I don’t think that it can be assumed that someone in their 20s would have stable eyesight that would not suddenly deteriorate. That was certainly my own experience, for what it’s worth.
True, but with respect you cannot assume that Fleet, a young man in his 20s at the time of the
Titanic disaster,
also could have had some sort of a problem that affected his eyesight based on your own personal experience. In fact, the law of averages tells us that Fleet had 'normal' eyesight at the time, certainly more than adequate for his work as a lookout. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest anything to the contrary and so even if Fleet had not had any further eye tests since 1907, that had no relevance to the accident.
So, while it is highly recommended that a person acting as a ship's lookout should have periodic eye tests, Fleet almost certainly had normal vision when he sailed on the
Titanic but the reason why he and his partner Lee were unable to spot the iceberg any earlier than they did was because the prevailing atmospheric conditions, combined with the ship's speed and momentum, placed that task beyond human ability.
After all, the evidence they heard from witnesses such as Lightoller told them that the berg should have been spotted far enough away to have been easily avoided. In fact, Lightoller was asked why wasn't it spotted sooner than what it was, after all, the commission (as was written in the final report) concluded that the berg was first sighted about 500 yards ahead.
Completely agree. While we cannot be certain whether Lightoller was basing his statements on what
Boxhall might have told him (on board the
Carpathia) about his own whereabouts at the time of the accident and what he saw/heard, I think it is quite likely. But careful analysis by you and others of
Boxhall's 'story' has resulted in it being considered as a deviation from the truth, which then automatically questions Lightoller's testimony about it. If between them the two officers gave the two Inquiry Committees the impression that the iceberg was only 500 yards or less ahead of the bow when Fleet rang the bells, then the questions by the Attorney-General as to why the lookouts had not spotted it earlier would be understandable, perhaps even justified. And of course, you know better than most how a certain senior former-member used to insist that the iceberg was "almost upon them" when it was spotted by Fleet and Lee.
The fact is that nobody had any hard data as it is very difficult to measure distances to unlit objects at sea at night without special equipment.
Very true and that applies to almost all walks of life. As I said earlier, over time we humans have adapted our lifestyles to suit working, relaxing or doing whatever at night but the fact remains that unlike many animals, we are not naturally nocturnal creatures. Our "night lives" are overwhelmingly based on there being other light sources, usually artificial but occasionally the moon, reflected starlight off snow etc. But most of us have experienced, even if briefly, how awkward it can be walking through even a familiar environment if the usual light sources were temporarily absent for whatever reason. Like walking along a familiar country path on a dark, moonless night when a low tree branch, which you knew was there, suddenly appears 'out of nowhere' directly in your path.
From the nest, and for the most part from the bridge, the berg had an inky black sea as it's background.
That is superbly illustrated in your diagram showing the berg 3000 feet from the crow's nest (just over half a mile from the bow) and 75 seconds before impact. To avoid bias (arising from a
Titanic enthusiast's knowledge that the berg was
there), over the years I have shown that picture to 10 different people - family and friends - of various ages and not one of them spotted anything unusual on the horizon. If Fleet was telling the truth, it must have been
right then that he - a professional lookout - spotted the aberration - but then he said that he mentioned it to Lee and heard the latter's response before ringing the bells, by which time 25 further seconds had passed and the bow had closed on the iceberg by almost 1000 feet (second picture).
Fleet and Lee were experienced lookouts and likely had their own methods of using their vision at night to scan for obstructions. It’s not just about spotting the object itself—in this case, a dark iceberg—but also noticing any disruption in the background, such as stars or their reflections on the water.
Yes, but there are limitations to how far one can stretch abilities of normal human physiology. I know that Sam's diagrams are only illustrative but they give us a good idea about how it must have been for Fleet and Lee that night, staring constantly at the barely discernable horizon. (In fact, it was very likely worse because they had to see through the 22-knot cold wind blowing directly into their faces all the time.) You can see that under those conditions, disruption of the background that was in itself irregular, would have been difficult to make out.
