Frederick Fleet
Frederick Fleet was born on October 15, 1887. See ranking, bio blurb, and everyone else born that day.
About Frederick Fleet
Frederick Fleet (15 October 1887 – 10 January 1965) was a British merchant sailor who survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic. He served as a lookout on board the RMS Titanic and was likely the first to sight the iceberg that the ship struck on the night of 14 April 1912, ringing the warning bell and reporting "Iceberg, right ahead!" to the bridge. Fleet survived, leaving the ship in Lifeboat No. 6, and later maintained at both the American and British inquiries that he and his fellow lookouts would have seen the iceberg sooner had they been supplied with binoculars. After the disaster, Fleet continued to work at sea, serving on the RMS Olympic at different points in his career and with merchant lines during both World War I and World War II. He left seafaring in 1936 to work for Harland & Wolff in Southampton before returning for the Second World War and then retired permanently. In later life, he experienced financial difficulties and it is likely that he suffered from depression which, after the death of his wife, worsened. Fleet died by suicide in 1965 at the age of 77. His grave remained unmarked until 1993, when the Titanic Historical Society erected a gravestone in his honour.