Editing Task Force 11

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{more footnotes|date=June 2012}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=Task Force 11
|image=USS Saratoga (CV-3) USS Enterprise (CV-6) 1942.jpg
|image_size=300px
|caption=TF 11's {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|2}} (foreground) conducts aircraft operations with [[Task Force 16]]'s {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|2}} in the South Pacific in August 1942.
|dates=At least 1941–45, 2001–?
|country=United States
|allegiance=[[Allies of World War II]]
|branch=[[United States Navy]]
|type=
|role=
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|command_structure=
|garrison=
|garrison_label=
|equipment=
|equipment_label=
|nickname=
|patron=
|motto=
|mascot=
|battles=[[Action off Bougainville]] <br/> [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] <br/> [[Battle of the Eastern Solomons]] <br/> [[Marshall Islands Campaign]]
|anniversaries=
|decorations=
|battle_honors=
<!-- Commanders -->
|current_commander=
|current_commander_label=
|ceremonial_chief=
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|colonel_of_the_regiment=
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|notable_commanders=[[Aubrey Fitch]] <br/> [[Frank Jack Fletcher]]
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}}

'''Task Force 11''' (TF 11 or alternately Commander Task Force 11, CTF 11) is a designation that has been used by the [[United States armed forces]] for two separate units.

==World War II==
During [[World War II]], Task Force 11 was a [[United States Navy]] [[aircraft carrier]] [[task force]] in the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific theater]]. After the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941, [[Destroyer Squadron 1]] was attached to the task force, which was under the command of [[Vice admiral (United States)|Vice Admiral]] [[Wilson Brown (admiral)|Wilson Brown]], made up of the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Lexington|CV-2}} and the [[heavy cruiser]]s {{USS|Indianapolis|CA-35}}, {{USS|Chicago|CA-29}}, and {{USS|Portland|CA-33}}.<ref name=destroyerhistorydesron1>{{cite web | title= Destroyer Squadron 1 | url= http://destroyerhistory.org/goldplater/desron1/ | work= Destroyer History Home Page | publisher=  Destroyer History Foundation | date=  2000–2011 | access-date=6 December 2011}}</ref> On 14 December 1941, after delays due to bad weather, the task force cleared [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Hawaii]], as a diversion for an expedition under [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[Frank J. Fletcher]] in the aircraft carrier {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3}} to relieve [[Wake Island]].

Originally formed around ''Lexington'', TF 11 then was formed around her [[sister ship]] ''Saratoga'' until ''Saratoga'' was [[torpedo]]ed and disabled by the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] [[submarine]] {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-6||2}} on 11 January 1942. It then was formed around ''Lexington'' again for the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] in which ''Lexington'' was sunk in early May 1942, then again around ''Saratoga'' after her repairs were completed.

TF 11 – as part of [[Task Force 61]] along with [[Task Force 16]] – was involved in the [[Battle of the Eastern Solomons]] in late August 1942, but ''Saratoga'' was again crippled by a [[submarine]], and the task force shrank to just the carrier and some [[destroyer]]s.

In September 1943, TF 11 was reorganized around the [[light aircraft carrier]]s {{USS|Princeton|CVL-23}} and {{USS|Belleau Wood|CVL-24}} under Rear Admiral [[Willis A. Lee]] and supported landings on [[Baker Island]] and [[Howland Island]]. In early 1944, its task groups TG 11.1 and 11.2, now consisting of [[escort carrier]]s, supported operations in the [[Marshall Islands]].

==War on Terrorism==
Task Force 11 was also the first designation given to the [[United States special operations forces]] composite grouping which has pursued terrorist [[high-value target]]s in Afghanistan and Iraq since October 2001. The grouping has been redesignated multiple times to avoid information leakages. Task Force 11 (seemingly in reference to 11 September{{according to|date=May 2020}}) was only the first title used. It also used the title 'Task Force Sword' at the same time.

Initially it operated under the [[United States Joint Special Operations Command]] in Afghanistan searching for senior [[Taliban]] and [[al-Qaeda]] leaders.  The unit included elements from Canada's [[JTF2]] as well. JSOC frequently changed the name of the task force, and it has been designated [[Task Force 6-26]], [[Task Force 121]], and [[Task Force 145]] with one of its most recently recorded names being [[Task Force 88 (anti-terrorist unit)|Task Force 88]].

==References==
[[File:Juliet Forward.JPG|thumb|right|220px|The first US team to enter the [[Tora Bora]] mountain range]]
<references/>

==Further reading==
*{{cite book | last = Smith | first = Jamie | year = 2015 | chapter = 19| title = Gray Work: Confessions of a Paramilitary Spy | publisher = Harper Collins/WmMorrow | location = New York | isbn = 978-0062271693 }}
*{{cite book | last = Lundstrom | first = John B. | year = 2006 | title = Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal | publisher = Naval Institute Press | location = Annapolis, Maryland | isbn = 1-59114-475-2 }}
*{{cite book | last = Lundstrom | first = John B. | year = 2005|edition=New | title = First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942 | publisher = Naval Institute Press | isbn = 1-59114-472-8 }}
*{{cite book | last = Lundstrom | first = John B. | year = 2005|edition=New | title = The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway | publisher = Naval Institute Press | location = Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.A. | isbn = 1-59114-471-X }}
*{{cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | author-link = Samuel Eliot Morison | orig-year = 1958| year = 2001 | title = The Rising Sun in the Pacific 1931 – April 1942'', vol. 3 of ''[[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]] | publisher = Castle Books | isbn = 0-7858-1304-7 }}
*{{cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | author-link = Samuel Eliot Morison | orig-year = 1949| year = 2001 | title = Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, May 1942 – August 1942, ''vol. 4 of ''[[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]] | publisher = University of Illinois Press | location = Champaign, Illinois, US | isbn = 0-252-06995-1 }}
*{{cite book | last = Morison | first = Samuel Eliot | author-link = Samuel Eliot Morison | year = 1958 | title = The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943'', vol. 5 of ''[[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]] | publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company]] | location = Boston | isbn = 0-316-58305-7 }}
*{{cite book | last = Stille | first = Mark | year = 2007 | title = USN Carriers vs IJN Carriers: The Pacific 1942 | publisher = Osprey | location = New York | isbn = 978-1-84603-248-6 }}


[[Category:United States Navy task forces]]
[[Category:Special forces task forces of the United States]]