David Blair (or Davy) (11 November 1874 – 10 January 1955) was a British merchant seaman with the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...

, which had reassigned him from RMS ''Titanic'' just before her maiden voyage. Due to his hasty departure, he accidentally kept a key to a storage locker believed to contain the

binoculars Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...

intended for use by the

crow's nest A crow's nest is a structure in the upper part of the main mast of a ship or a structure that is used as a lookout point. On ships, this position ensured the widest field of view for lookouts to spot approaching hazards, other ships, or land b ...

lookout. The absence of any binoculars within the crow's nest is considered by some to be a contributory factor in ''Titanic''’s ultimate demise.

''Titanic'' posting and rearrangement

Blair, from

Broughty Ferry Broughty Ferry (; ; ) is a suburb of Dundee, in Scotland. It is situated four miles east of the City Centre, Dundee, city centre on the north bank of the Firth of Tay. The area was a separate burgh from 1864 until 1913, when it was incorporated ...

, Scotland was originally appointed the second officer of ''Titanic''. ''Encyclopedia Titanica''
David Blair.
/ref> He had been with the ship, following her construction in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, during her trial voyages to test seaworthiness, and the positioning voyage from Belfast to Southampton. The

, however, decided that with Titanic's sister ship, RMS ''Olympic'', undergoing layovers, ''Olympic'' Chief Officer, Henry Wilde, should take that position on ''Titanic'' due to having had experience with ships of her class, unlike most of ''Titanic'' officers. Chief Officer

William Murdoch William Murdoch (sometimes spelled Murdock) (21 August 1754 – 15 November 1839) was a Scottish chemist, inventor, and mechanical engineer. Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton & Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engin ...

and First Officer

Charles Lightoller Commander Charles Herbert Lightoller, (30 March 1874 – 8 December 1952) was a British mariner and naval officer who was the second officer on board the . During the ship's sinking, and as the officer in charge of loading passengers into li ...

were consequently each demoted one rank, and Blair was removed from the officer line-up. Blair wrote about the disappointment of losing his position on ''Titanic'' in a postcard to his sister-in-law days before the ship left for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, remarking, "This is a magnificent ship, I feel very disappointed I am not to make her first voyage."

Key to the binoculars

When Blair left ''Titanic'' on 9 April 1912, he took with him the key to the

locker, presumably inadvertently. This is believed to be a reason why there were no binoculars available to the crew during the voyage. According to other versions, the binoculars were not in the locker, but were left behind in his cabin, or he took them along with him when he left the ship, as they belonged to him. The possibility of the absence of binoculars being a factor in the sinking of ''Titanic'' became a point of investigation in the subsequent inquiries into the sinking. The

lookout A lookout or look-out is a person in charge of the observation of hazards. The term originally comes from a naval background, where lookouts would watch for other ships, land, and various dangers. The term has now passed into wider parlance. ...

s on watch at the time of the collision, Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee, maintained during the inquiries that they were informed they were to have no binoculars during the voyage. However, according to legal expert Gary Slapper, Blair's "forgetfulness wasn't a material reason for the disaster" as there were other

intervening cause In tort law, an intervening cause is an event that occurs after a tortfeasor's initial act of negligence and causes injury/harm to a victim. An intervening cause will generally absolve the tortfeasor of liability for the victim's injury ''only ...

s. The key itself survived and was donated by Blair's daughter to the International Sailors Society.Titanic 'crow's nest key' auction.
/ref> On 22 September 2007, it was sold in a group of items including a postcard Blair wrote on board ''Titanic'' via an auction held by Henry Aldridge, including a ticket from Belfast that fetched £32,000 and a postcard sent by a passenger which sold for £17,000. The key was purchased by Shen Dongjun, the CEO of jewellery retailer TESIRO's Chinese division for £90,000, and was put on display in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

. On the importance of the key, the auctioneers said that it was a conjecture that the key could have saved ''Titanic'' had it not left the ship. They also said that the money from the auction of the key would be used to set up

bursaries A bursary is a monetary award made by any educational institution or funding authority to individuals or groups. It is usually awarded to enable a student to attend school, university or college when they might not be able to, otherwise. Some awar ...

and scholarships in Blair's name.

Later events

Blair was First Officer on the SS ''Majestic'' in 1913 when a coaler jumped overboard; the night before, a fellow crew member 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 ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and received money from the passengers and a medal from the

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near drowning. Hi ...

. Both Blair and Charles Lightoller, who had survived the Titanic disaster, were serving aboard when she ran aground in 1914. As the navigator, Blair was blamed for the grounding at the resulting enquiry. He captained the SY St George during the expedition to the South Pacific in 1924-1925. Blair died on 10 January 1955 in Hendon, Middlesex, and was survived by his son, Donald, a school teacher and author of

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

hiking books.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, David 1874 births 1955 deaths British sailors People from Broughty Ferry British Merchant Navy officers White Star Line personnel