Iceberg, Right Ahead!: The Tragedy of the Titanic

Iceberg, Right Ahead!: The Tragedy of the Titanic — page 3
INTRODUCTION ICEBERG RIGHT AHEAD Lookout Frederick Fleet stared into the darkness from the tiny crow's nest high above the deck The Titanic was making good time slicing through the calm cold water of the North Atlantic Ocean But it could be hazardous to travel so rapidly at night Fleet and his fellow lookout Reginald Lee knew they were passing through ice infested waters The ship's safety depended on their vigilance in spotting icebergs Stars sparkled in the clear air but the moon was a tiny sliver on the evening of April 14 1912 and offered no light to aid the men in their observations Fleet detected a faint haze on the horizon Usually a pair of binoculars was kept in the crow's nest to help the lookouts see distant objects But the binoculars had been missing throughout the four days of the journey 6