Born in Marshalltown, Iowa, Frank Jack Fletcher obtained an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated in 1906. He served on numerous ships and in may postings and acquitted himself with such gallantry during the U.S. intervention in Vera Cruz in 1914 that he was awarded the Medal of Honor. He served as commander of five destroyers, a battleship, and three other vessels.

Promoted to rear admiral in the late 1930s, he was given command of the task force sent to relieve besieged Wake Island shortly after the Battle of Pearl Harbor. Fletcher made the decision to refuel en route, an action that delayed the task force. This in itself might not have proved fatal to the mission, but Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, who had dispatched the task force, was during this time relieved of command and replaced, temporarily, by Vice Admiral William Pye, a cautious caretaker commander who decided that the task force to rescue Wake Island was too risky. He ordered Fletcher to abort the relief. Despite a gallant stand by overwhelmingly outnumbered marines, Wake Island fell. Whether justly or not, a charge of overcautiousness was leveled at Fletcher.

Fletcher did perform with skill and distinction at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, a tactical victory for the Japanese but also a costly strategic defeat, since the Japanese invasion fleet that had been headed for Port Moresby, New Guinea, was forced to turn back. Fletcher also performed gallantly at the Battle of Midway but lost his flagship early in the battle, which meant that Admiral Raymond Spruance assumed tactical command and therefore earned credit for the victory in this hard-fought turning-point clash.

As commander of an invasion fleet, Fletcher drew considerable criticism for precipitously withdrawing his carrier forces at the Battle of Guadalcanal in August 1942, thereby isolating the marines who had been landed there. He took a similarly cautious and conservative approach in the Eastern Solomon Islands during the Solomon Islands Campaigns later in August.

In November 1942, Fletcher was named to command of the Thirteenth Naval District and the Northwestern Sea Frontier. At the end of 1943, he was given overall command of the Northern Pacific area, but he also participated in the Okinawa Campaign during April 1945.

After the war, Vice Admiral Fletcher was named chairman of the general board and, on his retirement in May 1947, was advanced to the rank of admiral. The destroyer USS Fletcher (DD-992) was named in his honor.

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