Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently declared that reestablishing the Fourth Fleet was "a great idea" and that "as far as I know it is moving forward." The move would require congressional approval.

The formation of the fleet, which would be commanded by a rear or vice admiral based at Mayport, Florida, would bring to six the U.S. numbered fleets (which are normally commanded by vice admirals). The others are the Second Fleet that serves as the naval operating component of the U.S. Joint Forces Command; the Third and Seventh Fleets of the U.S. Pacific Command (operating in the Eastern and Western Pacific Ocean areas, respectively); the Fifth Fleet of the U.S. Central Command; and the Sixth Fleet of the U.S. European Command.

The reestablished Fourth Fleet would be the naval component of the U.S. Southern Command. It would bring increased attention to naval operations in that operating area.

The previous Fourth Fleet was one of the numbered fleets established by the U.S. Navy beginning at the outbreak of World War II. Those in the Atlantic-Mediterranean area were given even numbers; those in the Pacific area received odd numbers. The Fourth Fleet was formed on March 15, 1943, having been renamed from the U.S. South Atlantic Force on that date. That fleet was engaged primarily in anti-submarine operations against German U-boats. (By that time all German surface ships -- including disguised merchant raiders -- had been driven from Atlantic waters.)

The Fourth Fleet remained in existence for seven years. (One wartime fleet -- the Tenth Fleet -- was a "paper fleet" established in the Navy Department in Washington, D.C., to coordinate U.S. anti-submarine operations in the Atlantic. The Tenth Fleet was established on May 20, 1943, under the direct command of the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Ernest J. King, with day-to-day operations directed by Rear Admiral Francis S. Low, the Chief of Staff. The Battle of the Atlantic was essentially won in May 1943, almost simultaneous with setting up the Tenth Fleet.)

Some Washington observers find it ironic that as the size of the active fleet continues to decline, a new fleet organization is being established. Perhaps more significant, some naval officers believe that it would be more appropriate to establish a numbered fleet to coordinate U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operations in the newly established U.S. Africa Command. The ongoing crises in several African countries, Chinese incursions into Africa, and other events make it significantly more likely that U.S. naval forces will become directly involved in African waters than in the current areas planned for Fourth Fleet operations.