United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
Namesake
Daniel Frazier was born ca. 1785 in
Dorchester County, Maryland
Dorchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 census, the population was 32,531. Its county seat is Cambridge. The county was formed in 1669 and named for the Earl of Dorset, a family friend of the Calverts ...
. He joined the Navy as a seaman in 1802. Serving in the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
during the
First Barbary War
The First Barbary War (1801–1805), also known as the Tripolitan War and the Barbary Coast War, was a conflict during the Barbary Wars, in which the United States and Sweden fought against Tripolitania. Tripolitania had declared war against S ...
, he took part in
Stephen Decatur
Stephen Decatur Jr. (; January 5, 1779 – March 22, 1820) was an American naval officer and commodore. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in Worcester County. His father, Stephen Decatur Sr., was a commodore in the Unit ...
's renowned foray into
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
*Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...
harbor to destroy the captured and was again with Decatur in the attack on Tripoli on 3 August 1804. He was severely wounded in the gunboat attack, and is believed by many historians to have received these wounds while protecting Decatur with his own body. This act of bravery is commonly attributed (incorrectly) to another sailor,
Reuben James
Reuben James ( 1776 – 3 December 1838) was a boatswain's mate of the United States Navy, famous for his heroism in the First Barbary War.
Career
Born in Delaware around 1776, James joined the United States Navy and served on several ships, ...
, due to an image with a tattoo displaying the name James. He died in New York City about 22 April 1833.
Construction and commissioning
''Frazier'' was launched 17 March 1942 by
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...
,
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
; sponsored by Mrs. Richard McCullough; and commissioned 30 July 1942,
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...
Frank Virden
Frank or Franks may refer to:
People
* Frank (given name)
* Frank (surname)
* Franks (surname)
* Franks, a medieval Germanic people
* Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang
Cur ...
in command.
1942 and 1943
''Frazier'' arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia, 9 December 1942 in the escort for a group of troop transports. She served on escort and patrol in the South Pacific for the next 4 months, guarding transports to
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the se ...
, patrolling off
Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census.
Geography
The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region ...
, and covering escort carriers as they patrolled the waters between
Efate
Efate (french: Éfaté) is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in Vanuatu. It is also known as Île Vate.
Geography
It is the most populous (approx. 66,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanu ...
and the
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its ca ...
. On 18 March 1943, ''Frazier'' departed Efate bound for
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...
and a rendezvous with a task force assigned to operate in the
Aleutian Islands
The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin, "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain of 14 main, ...
.
After firing in the preinvasion bombardment, ''Frazier'' covered the landings onAttu 11 May 1943, and patrolled off that island and
Kiska, Alaska
Kiska ( ale, Qisxa, russian: Кыска) is one of the Rat Islands, a group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about long and varies in width from . It is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permission is requir ...
. On 12 May, she sighted two periscopes and opened gunfire on who dived quickly but not before ''Frazier'' had scored hits on the periscopes. Immediately gaining sonar contact, the destroyer began a depth charge attack which brought air bubbles, oil, and debris to the surface. Two more attacks ensured the submarine was sunk.
Early in the foggy morning of 10 June, with Lieutenant Commander Elliot M. Brown in command, she made two separate attacks on radar contacts which were believed to be submarines. In the second attack, the destroyer's guns fired for five minutes as she pursued her target until its radar echo merged with land echo of Kiska. Late that night and again on the morning of 11 June, ''Frazier'' dropped depth charges on two different underwater contacts, but was unable to determine the results of these attacks; it is likely she sank ''I-9'' in one of them.Stille, Mark. ''Imperial Japanese Navy Submarines 1941-45'' (Osprey, 2007), p.19. There is some confusion over the date, however; Stille lists it 13 June. Japanese records were so chaotic, JANAC could not be certain.
On 2 and 12 August, she fired shore bombardment on Kiska, then covered the unopposed landings of 15 August. She continued to screen large combatants in the Aleutians until early September, when she began a brief overhaul at
Puget Sound
Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...
.
''Frazier'' sailed to
Wellington, New Zealand
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
, to join the escort for transports assigned to the
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...
operation. Between 7 and 13 November 1943 the group rehearsed at Efate, then sailed on to
Tarawa
Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati ''
Betio
Betio is the largest township of Kiribati's capital city, South Tarawa, and the country's main port. The settlement is located on a separate islet at the extreme southwest of the atoll.
Betio Post Office opened on 5 April 1957 and closed in 1964 ...
, on 22 November, ''Frazier'' joined in attacking . After the two destroyers had depth-charged ''I-35'' to the surface, they attacked it with gunfire, and ''Frazier'' finally sent her to the bottom by ramming. Her bow was badly damaged, but none of her men was injured. Two days later, she sailed for repairs and training at Pearl Harbor.
1944
''Frazier'' sortied from Pearl Harbor 22 January 1944 for the invasion of the
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
. She bombarded
Taroa
Taroa is an island in the east of Maloelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. During World War II, it was the site of a major Japanese airfield ( Taroa Airfield). The airfield was destroyed towards the end of World War II, and wreckage and remnants o ...
and Maloelap on 30 January, and next screened as the cruiser bombarded targets on
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese language, Marshallese: ) is part of the Marshall Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking res ...
, while the landings were made. After patrolling against submarines off Kwajalein, ''Frazier'' returned to Pearl Harbor 15 February screening unladen transports. Between 28 February and 20 March, the destroyer carried out escort and patrol assignments in the Marshalls, then joined the fast carrier task force to screen during the air raids on the
Palau
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Ca ...
s,
Yap
Yap ( yap, Waqaab) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federated States of Micr ...
,
Ulithi
Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap.
Overview
Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest ...
, and
Woleai
Woleai, also known as Oleai, is a coral atoll of twenty-two islands in the western Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in the Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia and is located approximately west- ...
from 30 March to 1 April.
Returning to Majuro 6 April 1944, ''Frazier'' sailed a week later with a fast carrier task group for attacks on
Wakde Airfield
Wakde Airfield is a World War II airfield located on Wakde Island, off the northern coast of New Guinea in Papua, Indonesia. The airfield was abandoned after the war and today is almost totally returned to its natural state.
History
The airfiel ...
Western New Guinea
Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...
, on 21 and 22 April, to neutralize the danger of air attack on the
Landing at Aitape
The Landing at Aitape (code-named Operation Persecution) was a battle of the Western New Guinea campaign of World War II. American and Allied forces undertook an amphibious landing on 22 April 1944 at Aitape on northern coast of Papua New Guinea ...
and the
Battle of Hollandia
The Battle of Hollandia (code-named Operation Reckless) was an engagement between Allies of World War II and Japanese forces during World War II. The majority of the Allied force was provided by the United States, with the bulk of two United St ...
. The task group also struck at targets in the
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...
as it sailed back to arrive at Kwajalein 4 May. From 10 May to 27 July, ''Frazier'' patrolled the bypassed Japanese-held islands in the Marshalls, which included Wotje,
Jaluit
Jaluit Atoll ( Marshallese: , , or , ) is a large coral atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is , and it encloses a lagoon with an area of . M ...
, and Mille. She bombarded Mille on 26 May, and on 9 June sent her motor whale-boat in under the guns of Taroa to rescue 10 survivors of a flying boat previously sent in to rescue a downed aviator and were stranded when their plane was damaged by a shore battery. Two weeks later she rescued two Marine aviators off Mille.
A west coast overhaul and training at Pearl Harbor preceded ''Fraziers assignment to escort duty out of Ulithi between 15 December 1944 and the close of the year. On 6 January 1945, the destroyer arrived in San Pedro Bay, from which she sailed the next day for the invasion of
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central. The Agno River and the Bali ...
. From the day of the landings, 9 January, until 26 February, ''Frazier'' carried out bombardment, gunfire support, patrol, and escort missions all around
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, ...
, taking part in the bombardment of
Corregidor
Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historicall ...
on 16 February. After replenishing at San Pedro Bay, ''Frazier'' returned to escort and fire support duties in the
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...
area, covered the landings at
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of t ...
in mid-March, and patrolled against submarines between Lingayen Gulf and
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Sub ...
on 10 May.
1945, end of World War II and fate
Sailing from San Pedro Bay 13 May 1945, ''Frazier'' arrived at Morotai 2 days later, and based here for the
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...
operation. She took part in the invasions of
Brunei Bay
Brunei Bay ( ms, Teluk Brunei) is on the northwestern coast of Borneo island, in Brunei and Malaysia.
Brunei Bay is located 5°00'43.44", 115°17'26.66"; east of Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.
It is the ocean gateway to the isolated Temburong Di ...
and
Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Located on the east coast of the island of Borneo, the city is the financial center of Kalimantan. Balikpapan is the city with the largest economy in Kalimantan with an estimated ...
, and escorted support convoys to the assault areas until returning to Subic Bay 29 July for training.
Assigned to the Philippine Sea Frontier for escort duty at the close of the war, she made voyages to
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
Naval Vessel Register
The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
on 1 July 1971 and sold for scrap on 6 October 1972.
Awards
''Frazier'' received 12
battle star
A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or se ...
s for World War II service.
As of 2009, no other ship in the United States Navy has been named ''Frazier''.