The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is a numbered fleet, which is a type of permanent operational command institution of the United States Navy. It was first established on April 26, 1944, during World War II to conduct operations against Japanese forces in the Central Pacific, but was stood down in January 1947. The fleet was reactivated on July 1, 1995, to provide a permanent naval command structure for the Middle East, replacing the temporary Middle East Force (COMMIDEASTFOR) that had been operating in the region. This reactivation was necessary to oversee operations in the volatile Persian Gulf region following the first Gulf War.
The 5th Fleet's area of responsibility (AOR) is approximately 2.5 million square miles and includes the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean. Its primary mechanism is to conduct maritime security operations and theater security cooperation to ensure the free flow of commerce through critical chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and the Suez Canal. The fleet's headquarters is at Naval Support Activity Bahrain in Manama, Bahrain.
The 5th Fleet shares a commander and headquarters with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) and is a component command of United States Central Command (CENTCOM). It connects to the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a 46-nation security partnership established in 2001 that it leads to counter non-state actors and ensure maritime security. A recent change is the fleet's focus on integrating new systems like unmanned air and underwater vehicles for enhanced domain awareness. The fleet also recently led Operation Prosperity Guardian to safeguard shipping from Houthi threats in the Red Sea until its conclusion in May 2025.