Frament DE-677

Frament

Paul Stanley Frament, born 4 February 1919 at Cohoes, N.Y., enlisted in the Naval Reserve 29 December 1941, and died 19 November 1942 of wounds received in action while serving as pharmacist's mate third class with the Marine Corps on Guadalcanal. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his fearless devotion to duty in tending marines under fire.

(DE-677: dp. 1,400; 1. 306'; b. 37'; dr. 9'5"; s. 24 k.;
cpL 186; a. 3 3", 3 21" tt., 8 dcp., 1 dcp. (hh.),
2 dct.; cl. Buckley)

Frament (DE-677) was launched 28 June 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.; sponsored by Mrs. Edward A. Frament, mother of Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Frament; and commissioned 15 August 1943, Lieutenant Commander S. T. McAdam, Jr., in command. She was reclassified APD-77 on 15 December 1944.

Frament began the demanding tasks of Atlantic convoy escort 19 October 1943, when she sailed from New York to escort tankers to Curacao and thence to Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Sailing out of New York, and occasionally Boston, she escorted six convoys to Northern Ireland, one to Cherbourg, France, and one to Gibraltar, in the period from 15 December 1943 to 3 December 1944, when she began conversion to a high-speed transport.

After training on both coasts, Frament arrived at Pearl Harbor 3 April 1945 for duty training with underwater demolition teams in the Hawaiian Islands. Convoy escort duty took her to Eniwetok; Ulithi, and Leyte in May, and on the 29th she arrived at Okinawa, where she joined the outer patrol screen guarding the great number of ships off the island.

Assigned to rescue duty in June, she proved herself on the 10th, when with the help of small craft she saved every man of William D. Porter (DD-579), sunk by a suicide plane. Returning to the Philippines at the close of July, Frament trained for the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, and at the close of the war, took up duty with minesweepers operating in the Yellow Sea. She served on occupation duty until 1 January 1946, when she sailed from Shanghai for the east coast. On 30 May 1946 Frament was placed out of commission in reserve at Green Cove Springs, Fla.

Frament received one battle star for World War II service.