[1] On 14 December 1941, after delays due to bad weather, the task force cleared Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a diversion for an expedition under Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher in the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3) to relieve Wake Island.

In September 1943, TF 11 was reorganized around the light aircraft carriers USS Princeton (CVL-23) and USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) under Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee and supported landings on Baker Island and Howland Island.

In early 1944, its task groups TG 11.1 and 11.2, now consisting of escort carriers, supported operations in the Marshall Islands.

Task Force 11 was also the first designation given to the United States special operations forces composite grouping which has pursued terrorist high-value targets in Afghanistan and Iraq since October 2001.

The grouping has been redesignated multiple times to avoid information leakages.