A few pairs of binoculars might have saved the Titanic

The RMS Titanic accident, a major maritime catastrophe, was undoubtedly caused by a variety of mistakes. It almost seems as though everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong in hindsight, and nowhere is this more evident than the catastrophe that left the Titanic's crew without binoculars. Just before the scheduled departure from Southampton, the original Second Officer of the Titanic, David Blair, was abruptly changed by Henry Wilde, a veteran of the Titanic's sister ship, the RMS Olympic. In his rush, he neglected to give the binoculars' key to the locker in the crow's nest.

Naturally, without binoculars, it is much more difficult for the crew to see possible threats at a distance, such as icebergs, which undoubtedly contributed to the Titanic's eventual sinking. One of the crew members who was interviewed during the investigations into the accident's causes brought up the absence of binoculars and their potential contribution to the incident. To be honest, the voyage had so many things going against it that a disaster was all but inevitable.

The crew member in question, Frederick Fleet, said he might have seen the iceberg "a bit sooner" if he had had binoculars. He said, "Well, enough to get out of the way," in response to the question of how much sooner. While several circumstances contributed, the Titanic might not have sunk if the lookouts had been able to notice the iceberg with more time to spare. Who knows what the passengers who perished would have done if this had happened.

• Year: 9th April 1912