Records state that Isaac was born in 1896 in Sierra Leone and to date no further records on his family can be found. It is known that he married Elsie Gill in 1941 in Liverpool, Lancashire. His home address at the time of his death was given as 54 Granby Street, Liverpool.

At 01.45 hours on 24 February 1942 the unescorted ship the Empire Hail dispersed from convoy ON-66, was hit on its port side amidships by a torpedo from U-94 about 540 miles east-southeast of St. John’s, Newfoundland. The U-boat had chased the ship for eight hours and missed with a first torpedo at 00.15 hours. The Germans waited for the crew to abandon ship in the lifeboats after sending a distress signal and then opened fire with the deck gun, scoring eleven hits with 22 rounds. The final torpedo at 02.20 hours struck the ship and caused her to quickly sink by the stern. No survivors were ever found: the master, 41 crew members and seven gunners were lost.