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
Battle of the Philippine Sea time, the Japanese high command believed they could fight the U.S. Navy in a single, decisive engagement, known as the "Kantai Kessen", which would allow them to defeat the Americans. However, their ability to fight and win such a battle was slipping away. Imperial Navy aircrew losses suffered over the course of the earlier carrier battles at Coral Sea and Midway, and the long Solomon Islands campaign of 1942-43, had greatly weakened the Japanese Navy's ability to project force with its carriers. As the Solomon Islands campaign was largely fought by the Imperial Navy, losses suffered there drastically reduced the