Scouting Fleet

The Scouting Fleet was part of the United States Fleet in the United States Navy, and renamed the Scouting Force in 1930.

Established in 1922, the fleet consisted mainly of older battleships and initially operated in the Atlantic. Returning from European waters on 21 October 1922, USS Utah became the flagship of BatDiv 6, Scouting Fleet, and operated with the Scouting Fleet over the next 3½ years.

In 1931, it was redesignated as the "Scouting Force." At this time, it consisted of the remaining cruisers and destroyers that were not with the Battle Force and a "Training Squadron" of three old battleships and eight destroyers. This force operated exclusively in the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea.

In 1932, the force was moved to the Pacific. In 1940 it survived the division of the Fleet into the U.S. Pacific Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet, and served in the early part of World War II as an umbrella command for task forces.

Commanders

• John D. McDonald (1922–1923)
• Newton A. McCully (June 20, 1923 - December 21, 1924)
• VADM Josiah S. McKean (December 22, 1924 – September 3, 1926)
• VADM Ashley H. Robertson (September 4, 1926 – May 30, 1927)
• VADM Montgomery M. Taylor (June 1, 1927 - July 10, 1928)
• VADM William Carey Cole (July 11, 1928 - June 13, 1930)
• VADM Arthur L. Willard (June 14, 1930 - June 23, 1932)
• RADM Frank Hodges Clark (June 24, 1932 - May 19, 1933)
• VADM Frank H. Brumby (May 20, 1933 - June 14, 1934)
• VADM Arthur J. Hepburn (June 15, 1934 - June 23, 1936
• VADM William T. Tarrant (June 24, 1936 - July 2, 1938)
• VADM Adolphus Andrews (July 3, 1938 - February 1, 1941)

Bibliography

• Morison, Samuel Eliot (1948). Volume III, The Rising Sun in the Pacific. Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown and Company.