Bruce Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape
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Admiral of the Fleet Bruce Austin Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape, GCB, KBE, (born Acton February 5, 1888–February 12, 1981) was a senior British admiral during World War II.
He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet on 15 January 1904. Fraser rapidly marked himself out as a young man who had the potential to go far in the service and achieved first class passes in all this Sub-Lieutenant's exams, which he took between March 1907 and December 1908. He was promoted Sub-Lieutenant on 15 March 1907 and Lieutenant on 15 March 1908. His time in these ranks was mainly spent in the Channel and Mediterranean Fleets. He returned to the Home Fleet in August 1910 and remained there serving in H.M.S. Bodicea until the end of July the following year. On 31 July 1911 Fraser joined H.M.S. Excellent, the Royal Navy's school of Gunnery at Whale Island in Portsmouth harbour where he commenced the 'long course' to qualify as a specialist Gunnery Lieutenant.
[edit] Second World War
Fraser was Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet during the later stages of the naval war in Europe, and during that period he commanded the Royal Navy force that destroyed the Scharnhorst at the Battle of North Cape in December 1943. That battle took place whilst Fraser's forces were escorting a convoy to Murmansk in the Soviet Union.Following his command of the Home Fleet, he went east in the summer of 1944 to take command of the powerful British Pacific Fleet. Unlike his time in command of the Home Fleet this was not a seagoing command. He commanded from ashore in Australia. The BPF took part in the assault on Okinawa and the final strikes on the Japanese home islands. Fraser was the British signer of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on 2 September 1945.
Following the war he became First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in 1948. He retired in 1951 with the rank of Admiral of the Fleet.
| Military Offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir John Cunningham |
First Sea Lord 1948–1951 |
Succeeded by Sir Rhoderick McGrigor |
| Preceded by Sir James Somerville |
Commander-in-Chief British Eastern Fleet 1942–19?? |
Succeeded by not known |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by New creation |
Baron Fraser of North Cape 1946–1981 |
Succeeded by Extinct |
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Categories: United Kingdom military personnel stubs | 1888 births | 1981 deaths | British people of World War II | Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath | Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire | Lords of the Admiralty | People from Acton | Royal Navy admirals | Old Bradfieldians | Royal Navy First Sea Lords
