Disestablished commands of the United States Navy

Disestablished commands of the United States Navy are major operational or administrative units which have since been disbanded or disestablished by the United States Navy. Disestablishing a command is slightly different from decommissioning an individual vessel, in that disestablishment normally refers to shore offices or high level fleet commands. Although, even in these contexts, the term "decommissioning" is frequently interchanged for these commands as well.

Flotillas and Squadrons
Flotillas were common in the 19th century American Navy but had largely disappeared by the early 1900s in favor of surface units known as "squadrons". One of the more famous flotillas was under the command of Matthew C. Perry who conducted several gunboat diplomacy visits to the Japanese islands in the late 1800s.

Naval squadrons have, in the modern U.S. Navy, become the primary administrative unit for naval ships, submarines, and aircraft. Historically, the U.S. Navy has maintained a number of squadrons which have since been disestablished.

Fleets
In its history, the following fleets have been deactivated by the United States Navy


 * United States Atlantic Fleet - merged with United States Fleet Forces Command
 * United States Asiatic Fleet
 * United States First Fleet
 * United States Second Fleet
 * United States Eighth Fleet
 * United States Twelfth Fleet

The term "Great White Fleet" referred to an early 20th century naval battle group which was formed from two battleship squadrons and completed a tour around the world under the orders of Theodore Roosevelt.

Task Forces
During World War II, the Fast Carrier Task Force (commonly known as "Task Force 38") was a battle group command designed to rapidly deploy to areas of the Pacific in order to engage the enemy. Several commands of the Second World War were also referred to as the "Western Naval Task Force".

In more recent times, a component of Commander Naval Forces Korea, previously known as "Commander Rear Area Naval Forces Korea" has since become known as Task Force 778, attached to the United States Seventh Fleet.

Area Commands
Various naval commands were established during World War II in order to administer the vast areas of the Pacific Ocean which were falling under Allied control. One of the largest commands was Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPOA). Various other naval commands existed through the South Pacific including the naval garrisons of the Solomon Islands.

Bureaus
Naval bureaus were the original shore establishment commands of the Navy, covering a variety of services. Several of the original bureaus, to include those listed below, have since been disbanded


 * Bureau of Navigation
 * Bureau of Ordnance

Surface divisions
Surface divisions were common in the early to mid 20th century, usually for larger warships.

In World War II, administratively, aircraft carriers were assigned to carrier divisions (CARDIVs). Operationally they were assigned to Task Forces, of which Task Force 11, Task Force 16 and Task Force 17 perhaps gained the most fame for their roles in the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway. The single-carrier battle group was born with the military draw down that followed World War II. Carrier Division 1 was redesignated Carrier Group 1 on 30 June 1973, and seemingly all Carrier Divisions were redesignated Carrier Groups on that date.

Naval districts
United States naval districts were long standing permanent shore commands which oversaw administrative and personnel related matters in various geographical regions of the United States.

In the modern Navy, the only surviving naval district is Naval District Washington. All other naval districts have been disbanded and merged into several Navy regions. The first region to be disestablished was Navy Region Midwest which was inactivated in September 2014.

Sea Frontiers
Sea Frontiers were established by the United States Navy from 1 July 1941 during World War II as areas of defense against enemy vessels, especially submarines, along the American coasts. Sea Frontiers generally started at the shore of the United States and extended outwards into the sea for a nominal distance of two hundred miles. The last were seemingly disestablished in the 1970s.

Barrier Forces
Similar to sea frontiers, these were naval air forces commands. One of the largest was "Barrier Force Atlantic" while one of the smaller was "Barrier Force Caribbean".