With a further reference to “the key which may have saved the luxury liner,” so ran a story on the website of the London Evening Standard on January 16, 2007, continuing one of the most famous “what if” stories in Titanic history. This oft-repeated tale holds that a pair of binoculars designated for the lookouts’ use had been placed in a cabinet in the officers’ quarters with the key held by David Blair, the former Second Officer who lost his place on the ship in a last-minute shuffle of officers. According to the story, Blair had the key in his pocket, and following his departure no one knew where the binoculars were. For want of a key the ship was lost - or was it? As we will see, there are a number of misconceptions, misunderstandings and blatant inaccuracies surrounding this popular belief, and in reality, Titanic’s fate did not turn on a set of missing binoculars.
The above story most likely has its origins in testimony by lookout George Hogg following the sinking. Hogg testified at the British Inquiry that on the trip from Belfast to Southampton, the lookouts had been loaned by Blair a pair that were marked “SECOND OFFICER, S.S. TITANIC.” Upon Titanic’s arrival at Southampton, Blair had been in the crow’s nest using the binoculars himself. (When docking the ship, each officer had an assigned station, and the crow’s nest position was assigned to the Second Officer.) Hogg was asked:
17501. When you left the ship at Southampton, what did you do with those glasses?
Mr. Blair was in the crow’s-nest and gave me his glasses, and told me to lock them up in his cabin and to return him the keys.
17502. Who returned the keys?
I gave them to a man named Weller, as I was busy on the forecastle head.
17503. As far as you were concerned, the glasses, you were told, were to be locked up in the cabin
of the second officer?
I locked them up.
Much was made of this story in August of 2007, when the auction firm of Henry Aldridge & Son announced that this key would be made available for bid, having come to them from the British and International Sailors Society, to which the key had been left by Blair. (Also auctioned was a postcard written by Blair to his sister expressing his regret at missing Titanic’s sailing.) However, as we shall see, this missing pair of binoculars had nothing to do with the collision with the iceberg. It’s also likely that the missing pair had nothing to do with binoculars not being provided to the lookouts after Southampton.
