Ships
- USS Santee (CVE-29) Commanding officer from 22 May 1943 · Relieved on 11 July 1944
- USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) Commanding officer from 23 August 1945 · Relieved on 28 February 1946
Source-limited. NHHC has a modern biographical file on him ("Fick, Harold Foster"), but this run could not reach the NHHC site.
Harold Foster Fick was born on 3 January 1899. He graduated from the Naval Academy with the Class of 1920. He was a lieutenant commander by the late 1930s, and from 30 September 1937 to 16 May 1940 he commanded Childs (AVD-1), a converted destroyer that served as a tender for seaplanes. He became commander on 1 November 1939 and temporary captain on 18 June 1942.
On 22 May 1943 he took command of the escort carrier Santee (CVE-29). That summer, hunting U-boats in the Atlantic south and west of the Azores, Santee's Composite Squadron 29 had a run of kills. Avengers and Wildcats sank U-160 on 14 July 1943, U-509 the next day with the new homing "Fido" torpedo, and U-43 on 30 July. That autumn she escorted convoys such as GUS 21 from the Mediterranean. In 1944 Santee went to the Pacific. Fick commanded her until 11 July 1944. The ship earned the Presidential Unit Citation, and Fick received the Legion of Merit, cited for command of a carrier in the Pacific from May 1943 to July 1944, and the Bronze Star.
On 23 August 1945 he relieved Adrian O. Rule Jr. as captain of the new fleet carrier Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) off Japan. He brought her home by way of Guam to San Francisco on 20 October and then commanded her in Operation Magic Carpet, carrying troops home across the Pacific, until 28 February 1946.
He retired as a rear admiral. He died in October 1985 and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, San Diego.
Sources
uboat.net, Allied Warship Commanders: Harold Foster Fick (born 3 Jan 1899; USNA 1920; commands; Santee U-boat kills and convoy GUS 21).
Military Times Hall of Valor: Harold Fick (Legion of Merit).
NavSource, CVE-29 commanding officers; Live Pacific Ships CV-31 page (DANFS operations).
Funeral and burial notice summary (Holy Cross Cemetery, San Diego); NHHC Modern Biographical Files listing.