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
Battle of the Philippine Sea Japan's ability to interfere with future amphibious invasions. Few U.S. commanders realized how powerful Task Force 58 had become. Though initially undertaken with trepidation, the raids proved to be successful beyond anything U.S. planners had imagined—notably with Operation Hailstone, which effectively neutralized the primary central Pacific base of the Imperial Japanese Navy at Truk Lagoon and changed the manner in which the war would be pursued. While U.S. commanders, particularly Admiral Spruance, were concerned about the Japanese trying to attack U.S. transports and newly landed forces, the Japanese objective was actually to engage and defeat the Fast Carrier Task Force.