Fleet (Numbered)
E2. Naval, defence and maritime law enforcementDefinition
US Navy operational geographic formation (e.g., 7th Fleet).
A standing US Navy operational command assigned a number and a geographic area, commanded by a vice admiral, under which task forces are organized for operations. Active numbered fleets include the 3rd (Eastern Pacific), 4th (Caribbean and South America), 5th (Middle East, Bahrain), 6th (Europe and Africa), 7th (Western Pacific, the largest forward-deployed fleet), and 10th (Fleet Cyber Command). A numbered fleet doubles as the maritime component of a geographic combatant command and assigns its ships into numbered task forces.
Source: US Navy numbered fleet structure; 7th Fleet (Yokosuka) and 5th Fleet (Bahrain) as forward-deployed examples.