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In 2002, the Fleet comprised over 118,000 sailors and Marines serving in 186 ships and 1,300 aircraft, with an area of responsibility ranging over the Atlantic Ocean from the North Pole to the South Pole, the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the waters of the Pacific Ocean along the coasts of Central and South America (as far west as the Galapagos Islands). Its operational fleet (i.e. the collection of fighting ships) is the 2nd Fleet.
The Atlantic Fleet originally came into existence in 1906 (along with the Pacific Fleet), established by President Theodore Roosevelt as protection for new bases in the CaribbeanThe Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. These islands curve southward from the bottom tip of Florida to the Northwest of Venezuela in South America. There are at least 7000 islands, islets, reefs and cayes in the regio acquired as a result of the Spanish-American WarThe Spanish-American War took place in 1898, and resulted in the United States of America gaining control over the former colonies of Spain in the Caribbean and Pacific. Background For several centuries Spain's position as a world power had been slipping. The first commander of the fleet was Rear AdmiralThe term Rear Admiral originated from the days of Naval Sailing Squadrons, and is most directly associated with the British Royal Navy. Each Naval Squadron would be assigned an Admiral as its head, who would command from the center vessel and direct the a Robley D. Evans, who hoisted his flag in the battleshipThis article is about a battleship as a type of warship. See also Battleship (game). Dreadnought redirects here. See also Workers' Dreadnought. In naval history, battleships were the most heavily armed and armored warships afloat. In the mid- 20th century Maine (BB-10)The USS Maine underway Career Laid down: 15 February 1899 Launched: 27 July 1901 Commissioned: 29 December 1902 Decommissioned: 15 May 1920 Fate:scrapped General Characteristics Displacement:12,500 light, 13,500 full Length:394 ft overall, 388 feet waterl on 1 January 1906. The following year, he took his 16 battleships, now dubbed the Great White FleetUSS Kansas at left. The Great White Fleet sent around the world by President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt from December 16, 1907, to February 22, 1909, consisted of sixteen new battleships of the Atlantic Fleet. The battleships were painted whi, on a round-the-world cruise that lasted until 1909, a goodwill tour that also served the purpose of advertising the USA's naval strength and reach to all other nations of the globe.
The Atlantic Fleet was reorganized into the Scouting Force in 1923, which was under the United States Fleet along with the Pacific Fleet.
In 1 February 1941, the Atlantic Fleet was resurrected. Along with the Pacific Fleet and Asiatic Fleet, the fleet was to be under the command of a full Admiral, which jumped the fleet's commander Ernest J. King from a two-star to a four-star flag flying over his flagship Texas (BB-35).
Subsequently, the headquarters was in a rather odd assortment of ships; the Augusta (CA-31), then the old wooden ship Constellation, Vixen (PG-35) , and then Pocono (AGC-16) . In 1948, the HQ moved into the former naval hospital at Norfolk, Virginia, and has remained there ever since.
Between 1947 and 1985, the fleet command was mixed in with the United States Atlantic Command .