Frank Friday Fletcher (November 23, 1855 – November 28, 1928) was a United States Navy admiral who served in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was awarded the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions as commander of navy forces at the Battle of Veracruz, Mexico. The , the most produced class of United States Navy destroyers, was named after him. He was also the uncle of Frank Jack Fletcher, another U.S. Navy Admiral who also received the Medal of Honor for actions at Veracruz, and who commanded U.S. naval forces at the battles of Coral Sea and Midway during the Second World War. Biography Fletcher was born on November 23, 1855, in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He was the uncle of World War II Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1875 and spent the next year as a midshipman on . Promoted to ensign in July 1876, he had sea duty on the sloops of war , , and before participating in 's voyage around the world in 1878–1881. Fletcher advanced to the rank of master (later lieutenant, junior grade) in April 1882 and was next assigned to the Hydrographic Office in Washington, D.C. In July 1884, he reported to for service in European waters. After ordnance training in late 1887, he had five years' duty at the Bureau of Ordnance, during which time he was promoted to lieutenant and made notable contributions to gun mechanism design and shipboard navigation. From 1892 to 1895, Fletcher commanded the navy's first torpedo boat, , based at the Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island, and developed the navy's first torpedo warfare doctrine. He then served in the battleship before returning to the Newport Torpedo Station in October 1896. After a brief tour as Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance in the spring of 1898, Lieutenant Fletcher became commanding officer of the converted yacht . From October 1898 to July 1901 he commanded the surveying ship and, in March 1899, was promoted to lieutenant commander. In the fall of 1901, Fletcher returned to ordnance duty and was closely involved with torpedo warfare. A year later he became Chief of Staff of the Asiatic Fleet and later in 1905 assumed command of the cruiser . Fletcher attended the Naval War College courses in both 1907 and 1908 and in 1908 was assigned to