The Lord Fraser of North Cape | |
---|---|
Born | Acton, England | 5 February 1888
Died | 12 February 1981 London, England | (aged 93)
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Navy |
Years of service | 1904–1951 |
Rank | Admiral of the Fleet |
Commands held | First Sea Lord (1948–51) Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth (1947–48) British Pacific Fleet (1944–45) Eastern Fleet (1944) Home Fleet (1943–44) 2nd Battle Squadron (1942–43) HMS Glorious (1936–37) HMS Effingham (1929–32) |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands) Order of Suvorov (Soviet Union) Legion d'Honneur (France) Croix de Guerre (France) Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav (Norway) Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog (Denmark) Navy Distinguished Service Medal (United States) |
Relations | General Alexander Fraser (father) |
Admiral of the Fleet Bruce Austin Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape, GCB, KBE (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 German battleship Scharnhorst. 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.
In March 1939, shortly before the outset of the Second World War, Fraser was appointed Third Sea Lord and Controller of the Navy.[6] Promoted to vice admiral on 8 May 1940,[11] he was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1941 Birthday Honours[12] and became second-in-command, Home Fleet and Flag Officer, 2nd Battle Squadron, in June 1942.[6] He was appointed a Grand Officer of the Dutch Order of Orange-Nassau on 19 January 1943.[13]
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.[8] In the role of Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet, he commanded the Royal Navy force that destroyed the German battleship Scharnhorst at the Battle of the North Cape on 26 December 1943.[6] Units of the Home Fleet regularly escorted convoys to Murmansk in the Soviet Union: Fraser was convinced that Scharnhorst would attempt an attack on Convoy JW 55B, and put to sea in his flagship HMS Duke of York to reach a position between the convoy and the German battleship's base in North Norway.[1] Scharnhorst had her fighting ability destroyed by repeated hits from Duke of York and her speed reduced by a 14-inch shell hit to a boiler room, which deprived her of the ability to escape.[14] 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.[1] Thus Fraser avenged the destruction of his old command, HMS Glorious, by Scharnhorst three years earlier.[15] After the action Fraser and his fleet returned to Murmansk for refuelling.[16]
For this action he was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 5 January 1944,[17] and awarded the Russian Order of Suvorov, First Degree on 25 February.[18]
Promoted to full admiral on 7 February 1944,[19] Fraser took command of the Eastern Fleet in August 1944 and then of the British Pacific Fleet in December 1944.[6] He commanded from ashore at his Headquarters in Sydney in Australia and built a strong relationship with the United States Navy, adopting their system of signal communications.[6] Fraser was the British signatory to the Japanese Instrument of Surrender at Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.[20]
On 27 April 1946 Fraser was appointed First and Principal Naval Aide-de-Camp to the King and,[21] in September, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Fraser of North Cape, of Molesey in the County of Surrey.[22] He became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in September 1947 and then, having been promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 7 February 1948, he became First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in September.[20] 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.[20] He retired in December 1951 and died, unmarried, in London on 12 February 1981, one week after his birthday at the age of 93, upon which the barony became extinct.[23]