Reginald Lee

Reginald Robinson Lee (19 May 1870 – 6 August 1913) was a British sailor who served as a lookout aboard the Titanic in April 1912. He was on duty with Frederick Fleet in the crow's nest when the ship collided with an iceberg at 23:40 on 14 April 1912 and subsequently survived the sinking. Lee died in August 1913, over a year after the Titanic disaster, the first surviving crewmember to die.

Early years Lee was born in Bensington, Oxfordshire, one of six surviving children of William Lee and Jane Sarah , both of whom were school teachers. When Lee was young, the family moved to Hampshire, first to Whitchurch and then settling in Southsea. During this time, Lee developed a serious drinking problem which became an issue with his superiors. He was sent home from a posting in Jamaica in February 1898 suffering from delerium tremens.

Eventually, his drinking led to the Royal Navy discharging him in 1900, stating that his duty was "not at all satisfactory" and that he "cannot be trusted where liquor is obtainable."

Merchant Navy and Titanic Lee eventually began working with British Merchant fleet. In the 1911 consensus, he was listed as being a stevedore. He had worked as a lookout on several ships, including the , from which he was transferred to the brand new liner, the .

On 14 April at 22:00, Lee and Fleet in the crow's nest, replacing Archie Jewell and George Symons. They were instructed to keep a lookout for "small ice and growlers." There were no binoculars available for the lookouts aboard Titanic, so the lookouts relied on their own eyesight; it is highly doubtful the use of binoculars would have aided in spotting the iceberg due to how dark it was that night, and several captains later testified they never provided lookout men with binoculars as their job was to alert the bridge to what was ahead, not identify it.

At the inquiry, Lee claimed he saw a haze on the horizon ahead of them, and that Fleet told him, "Well, if we can see through that we will be lucky." However, Fleet did not back Lee up on the matter, instead saying that there was a slight haze but "it was nothing to talk about."

He soon returned to sea, and was serving aboard the in July 1913.

Death

In July 1913, Lee returned to living at the Sailors' Home in Southampton but was unwell and breathing heavily, and was told to go see a doctor. He was found dead in his room lying face down and partially dressed, on 6 August 1913. Post-mortem revealed that he had an enlarged heart and died of heart failure following pneumonia and pleurisy. Aged 43 years old at the time, he was the first surviving Titanic crewmember to die.

Lee was buried in Highland Road Cemetery in Southsea, Hampshire.

Portrayals Roger Avon (1958) - A Night to Remember Kevin O'Shea (1979) - S.O.S. Titanic Aaron Pearl (1996) - Titanic Martin East (1997) - Titanic Martin East (2005) - Last Mysteries of the Titanic (Documentary) Richard Clements (2012) - Save Our Souls: The Titanic Inquiry (TV film) Tom Leigh (2023) – Fred (short film)