The Key That Could Have Saved The Titanic

SHORTLY BEFORE THE TITANIC WAS TO SAIL ON ITS fatal voyage, Second Officer David Blair was bumped from the crew list to make room for a senior officer. When he left the ship he forgot to turn in his key to the locker that held the ship’s binoculars.

The ship’s lookouts in the crow’s nest had to rely on their normal eyesight to watch for hazards. One of the lookouts who survived the wreck told a board of inquiry that if they had binoculars then they probably could have seen the iceburg in time to change course and save the ship. But nobody knew where they were or anything about the key.

When Blair died his daughter took possession of the key and then later donated it to the Seamen’s Society about 20 years ago. The Society has decided to put it up for auction next month, expecting to raise at least $140,000 from the sale.

Read this very interesting story of the key in today’s Telegraph HERE.