David Blair (mariner)
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David Blair (or Davy) was a British sailor with the White Star Line, who reassigned him from the RMS Titanic just before its maiden voyage. Due to his hasty departure, he accidentally kept a key to a storage locker holding binoculars to be used by the crow's nest lookout.
Born in Tayside, Blair was originally appointed the Second Officer of the Titanic.[1] He had been with the ship during its trial voyages to test the ship's seaworthiness and the final journey from its place of construction in Belfast.
The White Star Line, however, decided that with the Titanic's sister ship, the RMS Olympic, currently undergoing layovers, to have the Olympic's Chief Mate, Charles Lightoller take the position, citing his experience with ships of the Titanic's class as a reason.[2] He wrote about the disappointment of losing his position on the Titanic in a postcard to his sister-in-law days before the Titanic left for Southhampton,[3] remarking, "This is a magnificent ship, I feel very disappointed I am not to make her first voyage."
When Blair left the Titanic on 9 April 1912 he took with him the key to the binocular locker, presumably by accident. Frederick Fleet, the man who was manning the crow's nest when the Titanic struck the iceberg that sank it, was later asked by a commission of inquiry composed of members of the United States Congress whether or not they would have seen the iceberg from farther away. He replied that he would have seen it "a bit sooner", and when asked "How much sooner?", he responded: "Well, enough to get out of the way."[4] According to legal expert Gary Slapper, though, Blair's "forgetfulness wasn’t a material reason for the disaster" as there were other intervening causes.[5]
The key itself survived and was donated to a local sailors' association by Blair's daughter. In September of 2007, it was sold in a group of items via auction, including a ticket from Belfast that fetched £32,000 and a postcard sent by a passenger which sold for £17,000.[6] The key was purchased by Shen Dougjun, the CEO of Tesiro's Chinese division for £90,000. It is currently on display in Nanjing.[7]
He was First Officer on the SS Majestic in 1913 when a coaler jumped overboard; the night before a coworker had succeeded in drowning himself. While a lifeboat was organized, Blair jumped into the ocean waters and swam toward the man, who was now swimming for the ship. Though the boat reached the man first, Blair was commended for his action in the New York Times and received money from the passengers[8] and a medal from the Royal Humane Society[9].
Blair (and Lightoller, who survived the Titanic disaster) served aboard the RMS Oceanic when it ran aground in 1914. As the navigator, Blair received the blame for the crash at the resulting court martial.
[edit] References
- ^ Mr. David Blair. Encyclopedia Titanica. http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/biography/2245/
- ^ Titanic's Officer Reshuffle. http://www.titanic-titanic.com/titanic_officer_shuffle.shtml
- ^ Key that could have saved the Titanic http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/29/ntitanic129.xml
- ^ Is this the man who sank the Titanic by walking off with vital locker key? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=478269&in_page_id=1770&ito=1490
- ^ Gary Slapper. "The Law Explored: the law of causation", The Times, September 5, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
- ^ Titanic key is sold for £90,000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7008300.stm
- ^ Chinese buys key that killed 1,522 on Titanic. http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2007/200709/20070924/article_332314.htm
- ^ "Leaped from Liner at Sea to Save Man", The New York Times, 9 May 1913. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
- ^ Royal Humane Society Bronze Medals Taken from the RHS Annual Report 1913. Bill Fevyer. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
