Hull Number: DE-157
Launch Date: 04/22/1943
Commissioned Date: 07/01/1943
Call Sign: NDNA
Class: BUCKLEY
BUCKLEY Class
Namesake: AUGUSTUS FRANCIS FECHTELER AND FRANK CASPER FECHTELER (SON)
AUGUSTUS FRANCIS FECHTELER AND FRANK CASPER FECHTELER (SON)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, July 2019
Named for Rear Adm. Augustus F. Fechteler (1867-1921) and Lt. Frank C. Fechteler, his younger son (1897-1922).
Augustus Francis Fechteler — born in Paderborn, Westphalia, Prussia, on 1 September 1857 – immigrated with his parents to the United States in 1865. By the age of 16 Fechteler had graduated from De LaSalle Institute, New York, and in June 1873, he received an appointment as a cadet midshipman to the U.S. Naval Academy via the Seventh District of New York. Fechteler completed his studies at the Naval Academy in 1877, and then served his mandatory two years at sea, after which he was appointed midshipman on 20 June 1879.
Following his departure from the Academy, Fechteler received assignment to the European Station from June 1879 to November 1888. During that time, he served on board the screw sloop Shenandoah; with the Coast Survey (1882-1885); on board the receiving ship Vermont; with the training ships Jamestown and Portsmouth; and for the last two years of his assignment, in the steam sloop of war Essex. Early on in his time at the European Station, on 23 November 1880, Fechteler was promoted to the rank of ensign. While serving on board Essex he received promotion to lieutenant (j.g.) on 20 May 1887.
On 10 January 1889, Fechteler reported to the Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, Washington D.C.; and, after serving there for a year, transferred to the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), D.C., where he remained until 1892. Following his stint with the ONI, Fechteler transferred to the West Coast and was assigned to the steam sloop of war Mohican. He reported on board that vessel on 16 February 1892 and later that year, on 10 November, received promotion to the rank of lieutenant. On 16 October 1893, Fechteler married Maud Morrow, the daughter of U.S. District Court Judge William M. Morrow of San Rafael, Calif., a union that would ultimately produce four children: Margaret, William M., Frank C., and Elizabeth. His two sons both served in the U.S. Navy, the older, William, attained flag rank and commanded amphibious forces in the liberation of the Philippines, ultimately serving as Chief of Naval Operations (1951-1953); his younger, Frank (see below), a naval aviator, perished in an airplane crash in 1922.
In 1894, Fechteler departed from Mohican and assumed command of the Bureau Hydrographic Office, San Francisco, Calif. After holding that positon for a year he was put in charge of the Inspection of Ships in October 1895. On 19 September 1896 Fechteler briefly served on board Monterey (Monitor No. 6) and then a month later the pre-dreadnought Oregon (Battleship No. 3). Fechteler assumed command of Concord (Gunboat No. 3) in December 1898, and operated her in the Asiatic Station during the Spanish-American War (21 April–13 August 1898). In August 1899, Fechteler returned to California, whereupon he served as the Aide to the Commandant at the Mare Island Navy Yard.
Fechteler became the navigator for Iowa (Battleship No. 4) on 16 August 1901, and served with her until her decommissioning on 16 July 1903. Following that sea duty, Fechteler returned to inspection duty for the Bureau of Ordnance and Engineering at Union Iron Works, San Francisco, Calif. In March 1904, Fechteler went back to the East Coast and again held a position at ONI. He was promoted to the rank of commander on 1 July 1905, and in May of that same year, he was sent to New York to inspect Dubuque (Gunboat No. 17). The ship was commissioned on 3 June 1905, and Fechteler commanded her from day of her commissioning to 22 December 1906.
Following his time on board Dubuque, Fechteler served as a Member of the Board of Inspection and Survey, Navy Department, during which time he inspected Brooklyn (Armored Cruiser No. 3) and Mississippi (Battleship No. 23). In June 1908, he attended a conference for officers at the Naval War College, Newport, R.I., and was thereafter assigned as the General Inspector for South Carolina (Battleship No. 26), at the works of William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa. Fechteler promoted to the rank of captain on 1 July 1909 and he later assumed command of South Carolina upon her commissioning on 1 March 1910. He was however, eventually detached from the battleship in November of the following year and took up a temporary assignment with the Navy Department’s General Board.
From November 1914 to July 1915, Fechteler attended the Naval War College, Newport, R.I., upon the completion of which tour, he traveled to Provincetown, Ma., to assume command of the Second Division, Atlantic Fleet. On 11 July 1915, Fechteler achieved the rank of rear admiral. He assumed command of the Sixth Division on 19 June 1916, keeping his flag in Utah (Battleship No. 31). He was serving in that capacity when the U.S. entered the Great War on 6 April 1917, and his force was later sent to Ireland to support the British Grand Fleet.
Following the close of hostilities, Fechteler returned to the U.S., and assumed duty as Commandant of the Navy Yard, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Va. On 10 April 1919, he became the Commandant of the Fifth Naval District, headquartered at Norfolk. Two years later, on 26 May 1921, following an illness of several months’ duration, Fechteler died while still serving on active duty at the Naval Operating Base, Hampton Roads, Va.
Rear Adm. Fechteler received multiple commendations during his distinguished career in the navy including the Spanish Campaign Medal, Philippine Campaign Medal, the World War I Victory Medal and most notably, the Navy Cross for “For exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility as Division Commander, Sixth Division of the Atlantic Fleet, and later as Commandant of the Navy Yard, Norfolk, Virginia.”
Frank Caspar Fechteler, the younger son of Augustus F. Fechteler and Maud [Morrow] Fechteler, was born on 8 July 1897 in San Rafael, Calif. After completing grade school Frank received an appointment from his native state of California as a cadet midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy, and matriculated on 10 June 1914. Although a member of the class of 1918, Frank and the rest of his class graduated on 28 June 1917, one year early, due to the U.S. entrance into the Great War. Frank was commissioned ensign on 29 June 1917.
Frank served on board Paducah, the ship his father had commanded, primarily engaged in escort duties near Gibraltar. In October 1917, Frank received a temporary wartime promotion to lieutenant (j.g). After the war, in August 1919, Frank was detached from Paducah and began a period of service on board New Mexico (Battleship No. 40) during which time he attended a course of instruction in night-time torpedo defense. Frank remained with New Mexico until April 1920 and on 1 July of that year advanced to the rank of lieutenant.
In November 1920, Frank began flight training with the Naval Aviation Training Detachment at Arcadia, Fla., where he received instruction in heavier-than-air aircraft. Upon completing his aviation training in September 1921, Frank transferred to the Langley [CV-1] Aviation Detachment at Hampton Roads, Va.
In August 1922, Frank was assigned to a temporary duty with the Aerial Engineering Corporation of America, in connection with an upcoming Pulitzer Trophy Race slated for 14 October 1922. He trained for the program first at Hammondsport, N.Y., and then at Selfridge Field, Mt. Clemens, Mich. He died in an airplane crash while training for the Pulitzer race at Selfridge Field on 18 September 1922.
Disposition:
Fechteler sank with 29 of her crew. Lt. Cmdr. Gill, and the majority of the others (186 in total) survived the ordeal having been pulled out of the water by Laning and the rescue tug HMS Hengist (W.110). Of the survivors 26 suffered significant injures and in short order all of them were transported to Gibraltar. Stricken 18 July 1944.