After leading by 30 points at half time, the Hawks spent much of the second half on the back foot but they steadied late to square their season at 4-4 with the 13.9 (87) to 9.11 (65) win.
Hawthorn made plenty of compromises to snare the desperately needed win, its much-vaunted zone discarded for a tight man-on-man approach and twin towers Lance Franklin and Jarryd Roughead were mostly subdued up forward in an entertaining, low-scoring contest.
Chance Bateman was the key for the visitors early and he finished among the best afield with 22 touches and a goal.
Hawks skipper Sam Mitchell (34 possessions) and Brad Sewell (29) led the charge under the packs, while Ben McGlynn played a crucial run with role on key Freo midfielder Paul Hasleby, who had just six touches to half time.
Freo may have lost that winning feeling after three straight victories but it maintains an air of danger with another creditable performance after an 0-4 start to the season.
Matthew Pavlich was Freo's warhorse all night, finishing with 30 possessions and a goal from the midfield while Paul Duffield was polished all night off half back.
Chris Tarrant also stood out in an intriguing match up with Lance Franklin, despite the star Hawk's four goals from seven kicks.
The heat was on early and kicks came at a premium with both sides tackling like they were on the big Friday night stage.
The Hawks picked Freo apart through the precise skills of Stuart Dew and Brent Guerra with early goals to Bateman and Dew, both from beyond 50m, providing due reward.
Fremantle soon settled and got on top, with Scott Thornton booting Freo's first. Minutes later, Stephen Hill used his breathtaking pace to set up Luke McPharlin for another major.
It took 24 minutes for Franklin to get free, but when he did, he took full toll from a trademark set shot 50m out on the boundary.
The second term was an arm wrestle before Ryan Murphy marked smartly on Grant Birchall to open the scoring after 13 minutes, but it was all Hawthorn thereafter.
For the second week in a row, Cyril Rioli tied a handful of opponents in knots, and he set up Mark Williams' first goal to spark a six goals-to-nil run.
Mitchell and Jordan Lewis were driving the momentum while Bateman was damaging pushing forward of centre.
Franklin had four kicks to half time, but he added two goals in two minutes on Tarrant late in the third term to give his humble stats some serious weight.
Superb delivery from Campbell Brown set up the first goal and gave Tarrant no chance of spoiling, while an unlucky bounce left the defender in no man's land for Franklin's second.
Rioli and Garry Moss booted what seemed like crippling goals on the verge of half time, but a cracker of a third term was to follow.
Johnson got Freo off on the right foot five minutes in, but despite getting on top in the centre and sending the ball into attack 13 times to seven for the term, Freo couldn't get reward on the scoreboard.
Where Hawthorn made the most of limited opportunities through Rioli and Michael Osborne, Freo squandered plenty.
Nic Suban, Johnson and McPharlin all missed shots on goal before Duffield broke through the centre to set McPharlin up for his second.
Duffield then booted an impressive running goal of his own on the verge of half time to keep the contest alive, Freo 22 points down with a quarter to play.
Mark Harvey took his troops closer to the crowd at the last change and the purple haze responded by getting to their feet.
The side lifted with the crowd as well, Pavlich booting his first goal of the match a minute into the last term.
But as it was in the third, despite having the better of Hawthorn, Fremantle couldn't find a target inside 50m, and when they did, they missed.
Fremantle 2.2 3.4 7.8 9.11 (65)
Hawthorn 3.2 8.4 11.6 13.9 (87)
GOALS
Fremantle: Murphy 2, McPharlin 2, Duffield, Johnson, Pavlich, Sandilands, Thornton
Hawthorn: Franklin 4, Rioli 2, Williams 2, Bateman, Dew, Moss, Osborne, Roughead
BEST
Fremantle: Pavlich, Duffield, Schammer, Sandilands, Tarrant, Johnson
Hawthorn: Bateman, Mitchell, Sewell, Lewis, Franklin, McGlynn
INJURIES
Fremantle: Nil
Hawthorn: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Stevic, McLaren, Hendrie
Official crowd: 39,135 at Subiaco Oval
