Sponsored by:

Navy Federal Credit Union
Frederick
C.
Billard
DNB (932)
September 22, 1873

–

May 17, 1932

Cemetery:

Arlington National Cemetery

Captain Billard was commissioned through the School of Instruction of the Revenue Cutter Service in 1878. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during the Spanish-American War, and then again as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Aphrodite in World War II, escorting troop and supply vessels across the Atlantic. His ship was the first American vessel to pass through the Kiel Canal after the Armistice. He was appointed superintendent of the Coast Guard Academy in 1921, and in 1924 with the rank of Rear Admiral, he assumed responsibilities as the SIXTH Commandant of the Coast Guard until his death while in office in 1932.

Awards Received

  • Navy Cross

    Service:

    United States Coast Guard

    Rank:

    Captain

    Division:

    U.S.S. Aphrodite

    Action Date:

    1918

    The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain Frederick C. Billard, United States Coast Guard, for distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. APHRODITE, engaged in the important, exacting and hazardous duty of transporting and escorting troops and supplies through waters infested with enemy submarines and mines, during World War I.