Carrier battle group at the Battle of Midway. In contrast, the United States Navy deployed its large carriers in separate formations, with each carrier assigned its own cruiser and destroyer escorts. These single-carrier formations would often be paired or grouped together for certain assignments, most notably the Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway. By 1943, however, large numbers of fleet and light carriers became available, which required larger formations of three or four carriers. These groups eventually formed the Fast Carrier Task Force, which became the primary battle unit of the U.S. Fifth and Third Fleets. With the construction of the large
Task Force 88 (United States Navy) the naval bombardment. As discussed at the task force page, the United States Navy system means that the same TF number can be reused for an entirely different operation years later; TF 88 was the designation later chosen for Operation Argus, an ocean-based US nuclear test series in the late 1950s. Task Force 88 (United States Navy) Task Force 88 (TF88) was the escort carrier force, commanded by Rear-Admiral T H Troubridge, that supported Operation Dragoon, the allied invasion of southern France. It was activated in August 1944, and dispersed on 29 August when the carrier force departed to operate