At present it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with 50-60 ships, 350 aircraft and 60,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel. The Seventh Fleet, with the support of its Task Force Commanders, performs three major assignments:
Of the 50-60 ships typically assigned to Seventh Fleet, 18 operate from U.S. facilities in Japan and Guam. These forward-deployed units represent the heart of Seventh Fleet. The 18 permanently forward-deployed ships of the US 7th Fleet are the centerpieces of American forward presence in Asia. They are 17 steaming days closer to locations in Asia than their counterparts based in the continental United States. It would take three to five times the number of rotationally based ships in the United States to equal the same presence and crisis response capability as these 18 forward deployed ships. On any given day, about 50 percent of Seventh Fleet forces are deployed at sea throughout the area of responsibility. The Seventh Fleet Command Ship is the USS Blue Ridge, forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan. In 2004, Blue Ridge entered dry dock and command responsibility was transferred temporarily to USS Coronado (AGF-11). Blue Ridge returned to duty 27 September 2004.
For operational and administrative purposes the United Sates Seventh Fleet, as with other numbered fleets, is organized into several specialized task forces.