Fraser, Bruce Austin

Born Feb. 5, 1888, in Molesey, Surrey. Baron of North Cape (1946). British fleet admiral (1948).

Fraser joined the navy in 1902 and fought in World War I. During World War II he served as third sea lord from 1939 to 1942. In 1943 he was put in charge of naval convoys to the USSR and was named commander in chief of the Home Fleet. In December 1943, on board the battleship Duke of York, he directed the operation to destroy the fascist German battleship Scharnhorst near North Cape. In 1945 and 1946, Fraser commanded the Pacific Fleet. In September 1945 he signed the Japanese surrender papers for the British. From 1948 to 1951, Fraser served as first sea lord and chief of naval staff.