Southeast Pacific Area

It was responsible to the Joint Chiefs of Staff via the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Navy (COMINCH), Admiral Ernest King.

[1] On 24 March 1942, the newly formed British and Combined Chiefs of Staff issued a directive designating the Pacific theater an area of American strategic responsibility.

The Southeast Pacific Force was formed by a directive of 28 August 1941 to Admiral Husband Kimmel:

FOLLOWING TASK: DESTROY SURFACE RAIDERS WHICH ATTACK OR THREATEN UNITED STATES FLAG SHIPPING.

The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II dates the establishment of the Southeast Pacific Area to 8 December 1941.