Admiral of the Fleet Bruce Austin Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape, (5 February 1888 – 12 February 1981) was a senior Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War, saw action during the Gallipoli Campaign and took part in the internment of the German High Seas Fleet at the end of the war. He also served in the Second World War initially as Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy and then as second-in-command and afterwards as commander of the Home Fleet, leading the force that destroyed the . He went on to be First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in which role he assisted in establishing NATO and agreed to the principle that the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic should be an American admiral, in the face of fierce British opposition.
Early naval career
Born the son of General Alexander Fraser and Monica Stores Fraser (née Smith), Fraser was educated at Bradfield College. He joined the Royal Navy as a cadet in the training ship HMS Britannia in September 1902 and passed out as a midshipman in the battleship in the Channel Fleet on 15 January 1904. He transferred to the battleship in the Channel Fleet in February 1905 and, having been promoted to sub-lieutenant on 15 March 1907, he joined the battleship in May 1907. he joined the cruiser in the Mediterranean Fleet. Fraser volunteered to serve with the White Russian Caspian Flotilla; however on arrival in Azerbaijan as part of the 1920 Royal Navy Mission to Enzeli, he was captured and imprisoned by Bolsheviks in the Black Hole of Baku until released in November 1920. He then returned to HMS Excellent before joining the Naval Ordnance Department at the Admiralty in June 1922. he became Head of the Tactical Division of the Admiralty in January 1927. He reached Flag rank as a rear admiral on 11 January 1938 and was made chief of staff to the commander-in-chief Mediterranean Fleet in April 1938.
Second World War
In March 1939, shortly before the outset of the Second World War, Fraser was appointed Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy. he was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1941 Birthday Honours and became second-in-command, Home Fleet and Flag Officer, 2nd Battle Squadron, in June 1942.
thumb|left|Tokyo Bay – Surrender of Japanese aboard . Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, commanding British Pacific fleet, signs the [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender|Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the United Kingdom. Other British representatives stand alongside General Douglas MacArthur at the microphone‎.]]
Fraser was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet in May 1943 and appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1943 Birthday Honours. She was then hit by an initial wave of four torpedoes and, after concentrated gunfire and further torpedo attacks, sank at 7.45 pm that night. After the action Fraser and his fleet returned to Murmansk for refuelling.
For this action he was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 5 January 1944, and awarded the Russian Order of Suvorov, First Degree on 25 February.
Promoted to full admiral on 7 February 1944, Fraser took command of the Eastern Fleet in August 1944 and then of the British Pacific Fleet in December 1944.
Later career
thumb|Bust of Admiral Fraser in [[Portsmouth Dockyard]]
thumb|Memorial to Admiral Fraser at St Michael and All Angels Church in [[Thursley]]
On 27 April 1946 Fraser was appointed First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King and, in September, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Fraser of North Cape, of Molesey in the County of Surrey. He became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in September 1947 and First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in September 1948, As First Sea Lord he assisted in establishing NATO and agreed to the principle that the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT) should be an American admiral, in the face of fierce British opposition.
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
- Transcription of Official Service Records on www.admirals.org.uk
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