William Manfield Fralic

Name: William Mansfield Fralic Rank: Chief Mate Service Number: B/146715 Service: SS Frances Salman, Merchant Navy Awards: Mariner's Medal, Merchant Marine Combat Bar with Star, Atlantic War Zone Merchant Marine Bar Date of Birth: February 19, 1886 Conquerall Bank, Lunenburg Co., Nova Scotia Date of Death: January 18, 1942 Age: 55 Memorial: Maryland National World War II Memorial, Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland William was the son of Mansfield W. Fralic (1857-1926) and Sara Louise (McKean) Fralic (1863-1902), and the brother of Jean Evelyn Fralic Sarty (1884-1972), Harold Milford Fralic (1887-1963), Caleb McKean Fralic (1889-1913), Enid Cordelia Fralic Shupe (1891-1960), Eunice Ethelwyn Fralic (1892-1902), Naomi Eulalie Fralic (1895-1917), A. Laurier Fralic (1896-1918), Evadne Kathleen Fralic (1899-1976). He was the husband of Mary Rattray (Scott) Fralic (1894-1965) whom he married March 9, 1918, at Downfield, Dundee, Scotland. Their children were Margaret, Grace, Doris, and William. William’s birth certificate records his place of birth as Conquerall Bank, but William listed Bridgewater as his place of birth on his 1920 passport application. William’s brother Caleb died April 5, 1913, aged 23 when he drowned serving from SS Narragansett off Governor's Island, NY, and his brother A. Laurier died in the First World War on February 17, 1917, when enemy U-boat UB-57 sunk the SS Alamance off the coast of Ireland William emigrated to the United States in July 1903 and became a US citizen in 1911. He was 5'8" tall (5'10" on some crew lists), with brown hair, blue eyes and a 'ruddy' complexion. William served as a U.S. Navy officer during World War I. His service included a deployment from 1918 to 1919 aboard the cargo ship USS Carolinian (ID-1445), as well as assignments on two other vessels that were sunk while he was on board. In 1942, William served as Chief Mate on the SS Frances Salman, a steam-powered freighter with a tonnage of 2,609 built in 1919 for the U.S. Shipping Board. In 1942, the ship was owned by Canadian Gulf Lines, Inc. of Houston, Texas. The chief mate is the head of the deck department on a merchant's vessel, second-in- command after the ship's master. The chief mate's primary responsibilities are the vessel's cargo operations, its stability, and supervising the deck crew. On January 5, 1942, the Frances Salman left New York, arriving at St. John's, Newfoundland, on the 9th. 55- year-old William was one of the 28 crew members. On January 17th, the ship left St. John's and headed south. Unarmed and sailing alone, her destination was Corner Brook, Newfoundland, to pick up new cargo. The Frances Salman never made it to Newfoundland and was never heard from again. The fate of the ship is detailed in the records of the Commander of the German submarine, U-552, that torpedoed and sank the Salman. According to Commander Erich Topp, the freighter was spotted the next morning, January 18th, about seven miles south of Cape Race, Newfoundland. After several unsuccessful attacks, a G7e torpedo struck the ship aft, causing it to sink by the stern in eight minutes. The entire crew including Chief Mate William Mansfield Fralic were lost. Lt. Commander William Burcher Brown, Jr. (retired), grandson of William M. Fralic , wrote "My grandfather had a long history in the merchant marine including a Master's License, and he was also a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserve in his younger days. Beached by the Depression, he was reduced to painting hulls over the side in Baltimore Harbor at one point. When WWII started, he saw an opportunity to go back to work and signed on as soon as he could despite the pleas of my grandmother to the contrary. My mother, 20 years old at the time, told me he replied, "Ah, the fun is just beginning." William Mansfield Fralic is commemorated by name on the Maryland National World War II Memorial in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. There was also a memorial marker at the West LaHave Cemetery in West LaHave, Lunenburg Co., Nova Scotia, but the wooden cross deteriorated and is no longer there.

Sources: findagrave honorstates U.S., Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939-1945