Reginald Lee (19 May 1870 – 6 August 1913) was a

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. ...

stationed in 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 ...

of the RMS ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unite ...

'' when the ship collided with an iceberg at 23:40 on 14 April 1912.

Biography

Born in

Benson, England Benson is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census gave the parish population as 4,754. It lies about a mile and a half (2.4 km) north of Wallingford at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, where a chalk stream, Ew ...

, Lee served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

as Assistant-Paymaster until placed on the retired list in February 1900. He joined the ''Titanic''s crew on 6 April 1912, having been transferred from its sister ship, RMS ''Olympic''. On 14 April at 22:00, Lee joined lookout

Frederick Fleet Frederick Fleet (15 October 1887 – 10 January 1965) was a British sailor, crewman and a survivor of the sinking of the . Fleet, along with fellow lookout Reginald Lee, was on duty when the ship struck the iceberg; it was Fleet who firs ...

in the crow's nest replacing

Archie Jewell Archibald Jewell (4 December 1888 – 17 April 1917) was a sailor who was on the crew of the Titanic. He survived the sinking of the ''Titanic'' and '' Britannic'', but died during the sinking of the SS ''Donegal'' when it was torpedoed withou ...

and George Symons. The binoculars the two men should have used were unavailable, as the keys to the case in which they were locked were not on board, forcing the lookouts to rely on their eyesight. When the ''Titanic'' began to founder, Lee was ordered to man lifeboat No. 13, which was launched from the ship's starboard side at 01:30 As a result, Lee survived the sinking, as did Fleet, and testified before the Board of Trade inquiry into the disaster. Lee returned to sea, last serving aboard the ''Kenilworth Castle'', before dying from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

-related complications in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 6 August 1913.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Reginald 1870 births 1913 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in England RMS Titanic survivors British Merchant Navy personnel Royal Navy officers Royal Navy logistics officers