Frank O. Slater, born in Fyffe, Alabama, on 19 December 1920, enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on 10 February 1942.
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Upon completion of basic training, Slater was transferred to the Receiving Station, Pearl Harbor, for reassignment. He served on the USS San Francisco (CA-38) from 4 April 1942 until 12 November 1942 when he was killed in action at his battle station.
Slater was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross “For extraordinary heroism as a gunner aboard the USS San Francisco during action against enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands area on November 12 and 13, 1942. Courageously refusing to abandon his gun in the face of an onrushing Japanese torpedo plane, Slater,with cool determination and utter disregard for his own personal safely, kept blazing away until the hostile craft plunged out of the sky in a flaming dive and crashed on his station. His grim perseverance and relentless devotion to duty in the face of certain death were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave up his life in the defense of this country.”,He was awarded the Purple Heart as well.Frank O. Slater was buried at sea, but his marker stands in Arlington National Cemetery.
USS Slater (DE-766) was named in his honor. The ship was laid down on 9 March 1943 by the Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Tampa, Florida; launched on 13 February 1944; sponsored by Mrs. James L. Slater; and commissioned on 1 May 1944.
The USS Slater is now a museum ship on the Hudson River in Albany, New York.
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