Task Force 17 Task Force 17 Task Force 17 (TF17) was an aircraft carrier task force of the United States Navy during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. TF17 participated in several major carrier battles in the first year of the war. TF17 was initially centered around . With "Yorktown", TF17 engaged Imperial Japanese Navy forces in actions at the Marshalls-Gilberts raids, Invasion of Lae-Salamaua, Battle of the Coral Sea, and the Battle of Midway. "Yorktown" was sunk at Midway. Reformed around and commanded by RADM George Murray, TF17 supported Allied forces during the Guadalcanal Campaign. At the Battle of the Santa
Propaganda in Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II that the carrier "Hornet" had been sunk, thus taking revenge for its part in the Doolittle Raid, when in fact "Hornet" had not been in the battle. The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, while a Japanese tactical victory, gained time for the Americans on Guadalcanal and inflicted heavy losses on Japanese aircraft; it was considered so momentous that it was praised in an imperial rescript. However, by 1943, the Japanese population was aware of the stark difference between the crude propaganda and the facts. The death of Isoroku Yamamoto inflicted a severe blow. It was followed by defeat at