imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Pacific theatre of World War II to :Category:Pacific War per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

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Moving Category:Pacific theatre of World War II to Category:Pacific War per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

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{{Short description|Allied naval task force in the Pacific theatre of World War II}}
{{morefootnotes|date=January 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name =Task Force 44
|image =TG17.3 and HMAS Australia under attack May 7 1942.jpg
|caption =Task Force 44 (temporarily redesignated as Task Group 17.3) under Japanese air attack on 7 May 1942 during the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]]
|dates =22 April 1942 – 15 March 1943
|country ={{flagu|United States|size=23px|1912}}<br />{{flag|Australia|size=23px}}
|allegiance =
|branch={{Flag|United States Navy|1864|size=23px}}<br />{{flagdeco|Australia|naval-1913}} [[Royal Australian Navy]]
|type =
|role =Naval warship support
|size =
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|patron =
|motto =
|colors =
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|battles =[[World War II]]
*[[Battle for Australia]]
*[[New Guinea Campaign]]
*[[Guadalcanal Campaign]]
|anniversaries =
|decorations =
|battle_honours =
|battle_honours_label =
|disbanded =
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|website =

|commander1 =
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|commander3 =
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|commander4 =
|commander4_label =
|notable_commanders =[[John Gregory Crace]]<br>[[Victor Crutchley]]<br>[[John Augustine Collins]]

|identification_symbol =
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|aircraft_attack =
|aircraft_bomber =
|aircraft_electronic =
|aircraft_fighter =
|aircraft_helicopter =
|aircraft_helicopter_attack =
|aircraft_helicopter_cargo =
|aircraft_helicopter_multirole =
|aircraft_helicopter_observation =
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|aircraft_helicopter_trainer =
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}}
'''Task Force 44''' was an [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] [[Navy|naval]] [[task force]] during the [[Pacific War|Pacific Campaign]] of [[World War II]]. The task force consisted of warships from the [[United States Navy]] and the [[Royal Australian Navy]] (RAN). It was generally assigned as a striking force to defend northeast Australia and the surrounding area from any attacks by [[Axis powers|Axis]] forces, particularly from the [[Empire of Japan]].

==History==
===1942===
The task force was created on 22 April 1942 from the [[ANZAC Squadron]] as part of [[United States Army]] General [[Douglas MacArthur]]'s [[South West Pacific Area (command)]]. The unit's first commander was Rear Admiral [[John Gregory Crace]] ([[Royal Australian Navy]]). From 13 June 1942 the task force was commanded by [[Victor Crutchley]], an Australian Rear Admiral of the [[Royal Navy]] (UK).

The force saw action during the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]], in which it helped turn back a Japanese attempt to invade [[Port Moresby]], [[New Guinea]].

At the start of May, the Americans learned of an imminent [[Operation MO|Japanese invasion of Port Moresby]], and {{HMAS|Hobart|D63|6}} was sent with {{HMAS|Australia|D84|6}} to rendezvous with United States forces in the [[Coral Sea]].<ref name=2Gill41>Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 41</ref> At 07:00 on 7 May, Rear Admiral Crace, embarked aboard ''Australia'' as commander of Task Force 44, was ordered to take his ships (''Australia'', ''Hobart'', US cruiser {{USS|Chicago|CA-29|2}}, and US destroyers {{USS|Perkins|DD-377|2}}, {{USS|Walke|DD-416|2}}, and {{USS|Farragut|DD-348|2}}) to the [[Jomard Passage]], and engage any Japanese ships found en route to Port Moresby, while several US carrier groups engaged a Japanese force headed for the Solomon Islands.<ref name=2Gill47>Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 47</ref> The ships reached their patrol area around 14:00, fired on a group of eleven unidentified aircraft at maximum range with no damage dealt at 14:27, and were attacked themselves by twelve Japanese twin-engine torpedo bombers at 15:06; no ships were damaged for the loss of five aircraft.<ref>Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', pp. 48–50</ref> At 15:16, nineteen Japanese heavy bombers dropped their payload on the Allied ships; no ships were hit directly, the only casualties (aboard ''Chicago'') were from shrapnel.<ref name=2Gill50>Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 50</ref> A few minutes later, the ships were attacked by another three heavy bombers, flying at a higher altitude to the first group; the bombing was much less accurate.<ref name=2Gill50/> It was later learned that the three aircraft belonged to the [[United States Army Air Forces]] (USAAF).<ref name=2Gill50/> Although USN Vice Admiral [[Herbert F. Leary]] made plans to train aircrews in naval vessel recognition in response, USAAF General [[George Brett (general)|George Brett]] refused to implement them or acknowledge that the [[friendly fire]] incident had happened.<ref name=2Gill50/> With no new orders, Crace decided to relocate his ships during the night to a point {{convert|220|nmi}} from Port Moresby, to better intercept a Japanese invasion force if it came through either the Jomard Passage or the [[China Strait]].<ref name=2Gill50/> Instructions from the American commander of the operation were still not forthcoming, and Crace was forced to rely on intercepted radio messages to track the progress of [[Battle of the Coral Sea|the main battle]].<ref>Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 52</ref> The task force remained in their assigned area until 01:00 on 10 May, when Crace ordered them to withdraw south to [[Cid Harbour]] on [[Whitsunday Island]]; the lack of reports and intelligence concerning either the Americans or Japanese led him to conclude that both forces had withdrawn, and there was no immediate threat to Port Moresby.<ref>Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 53</ref>

The Task Force was temporarily redesignated Task Group 17.3 (of the U.S. aircraft carrier task force [[Task Force 17]]) during the battle.

The task force later, under Crutchley, assisted with the initial stages of the [[Guadalcanal Campaign]] along with escorting Allied convoys around the northeast Australia, New Guinea, and Coral Sea areas. In August 1942, the force participated in the [[Battle of Savo Island]]. The next month, the unit served with the U.S. Navy's [[USS Wasp (CV-7)#Pacific Fleet|Task Force 18]], centered on the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Wasp|CV-7|6}}.

===1943===
When the [[Operation Pamphlet]] convoy sailed from Fremantle on 20 February 1943 it was escorted by the Australian [[light cruiser]] {{HMAS|Adelaide|1918|6}}, as well as the Dutch cruiser {{HNLMS|Jacob van Heemskerck|1939|2}} and destroyer {{HNLMS|Tjerk Hiddes|G16|2}}. It met the ships of Task Group 44.3, a component of Task Force 44, on 24 February in the [[Great Australian Bight]]. This force comprised ''Australia'' and American destroyers {{USS|Bagley|DD-386|2}}, {{USS|Helm|DD-388|2}} and {{USS|Henley|DD-391|2}}, and had been dispatched from [[Sydney]] on 17 February to escort the [[troopship]]s.<ref name="Plowman_381">Plowman (2003), p. 381</ref> ''Adelaide'' and the Dutch warships left the convoy shortly afterwards to escort {{SS|Nieuw Amsterdam|1937|2}} into Melbourne; the liner docked there on the afternoon of 25 February.<ref name=Plowman_381 /><ref name="Gill_287">Gill (1968), p. 287</ref> Task Group 44.3 escorted the remaining ships to [[Sydney]], passing south of [[Tasmania]]. The escort was strengthened by ''Jacob van Heemskerck'' and the French destroyer {{ship|French destroyer|Le Triomphant||2}} en route.<ref name=Gill_287 /> The three liners arrived at Sydney on 27 February 1943, completing Operation Pamphlet without loss.<ref name=Gill_287 /><ref name="Roskill_433">Roskill (1956), p. 433</ref> Despite the official secrecy concerning the convoy, large crowds assembled on vantage points around [[Sydney Harbour]] to watch the ships arrive. ''[[RMS Queen Mary|Queen Mary]]'' anchored off [[Bradleys Head]] and the other two liners berthed at [[Woolloomooloo]].<ref name="Plowman_382">Plowman (2003), p. 382</ref> Curtin officially announced that the 9th Division had returned to Australia in a speech to the House of Representatives on 23 March.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2626409 |title=Return of 9th Division to Australian Announced|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=24 March 1943 |access-date=29 March 2015 |page=2 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

On 15 March 1943 the organization was redesignated as [[Task Force 74]] under the [[United States Seventh Fleet]].

===1944===
In mid-1944, Commodore [[John Augustine Collins]] was made commander of the Australian-U.S. Navy Task Force 74, and commander of the Australian Naval Squadron, with the [[heavy cruiser]] {{HMAS|Australia|1927|6}} as his flagship. He became the first graduate of the RAN College to command a [[Squadron (naval)|naval squadron]] in action, during the [[Battle of Noemfoor|bombardment of Noemfoor]], on 2 July 1944.

Commodore Collins was badly wounded in an attack which may have been the first [[kamikaze]] strike, which hit ''Australia'' on 21 October 1944, in the lead up to the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]]. He did not resume his command until July 1945. When the war ended Collins was the RAN's representative at the surrender ceremony in [[Tokyo Bay]].

==Ships of the task force==
*Heavy cruisers: {{USS|Chicago|CA-29|6}}, {{HMAS|Australia|D84|6}}, {{HMAS|Canberra|D33|6}}
*Light cruiser: {{HMAS|Hobart|1939|6}}
*Destroyers: {{USS|Perkins|DD-377|6}}, {{USS|Whipple|DD-217|6}}, {{USS|Farragut|DD-348|6}} (from 7 May 1942), {{USS|Walke|DD-416|6}} (from 7 May), {{USS|Henley|DD-391|6}} (from 14 May), {{USS|Helm|DD-388|6}} (from 19 May), {{USS|Selfridge|DD-357|6}} (from 21 May), {{USS|Patterson|DD-392|6}} (from ???)

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book
| last = Gill
| first = G. Hermon
| year = 1968
| url = http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67911
| title = Volume II – Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945
| series = [[Australia in the War of 1939–1945]], Series 2: Navy
| location = Canberra
| publisher = [[Australian War Memorial]]
| access-date = 2006-11-20
| archive-date = 27 September 2013
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130927112028/http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67911
| url-status = dead
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Willmott
| first = H. P.
| year = 1983
| title = The Barrier and the Javelin: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies February to June 1942
| publisher = Naval Institute Press
| location = Annapolis, Maryland
| isbn = 0-87021-535-3
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/empiresinbalance00will
}}

[[Category:South West Pacific theatre of World War II]]
[[Category:1942 in Australia]]
[[Category:1943 in Australia]]
[[Category:Pacific War]]
[[Category:Military history of Australia during World War II]]

Task Force 44 - Revision history

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:Pacific theatre of World War II to :Category:Pacific War per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy