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USS Thomas E. Fraser (DM-24)
Encyclopedia
USS Thomas E. Fraser (DD-736/DM-24) was a Robert H. Smith-class
destroyer minelayer in the United States Navy
. She was named for Commander Thomas E. Fraser
(1901–1942).
Thomas E. Fraser was laid down as an Allen M. Sumner-class
destroyer
, DD-736, on 31 January 1944 at Bath, Maine
, by the Bath Iron Works
; named Thomas E. Fraser on 1 March 1944; launched on 10 June 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas E. Fraser. The ship was reclassified as a destroyer minelayer and redesignated DM-24 on 20 July 1944; and commissioned on 22 August 1944, Commander Ronald Joseph Woodaman in command.
and mine warfare training out of Yorktown, Virginia
, Thomas E. Fraser departed Norfolk, Virginia
on 27 November and proceeded, via the Panama Canal Zone
, to the west coast, arriving at San Diego, California
on 12 December. After five days of intensive exercises off San Clemente Island
, Thomas E. Fraser departed the California
coast, steaming in company with and . On the 21st, the destroyer minelayers rendezvoused with two transports and entered Pearl Harbor
on the 26th. Fraser devoted the last days of 1944 and most of January 1945 to intensive exercises in the Hawaiian Islands
to prepare for her role in the forthcoming assault on Iwo Jima
.
, the final staging point for the operation. On the 16th, the force sortied for Iwo Jima
. Two hours before dawn on D-day, 19 February, DM-24 left the convoy screen to make an antisubmarine sweep through the transport area off the southern beaches of Iwo Jima. At 06:15, she completed the patrol and proceeded to take station in the anchorage screen.
After protecting the transports during the original landings, the minelayer proceeded in mid-afteroon to a fire support sector southeast of Mount Suribachi. At 17:37 — only 1,000 yards from the nearest beach—she began delivering call fire under the direction of a shore fire control party. She poured in five-inch fire on enemy machinegun and mortar nests on the northeast base of the formidable mountain. Shortly before sunset, she shifted her fire to positions in the caves near the base of Mt. Suribachi. Japan
ese machinegunners on shore fired on the ship but did no damage. That evening, Thomas E. Fraser moved to a position southwest of Mt. Suribachi and delivered call fire and illumination rounds throughout the night. Her star shells made it possible for Marine
mortars to foil a Japanese attempt to infiltrate an American position via the sea. In the days that followed, Fraser alternated anchorage screening duties with fire support missions to assist marines fighting ashore. Early on the morning of 21 February, as Fraser was firing on the northeast base of Mt. Suribachi, a near miss by a large shell of undetermined origin caused a hole in her starboard side just below the main deck. Nevertheless, she continued firing on targets of opportunity until late in the afternoon when she returned to anchorage patrol.
During a dusk air raid alert on 23 February, Thomas E. Fraser opened fire on a Japanese airplane as it passed down the port side of the ship, but the raider disappeared, apparently unharmed.
Thomas E. Fraser remained off Iwo Jima through the first week in March, providing screening for the transports and fire support for the marines fighting ashore. She scored hits on enemy supply dumps, machinegun nests, and entrenchments, and knocked out numerous gun emplacements. At night, she often fired star shells or delivered harassment fire.
On 8 March, with the help of a plane spotter, her 5-inch guns scored three direct hits on a Japanese blockhouse. Shortly before sunset that day, she departed that battle-torn island, escorting .
on 11 March, the minelayer remained in the lagoon for eight days for upkeep, provisioning, and ammunition replenishment. On the 19th, she got underway in company with Mine Group 2 and steamed for the Ryukyu Islands
. Before dawn on the 25th, the minesweepers began sweep operations — part of the large scale American efforts to prepare the waters of the Nansei Shoto for the planned assaults on Kerama Retto
and Okinawa. The destroyer minelayer (DM) followed in the wake of the minesweepers, directing their movements and providing fire support. On that day, she fired at shore targets on a number of smaller islands of the Okinawa Gunto, observing direct hits. On the 27th, she fired at targets on the main island of Okinawa. The destroyer minelayer did not retire with the minesweeping group that evening but took up a patrol station off Okinawa and, throughout the night, fired illumination and harassment rounds on the island's southern beaches.
In the eary hours of 29 March, Thomas E. Fraser fired on an attacking "Betty
," bringing the Japanese plane down in flames. Air attacks became more frequent in the last days of March; and, after midnight on 31 March, the warship drove off an attack by a single Japanese plane. Minutes later, a dive bomber attacked. Hit by 5-inch gunfire from the ship, the enemy aircraft passed overhead and splashed astern. At 03:20, a low flying floatplane
appeared without warning, dropped a bomb which exploded just off Frasers port quarter, and disappeared into the night before the ship could fire a single shot. The DM continued her support and direction of the minesweeping group until the completion of its assigned sweeps later that day, then took up her station off Kerama Retto
as an anchorage screening vessel.
While screening Mine Division 7 southwest of Kerama Retto on 2 April, the warship took two planes under fire in quick succession, repelling the first and hitting the second with automatic weapons fire as it passed overhead. The attacker burst into flame and splashed. As dawn approached, the ship fired on other aircraft but scored no more hits. After taking on ammunition at Kerama Retto that afternoon, Thomas E. Fraser got underway to join a transport task unit for night retirement. As the warship approached the convoy, seven "Betties" attacked. Antiaircraft fire from the convoy and its escort downed four enemy planes. However, — five miles away — took a bomb hit; and a kamikaze
found its mark on the fantail
of transport .
Fraser continued screening duties off Kerama Retto until 5 April when she got underway to help escort a convoy of transports to Saipan. En route, orders arrived detaching her from the convoy; and she proceeded with to Guam
where they arrived on the 8th.
Following the installation of a new radar antenna, Fraser moved to Saipan on the 18th and, two days later, headed back toward the Ryukyus with a convoy of tank landing ships. After conducting the convoy to a dispersal point off Nakagusuku Wan, the destroyer minelayer took up a screening station off the southern coast of Okinawa. On 28 April, a Japanese plane dove in low from the direction of the island, launched a torpedo which missed the ship, and escaped despite heavy antiaircraft fire. After dark, the ship repelled an enemy air raid and then steamed to assist a hospital ship which had been hit by a Japanese suicide plane
. Finding damaged but proceeding under her own power, Thomas E. Fraser escorted the vessel to Guam where they arrived on 3 May.
The light minelayer was next ordered back to Okinawa to strengthen the thinning ranks of American destroyers on radar picket
duty off that island. Steaming on her starboard screw while her port engine was being repaired, the warship left Apra Harbor
on 4 May and arrived off Okinawa on the 7th to resume screening and radar picket duties. While operating in the transport screen off Hagushi Beach on the 12th, she helped to fight off a swarm of Japanese suicide planes during the raid in which a kamikaze crashed battleship .
Throughout the month, she alternated radar picket duty off Okinawa with maintenance and replenishment at Kerama Retto and Hagushi
. Late in the day on 24 May, Fraser greeted the first planes of a concerted air attack from the north with gunfire and crashed one of her attackers on le Shima. The attack continued into the early hours of the 25th and was at last dispersed after 10 hours and 7 minutes. The ship then spent five days at Kerama Retto for the installation of fighter direction equipment and, on 30 May, resumed her picket duties southwest of Okinawa. As she steamed on station shortly before sunset on 1 June, two low-flying torpedo bomber
s made a surprise torpedo
attack. Thomas E. Fraser successfully maneuvered to avoid the torpedoes dropped by the planes and joined the picket group in engaging the intruders.
On 6 June, Thomas E. Fraser relieved , the badly battered target of a mass kamikaze attack, on picket station. Two days later, she returned to Kerama Retto and began preparations for a new assignment — hydrographic survey and sweeping operations between Kerama Retto and Sakishima Gunto. Operating mainly as a buoy planting ship, the destroyer minelayer accompanied sweepers in the southern Nansei Shoto throughout June, returning twice to Kerama Retto to load radar buoys and undergo engineering maintenance. Toward sunset on 21 June, as she lay at anchor in Kerama Retto, Thomas E. Fraser took under fire an enemy plane which had penetrated the screen and had dropped a bomb on the forecastle of nearby . Joining in the firing, the DM scored an assist when the Japanese plane splashed not far from the seaplane tender.
Into August, Thomas E. Fraser operated out of Buckner Bay, Okinawa, planting buoys to guide mine sweeping units clearing the East China Sea
. After hostilities ceased, she steamed north to rendezvous with the 3rd Fleet. Delays kept the victorious forces hovering off the coast of Honshū
for several days. On the 25th, the task force began its approach to Tokyo
; and, on the 27th, Thomas E. Fraser patrolled Sagami Wan. On the morning of the 28th, she supported and as they helped to sweep the channel in preparation for the entry of cruiser into Tokyo Bay
. She ended August supporting sweepers clearing the Okinoyama minefield and was in Tokyo Bay on 2 September when the peace was signed on board .
She continued off the Japanese coast into October. Following a week at Buckner Bay, she got underway on 25 October for a new sweep area in the East China Sea. Assigned to lay buoys and to assist in navigation, the warship operated in the northern reaches of the East China Sea into November. On 17 November, she put in at Sasebo for fuel and upkeep. On 1 December, she broke out her homeward-bound pennant, and the next day departed Japan, steaming via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor, and arriving in San Diego on 22 December.
to Norfolk, Virginia
, arriving there on 8 January 1946. Late in March, the destroyer minelayer put in at Charleston, South Carolina
for overhaul and remained in that port until late in the year when she participated in a reserve training cruise with which continued into January 1947. From February until May, she operated out of various Caribbean
ports; then returned to Norfolk. On the last day of June, she departed Hampton Roads; steamed to Recife
, Brazil
; then proceeded on to the Africa
n port of Monrovia
for a courtesy and good-will visit during Liberia
's centennial celebration. After stopping at Senegal
, she returned to the east coast on 16 August.
The destroyer minelayer continued operations off the Atlantic coast ranging as far north as NS Argentia
, Newfoundland
and as far south as the Caribbean. On 1 December 1947, she was immobilized; but she was again back in service by May 1949. Following local operations out of Guantanamo Bay
in July, the ship departed Hampton Roads
early in August and called at Cherbourg, France
, before returning to the Caribbean where she remained until she returned to Charleston in November.
In September 1950, she broke the routine of training operations off the east coast with a Mediterranean Sea
deployment which continued until 22 January 1951 when she departed Oran
. In June, she was again underway for Europe
an ports, this time on a midshipman
cruise which took her to Copenhagen
, Plymouth
, and Lisbon
. In July, she visited Cuba
before returning to the east coast. For the next three years, she varied exercises off the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean with brief voyages to Europe.
In February 1955, she engaged in mine planting off Key West, Florida
in support of a fleet service mine test program, one of her last assignments. On 10 June 1955, she was placed in reserve; and, on 12 September 1955, she was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
. Her name was struck from the Navy list
on 1 November 1970 and she was scrapped on 1 June 1974 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
Thomas E. Fraser received three battle stars for World War II
service.
As of 2009, no other ship in the United States Navy has been named Thomas E. Fraser.
Robert H. Smith class destroyer
The Robert H. Smith class of destroyer minelayers was built by the United States during World War II.These vessels were all originally laid down as Allen M. Sumner class destroyers and converted during construction throughout 1944. In that time the United States produced 12 Robert H. Smith class...
destroyer minelayer in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. She was named for Commander Thomas E. Fraser
Thomas E. Fraser
Thomas Edward Fraser was an officer in the United States Navy.Born in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, Fraser was appointed to the United States Naval Academy on 3 September 1920...
(1901–1942).
Thomas E. Fraser was laid down as an Allen M. Sumner-class
Allen M. Sumner class destroyer
The Allen M. Sumner class was a group of 58 destroyers built by the United States during World War II. Another twelve ships were completed as destroyer minelayers...
destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
, DD-736, on 31 January 1944 at Bath, Maine
Bath, Maine
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,266. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County. Located on the Kennebec River, Bath is a port of entry with a good harbor. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its...
, by the Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works is a major American shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, United States. Since its founding in 1884 , BIW has built private, commercial and military vessels, most of which have been ordered by the United States Navy...
; named Thomas E. Fraser on 1 March 1944; launched on 10 June 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas E. Fraser. The ship was reclassified as a destroyer minelayer and redesignated DM-24 on 20 July 1944; and commissioned on 22 August 1944, Commander Ronald Joseph Woodaman in command.
World War II
Following shakedown training out of BermudaBermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
and mine warfare training out of Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown is a census-designated place in York County, Virginia, United States. The population was 220 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1634....
, Thomas E. Fraser departed Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
on 27 November and proceeded, via the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
, to the west coast, arriving at San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
on 12 December. After five days of intensive exercises off San Clemente Island
San Clemente Island
San Clemente Island is the southernmost of the Channel Islands of California. It is owned and operated by the United States Navy, and is a part of Los Angeles County. Defined by the United States Census Bureau as Block Group 2 of Census Tract 5991 of Los Angeles County, California, it is long and...
, Thomas E. Fraser departed the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
coast, steaming in company with and . On the 21st, the destroyer minelayers rendezvoused with two transports and entered Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on the 26th. Fraser devoted the last days of 1944 and most of January 1945 to intensive exercises in the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
to prepare for her role in the forthcoming assault on Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...
.
Battle of Iwo Jima
On 27 January, Thomas E. Fraser got underway to screen Task Group 51.11 (TG 51.11) as it proceeded via Eniwetok to the Marianas Islands. On the 11th, she reached SaipanSaipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
, the final staging point for the operation. On the 16th, the force sortied for Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
. Two hours before dawn on D-day, 19 February, DM-24 left the convoy screen to make an antisubmarine sweep through the transport area off the southern beaches of Iwo Jima. At 06:15, she completed the patrol and proceeded to take station in the anchorage screen.
After protecting the transports during the original landings, the minelayer proceeded in mid-afteroon to a fire support sector southeast of Mount Suribachi. At 17:37 — only 1,000 yards from the nearest beach—she began delivering call fire under the direction of a shore fire control party. She poured in five-inch fire on enemy machinegun and mortar nests on the northeast base of the formidable mountain. Shortly before sunset, she shifted her fire to positions in the caves near the base of Mt. Suribachi. Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese machinegunners on shore fired on the ship but did no damage. That evening, Thomas E. Fraser moved to a position southwest of Mt. Suribachi and delivered call fire and illumination rounds throughout the night. Her star shells made it possible for Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
mortars to foil a Japanese attempt to infiltrate an American position via the sea. In the days that followed, Fraser alternated anchorage screening duties with fire support missions to assist marines fighting ashore. Early on the morning of 21 February, as Fraser was firing on the northeast base of Mt. Suribachi, a near miss by a large shell of undetermined origin caused a hole in her starboard side just below the main deck. Nevertheless, she continued firing on targets of opportunity until late in the afternoon when she returned to anchorage patrol.
During a dusk air raid alert on 23 February, Thomas E. Fraser opened fire on a Japanese airplane as it passed down the port side of the ship, but the raider disappeared, apparently unharmed.
Thomas E. Fraser remained off Iwo Jima through the first week in March, providing screening for the transports and fire support for the marines fighting ashore. She scored hits on enemy supply dumps, machinegun nests, and entrenchments, and knocked out numerous gun emplacements. At night, she often fired star shells or delivered harassment fire.
On 8 March, with the help of a plane spotter, her 5-inch guns scored three direct hits on a Japanese blockhouse. Shortly before sunset that day, she departed that battle-torn island, escorting .
Battle of Okinawa
Arriving at UlithiUlithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
on 11 March, the minelayer remained in the lagoon for eight days for upkeep, provisioning, and ammunition replenishment. On the 19th, she got underway in company with Mine Group 2 and steamed for the Ryukyu Islands
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
. Before dawn on the 25th, the minesweepers began sweep operations — part of the large scale American efforts to prepare the waters of the Nansei Shoto for the planned assaults on Kerama Retto
Kerama Retto
The are a group of 22 islands located southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Four of the islands are inhabited:,., and. The islands are within Shimajiri District. The Kerama-shotō coral reef is a Ramsar Site....
and Okinawa. The destroyer minelayer (DM) followed in the wake of the minesweepers, directing their movements and providing fire support. On that day, she fired at shore targets on a number of smaller islands of the Okinawa Gunto, observing direct hits. On the 27th, she fired at targets on the main island of Okinawa. The destroyer minelayer did not retire with the minesweeping group that evening but took up a patrol station off Okinawa and, throughout the night, fired illumination and harassment rounds on the island's southern beaches.
In the eary hours of 29 March, Thomas E. Fraser fired on an attacking "Betty
Mitsubishi G4M
The Mitsubishi G4M 一式陸上攻撃機, 一式陸攻 Isshiki rikujō kōgeki ki, Isshikirikkō was the main twin-engine, land-based bomber used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. The Allies gave the G4M the reporting name Betty...
," bringing the Japanese plane down in flames. Air attacks became more frequent in the last days of March; and, after midnight on 31 March, the warship drove off an attack by a single Japanese plane. Minutes later, a dive bomber attacked. Hit by 5-inch gunfire from the ship, the enemy aircraft passed overhead and splashed astern. At 03:20, a low flying floatplane
Floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane, with slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage; only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water, with the fuselage remaining above water...
appeared without warning, dropped a bomb which exploded just off Frasers port quarter, and disappeared into the night before the ship could fire a single shot. The DM continued her support and direction of the minesweeping group until the completion of its assigned sweeps later that day, then took up her station off Kerama Retto
Kerama Retto
The are a group of 22 islands located southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Four of the islands are inhabited:,., and. The islands are within Shimajiri District. The Kerama-shotō coral reef is a Ramsar Site....
as an anchorage screening vessel.
While screening Mine Division 7 southwest of Kerama Retto on 2 April, the warship took two planes under fire in quick succession, repelling the first and hitting the second with automatic weapons fire as it passed overhead. The attacker burst into flame and splashed. As dawn approached, the ship fired on other aircraft but scored no more hits. After taking on ammunition at Kerama Retto that afternoon, Thomas E. Fraser got underway to join a transport task unit for night retirement. As the warship approached the convoy, seven "Betties" attacked. Antiaircraft fire from the convoy and its escort downed four enemy planes. However, — five miles away — took a bomb hit; and a kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
found its mark on the fantail
Fantail
Fantails are small insectivorous birds of southern Asia and Australasia belonging to the genus Rhipidura in the family Rhipiduridae...
of transport .
Fraser continued screening duties off Kerama Retto until 5 April when she got underway to help escort a convoy of transports to Saipan. En route, orders arrived detaching her from the convoy; and she proceeded with to Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
where they arrived on the 8th.
Following the installation of a new radar antenna, Fraser moved to Saipan on the 18th and, two days later, headed back toward the Ryukyus with a convoy of tank landing ships. After conducting the convoy to a dispersal point off Nakagusuku Wan, the destroyer minelayer took up a screening station off the southern coast of Okinawa. On 28 April, a Japanese plane dove in low from the direction of the island, launched a torpedo which missed the ship, and escaped despite heavy antiaircraft fire. After dark, the ship repelled an enemy air raid and then steamed to assist a hospital ship which had been hit by a Japanese suicide plane
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
. Finding damaged but proceeding under her own power, Thomas E. Fraser escorted the vessel to Guam where they arrived on 3 May.
The light minelayer was next ordered back to Okinawa to strengthen the thinning ranks of American destroyers on radar picket
Radar picket
A radar picket is a radar-equipped ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a force to protect it from surprise attack. Often several detached radar units encircle a force to provide increased cover in all directions.-World War II:Radar picket ships...
duty off that island. Steaming on her starboard screw while her port engine was being repaired, the warship left Apra Harbor
Apra Harbor
Apra Harbor is a deep-water port on the western side of Guam in the Mariana Islands. The harbor is formed by Orote Peninsula in the south and Cabras Island in the north. To the south, the harbor narrows and then widens again to form an inner harbor. The southern end of the harbor is the location...
on 4 May and arrived off Okinawa on the 7th to resume screening and radar picket duties. While operating in the transport screen off Hagushi Beach on the 12th, she helped to fight off a swarm of Japanese suicide planes during the raid in which a kamikaze crashed battleship .
Throughout the month, she alternated radar picket duty off Okinawa with maintenance and replenishment at Kerama Retto and Hagushi
Hagushi
Hagushi bay was the primary unloading point for American supplies during the invasion of Okinawa during World War II. The bay, at the mouth of the Bishi River , was the dividing line between the First and Sixth US Marine divisions, which landed on the Hagushi beaches to the north, and the Seventh...
. Late in the day on 24 May, Fraser greeted the first planes of a concerted air attack from the north with gunfire and crashed one of her attackers on le Shima. The attack continued into the early hours of the 25th and was at last dispersed after 10 hours and 7 minutes. The ship then spent five days at Kerama Retto for the installation of fighter direction equipment and, on 30 May, resumed her picket duties southwest of Okinawa. As she steamed on station shortly before sunset on 1 June, two low-flying torpedo bomber
Torpedo bomber
A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes which could also carry out conventional bombings. Torpedo bombers existed almost exclusively prior to and during World War II when they were an important element in many famous battles, notably the...
s made a surprise torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
attack. Thomas E. Fraser successfully maneuvered to avoid the torpedoes dropped by the planes and joined the picket group in engaging the intruders.
On 6 June, Thomas E. Fraser relieved , the badly battered target of a mass kamikaze attack, on picket station. Two days later, she returned to Kerama Retto and began preparations for a new assignment — hydrographic survey and sweeping operations between Kerama Retto and Sakishima Gunto. Operating mainly as a buoy planting ship, the destroyer minelayer accompanied sweepers in the southern Nansei Shoto throughout June, returning twice to Kerama Retto to load radar buoys and undergo engineering maintenance. Toward sunset on 21 June, as she lay at anchor in Kerama Retto, Thomas E. Fraser took under fire an enemy plane which had penetrated the screen and had dropped a bomb on the forecastle of nearby . Joining in the firing, the DM scored an assist when the Japanese plane splashed not far from the seaplane tender.
Into August, Thomas E. Fraser operated out of Buckner Bay, Okinawa, planting buoys to guide mine sweeping units clearing the East China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...
. After hostilities ceased, she steamed north to rendezvous with the 3rd Fleet. Delays kept the victorious forces hovering off the coast of Honshū
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
for several days. On the 25th, the task force began its approach to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
; and, on the 27th, Thomas E. Fraser patrolled Sagami Wan. On the morning of the 28th, she supported and as they helped to sweep the channel in preparation for the entry of cruiser into Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
. She ended August supporting sweepers clearing the Okinoyama minefield and was in Tokyo Bay on 2 September when the peace was signed on board .
1945
In September, the minelayer operated with sweep units clearing mines in Kii Suido, in Wakayama anchorage, and off the Pacific coast of the Japanese islands. While anchored in Wakanoura Wan on the 17th and 18th, she weathered a typhoon whose 100-knot gusts forced her to use her engine to ease the strain on her anchor. When the storm abated, she sent out a party to aid survivors and to remove confidential gear and publications from YMS-478 which had broached and capsized.She continued off the Japanese coast into October. Following a week at Buckner Bay, she got underway on 25 October for a new sweep area in the East China Sea. Assigned to lay buoys and to assist in navigation, the warship operated in the northern reaches of the East China Sea into November. On 17 November, she put in at Sasebo for fuel and upkeep. On 1 December, she broke out her homeward-bound pennant, and the next day departed Japan, steaming via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor, and arriving in San Diego on 22 December.
1946 – 1955
On the 26th, she got underway and steamed via the Panama Canal ZonePanama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
to Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, arriving there on 8 January 1946. Late in March, the destroyer minelayer put in at Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
for overhaul and remained in that port until late in the year when she participated in a reserve training cruise with which continued into January 1947. From February until May, she operated out of various Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
ports; then returned to Norfolk. On the last day of June, she departed Hampton Roads; steamed to Recife
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
; then proceeded on to the Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n port of Monrovia
Monrovia
Monrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately...
for a courtesy and good-will visit during Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
's centennial celebration. After stopping at Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, she returned to the east coast on 16 August.
The destroyer minelayer continued operations off the Atlantic coast ranging as far north as NS Argentia
Naval Station Argentia
Naval Station Argentia is a former base of the United States Navy that operated from 1941-1994. It was established in the community of Argentia in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland, which later became the tenth Canadian province .-Construction:Established under the British-U.S...
, Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
and as far south as the Caribbean. On 1 December 1947, she was immobilized; but she was again back in service by May 1949. Following local operations out of Guantanamo Bay
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...
in July, the ship departed Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
early in August and called at Cherbourg, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, before returning to the Caribbean where she remained until she returned to Charleston in November.
In September 1950, she broke the routine of training operations off the east coast with a Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
deployment which continued until 22 January 1951 when she departed Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
. In June, she was again underway for Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an ports, this time on a midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
cruise which took her to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, and Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
. In July, she visited Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
before returning to the east coast. For the next three years, she varied exercises off the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean with brief voyages to Europe.
In February 1955, she engaged in mine planting off Key West, Florida
Key West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
in support of a fleet service mine test program, one of her last assignments. On 10 June 1955, she was placed in reserve; and, on 12 September 1955, she was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard , often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard located in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is used for remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships...
. Her name was struck from the Navy list
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register 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 the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 1 November 1970 and she was scrapped on 1 June 1974 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
Thomas E. Fraser received three battle stars for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
service.
As of 2009, no other ship in the United States Navy has been named Thomas E. Fraser.