CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

United States Second Fleet

numbered fleet of the United States Navy

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ2594828 ↗
Source-derived summary

The United States Second Fleet is a numbered fleet in the United States Navy responsible for operations in the East Coast and North Atlantic Ocean. Established after World War II, Second Fleet was deactivated in 2011, when the United States government believed that Russia's military threat had diminished, and reestablished in 2018 amid renewed tensions between NATO and Russia.

Second Fleet's area of responsibility includes about 6,700,000 square miles (17,000,000 km2) of the Atlantic Ocean from the North Pole to the Caribbean and from the shores of the United States to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Second Fleet's United States West Coast counterpart was United States First Fleet from the immediate post-World War II years until 1973, and United States Third Fleet from 1973.

In 2011, Second Fleet oversaw about 126 ships, 4,500 aircraft, and 90,000 personnel homeported at U.S. Navy installations along the United States East Coast.

Mission

As of 2008, the Commander, Second Fleet (COMSECONDFLT), under the Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (CUSFFC), was also designated as Commander, Task Force 20. CTF-20 planned for, and when directed, conducted battle force operations in the Atlantic command in support of designated unified or allied commanders. CTF-20 directed movements and exercised operational control of USFFC assigned units to carry out scheduled ocean transits and other special operations as directed, in order to maximize fleet operational readiness to respond to contingencies in the Atlantic command area of operations.

In order to command and control its forces, CTF-20 maintained a Joint Maritime Operations Center at its Maritime Headquarters, which was officially said to offer a new approach to command and control for fleet commanders.

Until 2005, COMSECONDFLT had a permanent assignment with NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic's (SACLANT) chain of command, as the Commander Striking Fleet Atlantic (COMSTRIKFLTLANT).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “United States Second Fleet” as numbered fleet of the United States Navy. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around United, States and Second.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2011, 2018, 1973, 2008—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1950, 2018—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with United, States and Second providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “United States Second Fleet”, the useful work is to connect “numbered fleet of the United States Navy” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2594828. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 4 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2011, 2018, 1973 and 2008.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “United States Second Fleet”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow United States Second Fleet primary sources, United States Second Fleet archive and United research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “United States Second Fleet”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “United States Second Fleet” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.