The first person to spot an iceberg (3 photos)

The story of Frederick Fleet, who until the end of his life could not forgive himself for the death of the Titanic.





In this photo - British sailor Frederick Fleet. One of the main characters on which the fate of the Titanic depended.

He was the first person to spot the iceberg that sank the Titanic. Let's get acquainted with its history.

He did not know his parents, from childhood he was brought up by distant relatives. He became a sailor early - he was hired as a cabin boy at the age of 12. Big part of his life he worked as a sailor, linking his life with the sea.

On that ill-fated night on the Titanic, he went to his post at 22:00 and he was given the task of keeping an eye on the ice. By this time the guy turned 24 years old, and he was a very experienced sailor, who half spent his life at sea.

Fleet and his partner watched without binoculars. It was a violation instructions, but not from their side. The local caretaker lost the keys to the closet with binoculars and they were sent to the post just like that. Perhaps if they noticed the iceberg earlier, the catastrophe could have been avoided.



Survivors of the Titanic

The fleet noticed the iceberg at 23:39, but it was too late, the ship was heading towards collision. When the sailor saw it, the iceberg was 650 meters away.

Fleet rang the bell, but before the signal reached the captain, important moments were missed. And the Titanic was too massive and non-maneuverable ship - even stopping the car, he quickly moved along inertia. And a minute later the ship tangentially collided with a giant ice floe.

The sailor survived because he was put as a rower in the rescue boat. In it, in particular, this remarkable woman was saved:



She was nicknamed "the unsinkable Molly Brown". The girl helped passengers to board the boats, but she herself refused. As a result, she is forcibly pushed into the boat at the last moment, and she sailed away. Molly and in the boat was engaged in saving the drowning and improving the conditions of the survivors. forced frozen women sit down at the oars to keep warm. And then organized relief fund for victims.

Fleet served as a sailor in both world wars. After leaving the fleet worked as a newspaperman. Until the end of his life he could not forgive himself for death passengers, in which he considered himself guilty.

However, the commission that investigated the accident blamed the administrative staff, not Fleet.

The reason is negligence, due to which the observer did not receive binoculars. It turned out that this was not the first time this company had the observers were without special equipment due to the fault of the staff.

In old age, Fleet finally fell into depression and at the age of 77 he left life. He was completely sure that he could save the ship and the guilt for tragedy lies upon him. Unknown people put a note on his grave: "Better late than never".