FRIED-GEORGE

SERVED  ALMOST  50-YEARS  AT  SEA

George Fried served in the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and Merchant Marine.  He is best remembered for his valiant rescue of the crews of the British steamship SS Antinoe in 1926 and three years later the Italian freighter SS Florida.  Fried was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on August 10, 1877, worked on local farms as a young boy until entering service in the Army in 1898.  After a brief tour with the Army during the Spanish American War, he enlisted in the Navy in 1900 in New York.  His first assignment was as a seaman aboard the steam and sail powered sloop of war USS Hartford which had seen service in the Civil War.  During five years aboard Hartford he advanced to the rate of Chief Quartermaster.  In 1916, after short rotations aboard various cruisers and battleships, Fried became Third Officer aboard the hospital ship USS Solace as a member of the Merchant Marine.  Following this assignment, he was recalled by the Navy and became an Ensign aboard the battleship USS Kentucky.  He was next assigned to the gunboat USS Petrel following which he became the commanding officer of the cargo ship USS Zuiderdijk which carried war supplies from New York to France. 

In 1922 Fried began service in the Merchant Marine with United States Lines as Chief Officer aboard the liner SS President Grant.  After a brief period he was reassigned as  Master to the liner SS President Roosevelt.  In late January 1926, during a severe storm as the ship sailed to England, Fried orchestrated the rescue of all twenty-five crewmembers from the sinking British steamship SS Antinoe despite gigantic seas, snow and bitter cold.  The rescue took place over three days, was prominently described during public radio broadcasts, and upon return to New York, Fried and his crew were greeted by local dignitaries including the New Jersey Governor.  The crew was given a ticker tape parade in New York City, the Roosevelt’s crew were decorated by the British government, and Fried was awarded the Navy Cross.

Fried next took command of the liner SS America.  On January 28, 1928 as the liner sailed to France a distress message was received from the floundering Italian steamship SS Florida.  Battling freezing weather and violent snow squalls, America managed to locate the stricken steamship.  Fried reportedly succeeded in positioning a lifeboat near the sinking ship and one by one the men from the Italian ship were able to cross on a line to the lifeboat despite the gale force winds and violent seas.  Fried became a national hero when the account of the rescue was widely distributed by newspapers.

In 1931, Fried made another rescue when an airplane crashed fifteen miles off the coast of Ireland and the pilot was successfully rescued.  In late 1931, Fried took command of the liner SS Manhattan.  During his career with United States Lines, Fried also captained the liners SS Leviathan and the SS Washington.  After nearly half a century at sea with the Navy and Merchant Marine, George Fried retired in 1946.  He died on July 25, 1949 and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Hastings, New York.  His wife later died in 1987 and is buried next to her husband whose grave marker is inscribed:  MASTER MARINER.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)