TASK FORCE 58

<Base info - to be verified> The commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, personally assumed command of Task Force 50, shifting his flag from the heavy cruiser Indianapolis to the new battleship New Jersey. Spruance was selected for his fourth star just before the raid on Truk and was actually promoted just afterwards. The Fast Carrier Force (TF 58) was under the command of Rear Admiral Marc A. “Pete” Mitscher, who had relieved Rear Admiral Charles A. Pownall after the Gilbert Islands operations, embarked on Yorktown. The U.S. Force consisted of four new Essex-class carriers––Yorktown, Essex Intrepid, and Bunker Hill––plus Enterprise and four light carriers Belleau Wood, Cabot, Monterey, and Cowpens, along with more than 500 aircraft. In addition, six new fast battleships, ten cruisers and 28 destroyers rounded out the force. TG 58.4, under the command of Rear Admiral Samuel P. Ginder, with Saratoga, Princeton, Langley, and escorts was detached from TF 58 to cover the landings at Eniwetok (Operation Catchpole), where they commenced strikes on 16 February 1944.