippines to Yokosuka in mid-1991. USS Midway remained in Yokosuka for 18 years and was relieved by USS Independence CV-62 on 11 September 1991.
In the lead up to the Gulf War, Rear Admiral Daniel March, Commander, Carrier Group 5, became Commander, Task Force 154 (Battle Force Zulu), part of Naval Forces Central Command. The Task Force directed four carriers; USS Midway CV-41, USS Ranger CV-61, USS America CV-66, and USS Theodore Roosevelt CVN-71 in the Arabian Sea/Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm.
On 11 August 1998, USS Kitty Hawk CV-63 relieved USS Independence as the Carrier Group 5 flagship. After the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, on 11 September 2001, the Kitty Hawk Battle Group was ordered to deploy to the Indian Ocean and was later involved in combat missions against the Taliban and Al Qaida in Afghanistan. The ships got underway again in January 2003 with orders to deploy to the Persian Gulf as part of the build-up of military forces in the area in preparation for the war against the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. USS Kitty Hawk arrived on station late February/early March and from 20 March on, participated in air strikes against targets in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
USS George Washington CVN-73 relieved USS Kitty Hawk on 25 September 2008. Carrier Group Five was renamed Carrier Strike Group 5 on 1 October 2004. On 14 January 2014, the U.S. Navy announced that USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) will replace George Washington as the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5. Carrier Air Wing Five will continue to be assigned to Carrier Strike Group 5.
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2004-10-01 |
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2019-09-29 |
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