Which British admiral signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender aboard USS Missouri in 1945?

Admiral Bruce Fraser signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender for the United Kingdom aboard USS Missouri in 1945.

The ceremony took place in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, formally ending hostilities between Japan and the Allied powers. Fraser represented the United Kingdom among the Allied signatories gathered on the American battleship’s deck.

General Douglas MacArthur signed first for the Allied nations, followed by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz for the United States. Representatives of China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand also signed the instrument.

Fraser was a senior Royal Navy officer who had become Commander-in-Chief of the British Pacific Fleet in late 1944. He was elevated to admiral in 1945. He is sometimes confused with other prominent British naval commanders of World War II, but the British signature at Japan’s formal surrender ceremony was Fraser’s.