Highly Decorated World War II Naval Hero Had Local Ties

The man who commanded the submarine that had one of the most unusual and daring assignments during World War II had ties to the Williamsport area.

Lt. Commander, later Rear Admiral Frank W. "Mike" Fenno was the commander of the U.S.S. Trout and was married to the former Avis Cochran, who came from a distinguished Williamsport family. She was the granddaughter of J. Henry Cochran, a noted lumberman, financier and a former state senator. He was also one of the founders of the Board of Trade, the predecessor to the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.

Fenno was born in Massachusetts on September 11, 1902. He worked his way through the ranks and by the outbreak of World War II had reached the rank of Lieutenant Commander and command of the submarine the U.S.S. Trout.

Fenno's wife Avis was at Pearl Harbor during the "dastardly attack" on December 7, 1941, while her husband was on patrol with the "Trout."
Shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack the Trout observed a Japanese vessel shell Midway Island but was not close enough to it to fire any shots at it. The sub returned to Pearl on December 1941.

According to a website called "Footnotes In History, in January 1942 Fenno and the U.S.S. Trout were sent out from Pearl Harbor to deliver more than 3,500 rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition to General Douglas MacArthur's besieged forces at Corregidor. Fenno's sub was called on to deliver the ammunition because the Japanese had a tight ring around the Philippines making it difficult for surface ships and aircraft to bring desperately needed supplies. The mission was classified as a "top secret" one because of the difficulty and danger associated with it.
The "Trout" successfully completed its mission on February 3, 1942 as the badly needed ammunition was offloaded at Corregidor.

After doing this Fenno requested that two torpedoes be loaded and additional ballast be placed aboard so that the sub could safely submerge. He requested 25 tons of rocks and sandbags to be used as this ballast but they were not available because of their needed use for defensive fortifications.

Fenno and the "Trout" would have more exotic cargo to serve as the ballast.

Filipino and American officials were very fearful that the gold reserves of the Phillipines would fall into the hands of the Japanese captured the Phillipines, so a means to evacuate these precious reserves to safer territory needed to be found, that means was the transporting of the gold by the U.S.S. Trout. It would be one of the most unusual missions ever expected of an American submarine.

More than 319 gold bars, weighing more than 6 tons and worth more than $7 million at 1942 rates, provided some of the ballast for the "Trout." The other ballast was provided by 630 bags of coins.

This was a very dangerous mission because Fenno and the "Trout" would have to navigate their way for a large part of their journey through Japanese controlled waters.

The U.S.S. Trout even sunk a Japanese merchant vessel during its journey back to Pearl Harbor with its valuable and precious cargo.
The "Trout" safely moored back at Pearl Harbor on March 3, 1942, with their mission accomplished.

Fenno for the accomplishment of both the hazardous transport of the ammunition to the Philippines and the spiriting of the gold back to Pearl Harbor was awarded the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Cross by the United States Army. The officers and enlisted men of the Trout also each received the Silver Star for successfully completing  this unusual and dangerous mission, additionally they received a Presidential Unit Citation.

Fenno would later command the "Trout" on two more war patrols and would earn a second Navy Cross for the actions on his third war patrol in which she sunk several Japanese merchant ships in Japanese waters and braved a six-hour depth charge attack. The "Trout" also provided cover and support during Colonel Jimmy Doolittle's successful air attack on Tokyo on April 18, 1942. The officers and men of the received a second Presidential Unit Citation for their excellent work on their third patrol.

During the war Fenno's wife Avis spent her time living in Williamsport.

He would later be promoted to the rank of rear admiral and saw additional wartime service during World War II and again during the Korean War.

His last major assignment was as base commander of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba during a difficult time when Fidel Castro was just taking over in Cuba.

Captain Edward Lyon, USN Retired, a nephew of Mrs. Fenno, remembers Admiral Fenno as a "Navy man's Navy man. He was all Navy and loved the Navy very much and was a great guy."

Admiral Frank W. "Mike" Fenno died on August 16, 1973 in Maryland. He was buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery. When his wife Avis died in 1991 she was buried along side of him.