Arthur Howe was born in Kilburn, London on 14 July 1890, the son of Arthur William and Ada Eliza Howe, originally from Hertfordshire. One of seven children Arthur originally trained as a plumber’s mate.  

He joined the Royal Navy at Devonport on 29 March 1911.  He served in the armoured cruiser, HMS KING ALFRED and the battlecruiser HMS LION which took part in the battles of Heligoland on 28 August 1914, and the Dogger Bank on 24 January 1915 where LION was badly damaged.

On 1 April 1915, Arthur Howe left LION for submarine training at HMS DOLPHIN after which he was drafted to HMS ADAMANT at Mudros in the Aegean Sea for service in HMS H3. He is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial Panel 16.