19. Thanks to a mix-up, the Titanic’s lookout didn’t even have binoculars to look out for icebergs from the crow’s nest.
In another ‘what if’ moment, when the Titanic entered icy waters on the night of 14 April, the lookout did not have a pair of binoculars. Quite why this was the case has been the source of much debate – as well as of an in-depth investigation immediately after the tragedy. It may have been a crew reshuffle led a seaman leave the Titanic at Southampton, taking the key to the crow’s next locker – in which the binoculars were kept – with him. Or that same seaman, Second Officer David Blair, may have just taken the binoculars with him when he was bumped from the maiden voyage at the last minute.