Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 (The Pacific War Trilogy Book 3)

by Ian W. Toll

BECAUSE TASK FORCE 58 WAS SO BIG, and because it grew steadily as newly commissioned ships arrived in the Pacific, it was too unwieldy to operate in a single circular formation. The force was cleaved into component “task groups,” each a small circular fleet in itself. Each task group sailed as a unit and operated semi-independently under the local command of a rear admiral. It could break away to refuel or conduct air operations; or it might be dispatched by Admiral Mitscher to raid a target several hundred miles away. It was also possible to form a conventional surface warship force consisting of battleships and cruisers of the several task groups, which could then be sent ahead to engage Japanese warships in a conventional naval gunnery battle, or to bombard enemy shore fortifications. Usually, however, the task groups (varying from three to five in number) remained at full strength in adjacent positions, spaced at a distance of fifteen to twenty miles, so that they could provide mutual support.