|
J/48470 HMS Vittoria, Royal Navy
John Pettit was born on 12 June 1900 in Braintree, Essex, one of three children of Horace Henry and Emily Ethel Pettitt. His father was a highway surveyor and in 1901 the family was living in Braintree. By 1911 the family had moved to Wash Farm, Hundon before they later moved to “Le Chalet”, Priory Road in Sudbury.
John attended Sudbury Grammar School. He left school at the end of March 1915 and volunteered for the Royal Navy. He began naval life in January 1916 at HMS Ganges at Shotley on the Suffolk coast. On his service record he is described as being 5ft 5 ins in height, with 33inch chest, blue eyes, brown hair with a fresh complexion. John served aboard several ships, HMS Pembroke (depot base ship), Juno, and Venus. On 19 June 1919 John joined a Vanoc ‘V’ Class Destroyer HMS Vittoria. The ship was patrolling the Gulf of Finland when it was torpedoed by the Bolshevik submarine Pantera on 31 August 1919.
John died aged 19 on 31 August 1919. There is no known grave and he is remembered on the Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent. A Cross of Remembrance was laid at Chatham Naval Memorial in October 2006.
John is also remembered on a memorial for HMS Vittoria in Portsmouth Cathedral.
Back to Roll of Honour
|
