ISITT, Arthur

LT KX 104073 Leading Stoker, Royal Naval Patrol Service, H.M. Trawler Botanic

Born 12 November 1919, Grimsby

Died 15/09/1940, Age 20, at Dover

Buried 23/09/1940

Son of Charles Isitt and Annie E Martinson, married 1915 in Grimsby

Brother of Dorothy (b 1922), Annie (b 1923), Charles (b 1926) and Barbara (b 1929)

Husband of Mabel Connor, married in Grimsby in the first quarter of 1940

Address at time of death given as 49 Rowston Street, Cleethorpes (parents’ address), but probate records give last address as 77 Macaulay Street, Grimsby

One of 6 killed when the HMT Botanic (H463) was bombed by a Dornier. The Botanic became an acoustic minesweeper after being requisitioned by the Admiralty in August 1939 and given the pendant number FY707. On 15/09/1940, it was one of two trawlers lying alongside the Prince of Wales pier at Dover when it was hit by a bomb. One rating was killed on the other vessel, the HMT Kingston Chrysobel. The other men killed on the Botanic were:

William Cherrington, Seaman, RNR, William Jones, Seaman RNPS, Andrew Lees, Skipper, RNR, Ernest Stanton, Seaman RNPS, Joseph C White, Seaman, RNR.