After the reorganization of the U.S. Navy in 1945 following the World War II (WWII), the U.S. Eighth Fleet got formed in 1974. However, the Eight Fleet got renamed as the Second Task Fleet and later in 1950 as the U.S. Second Fleet. The chief responsibility of the U.S. Second Fleet is to cover the whole of the Atlantic Ocean right from the North Pole to the Caribbean islands on the east and from the U.S. shores to the middle of the Atlantic in the west covering about 6,700,000 square miles. The Second Fleet got used in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, and its units were put into operation in the northeastern part of the Cuban islands thereby inspecting and intercepting ships to check for illegal imports. Another role of the Second Fleet was to establish quarantine during that period. Again in 1983, the Second Fleet was put on the mission to invade Grenada and set sail to the Caribbean for the Operation Urgent Fury. The Second Fleet became the Commander, Joint Task Force or the CJTF-120 and had units from the Army, Air Force, Navy and the Marine Corps.
In 2008, the U.S. Second Fleet got designated as the Commander Task Force or CTF-20, and its mission is to plan, direct and conduct battle force operations in the Atlantic Ocean and support allied commanders. It worked under U.S. Fleet Forces Command and till 2005 the Commander, Second Fleet worked as a Commander Striking Fleet Atlantic on a permanent assignment with the NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic. The primary mission of the Striking Atlantic Fleet is to protect the NATO’s Atlantic forces and to deter any aggression from the enemy lines. It also held as its duty to protect the sea line communications of the NATO. Besides, the Second Fleet has been used during times of crisis or as a part of some exercises, and at such times it became the Commander, Joint Task Force 120. The Joint Task Force has units from the Atlantic Fleet; support personnel and aircraft from the U.S. Airforce; units from air assault and airborne of the U.S. Army; U.S. Coast Guard units, and U.S. Marine Corps especially the amphibious forces. The joint force has been used to execute various contingency missions.
With the coming of the Allied Command Transformation in 2005 and especially with the absence of the Soviet Union threat, the Striking Atlantic Fleet got disestablished which got replaced by the Combine Joint Operations. Again in 2008, When the U.S. Navy re-established the U.S. Fourth Fleet, all of the U.S. Navy shifts, submarines and the aircraft that were operating in the Caribbean Sea and the waters near Central and South American came under the responsibility of the U.S. Fourth Fleet. Hence the U.S. Second Fleet got disestablished in 2010. However, the Second Fleet played a significant role during the Haiti Earthquake in 2010 as it carried numbers of ships, helicopters, aircraft, sailors, and marines in support of disaster response and to provide humanitarian assistance to the people. The fleet carried huge gallons of water, meals and medical supplies and also survey boats, ferries, underway replenishment fleets, elements of the Maritime prepositioning ship, ships for amphibious operations, etc.