The initials preceding Crick's surname in the 1953 DNA paper were F. H. C. The original Nature byline identified the authors as “J. D. Watson” and “F. H. C. Crick.” Those initials stand for Francis Harry Compton Crick.
The article was published on 25 April 1953 under the title “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid.” It was remarkably short—only two pages—but introduced the double-helix model and explained how complementary base pairing could help DNA copy itself.
A common source of confusion is that later references often shorten Crick's name to “F. H. Crick” or simply “Francis Crick.” The original byline, however, includes the additional middle initial C, reflecting his full birth name. Likewise, Watson's byline used J. D., for James Dewey Watson.
The initials identify the author, not a collaborator or citation in the paper. Other scientists' initials appear in the references, including Maurice H. F. Wilkins, which can make the original page especially easy to misread.