Frank Elgin Alexander was born January 19, 1915 in Elyria, Lorain county, Ohio, son of John Henry and Lena (Slater) Alexander. He had one older sister. His mother died in 1918, and he and his father and sister were living with his maternal grandmother in Lorain county in 1920. His father was employed as an electrician in a steel mill.

On August 9, 1940 he entered the Navy at New York City, New York. In February 1941 he was attached to USS O-2 for her commissioning, as a Seaman 2nd class. While aboard O-2 his rate would change to Signalman 3rd class.

He reported aboard USS Grunion (SS-216) on April 11, 1942. Grunion arrived at Pearl Harbor on June 20, 1942. The vessel completed pre-patrol training before departing on its first war patrol June 30. Grunion’s commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Abele, was ordered to proceed to the Aleutian Islands and patrol westward from Attu on routes between the Aleutians and the Japanese Empire. On July 10, Grunion was reassigned to the area north of Kiska. Over the next 20 days, the submarine reported firing on an enemy destroyer, sinking three destroyer-type vessels, and attacking unidentified enemy ships near Kiska.

Grunion’s last transmission was received on July 30, 1942. The submarine reported heavy antisubmarine activity at the entrance to Kiska, and that it had 10 torpedoes remaining forward. On the same day, Grunion was directed to return to Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base. There was no contact or sighting of the submarine after July 30, and on August 16, Grunion was reported lost.

After discovering information on the internet in 2002 that helped pinpoint USS Grunion’s possible location, the sons of Grunion’s commanding officer, Bruce, Brad, and John Abele, began working on a plan to find the submarine. In August 2006, a team of side scan sonar experts located a target near Kiska almost a mile below the ocean’s surface. A second expedition in August 2007 using a high definition camera on a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) yielded video footage and high resolution photos of the wreckage of a U.S. fleet submarine, later confirmed by Commander, Submarine Forces Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC).

Frank E. Alexander’s name appears on the Courts of the Missing, Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii. A memorial marker is in Elmwood Cemetery, Lorain county, Ohio.