Mr Frederick Fleet was born on 15 October 1887 in Liverpool. He was raised by a succession of foster families and distant relatives via orphanages and Dr Banardo Homes until the age of twelve when he was sent to a training ship, where he stayed until he was sixteen. In 1903 he went to sea as a deck boy, working his way up to Able Seaman. Before signing-on the Titanic he had sailed for over four years as lookout on the Oceanic and it was as a lookout that Fleet joined the Titanic in April 1912.
On April 14, 1912, along with Reginald Lee, Fleet took watch at 10pm. When he saw a black mass ahead he immediately struck three bells and telephoned the bridge to report “Iceberg right ahead”. While still on the telephone, the ship started swinging to port and the lookouts saw the starboard side of the ship scrape alongside the iceberg, and saw ice falling on the decks. They thought that it had been either a close shave or a near miss and remained in the crows nest until relieved about 20 minutes later. Fleet then made his way to the Boat Deck where Second Officer Lightoller put him to help Quarter-Master Hitchins load and launch lifeboat 6, the first boat to be launched from the port side. Lifeboat 6 was picked up by the Carpathia.
From June 1912, he served briefly as Seaman on the White Star liner Olympic but found that White Star looked at the surviving officers and crew as embarassing reminders of the recent disaster and he left the company in August 1912. For the next 24 years he sailed with Union-Castle and various other companies, finishing with the sea in 1936. Ashore, he worked for Harland and Wolff as a shipbuilder, and later was the shore Master-at-Arms for Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co. As he moved into old age, he sold newspapers on a street corner in Southampton. On December 28, 1964, Fleet’s wife died. Her brother, with whom the couple lived, then evicted Frederick, and in a state of despondency, he committed suicide two weeks later. He was buried in an unmarked paupers grave at Hollybrook Cemetry, Southampton. In 1993, a headstone was erected through donations by The Titanic Historical Society.