Frederick Fleet, a sailor and lookout man on the Titanic,
followed Pitman on the stand. Fleet said he had had five or
six years' experience at sea and was lookout on the Oceanic
prior to going on the Titanic. He was in the crow's nest
at the time of the collision.
Fleet stated that he had kept a sharp lookout for ice, and
testified to seeing the iceberg and signaling the bridge.
Fleet acknowledged that if he had been aided in his
observations by a good glass he probably could have spied
the berg into which the ship crashed in time to have warned
the bridge to avoid it. Major Arthur Peuchen, of Toronto,
a passenger who followed Fleet on the stand, also testified
to the much greater sweep of vision afforded by binoculars
and, as a yachtsman, said he believed the presence of the iceberg
might have been detected in time to escape the collision
had the lookout men been so equipped.
HAD ASKED FOR BINOCULARS
It was made to appear that the blame for being without
glasses did not rest with the lookout men. Fleet said they
had asked for them at Southampton and were told there were
none for them. One glass, in a pinch, would have served in
the crow's nest.
The testimony before the committee on April 24th showed
that the big steamship was on the verge of a field of ice twenty
or thirty miles long, if she had not actually entered it, when
the accident occurred.
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