Alfred Whitehouse was born on 9 May 1888, the son of Edith Rhoda Whitehouse and the late Commander Alfred Whitehouse, Royal Navy. He joined the Royal Navy in February 1905.

After time in surface ships, including the battleship HMS PRINCE OF WALES, he joined submarines in January 1910 as a Lieutenant. His first specific submarine appointment was to command HMS A5 in May 1913. This was followed by command of C4 (June 1914), D7 (May 1916), D1 (June 1916) and E32 (August 1916).

Whitehouse was promoted Lieutenant Commander in October 1917 and appointed to command L10 in March 1918. L10 was sunk on the morning of 3 October 1918 by gunfire from the German destroyer S33. Whitehouse made a torpedo attack on S33, as it was engaged in trying to rescue survivors of its sister ship, the destroyer S34, which had run into a minefield. In making his attack on S33, Whitehouse inadvertently allowed the submarine’s conning tower to broach the surface. This was sighted by S33, which then made a successful gun attack, resulting in the loss of L10 with all hands.

Alfred Whitehouse is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval War Memorial on Panel No. 28