Part of an article in this mornings london press:

A small rusty key, that would have unlocked a binocular box on the bridge of the Titanic had it not been left behind, is expected to fetch £70,000... [at auction]...
These keys gave access to the binocular box
It belonged to second officer David Blair, who was taken off the ship just before it sailed on its doomed maiden voyage.
But in the rush he forgot to hand it over to his replacement and took it with him. As a result the officers on the bridge, including Captain Edward Smith, had no access to binoculars to scan the sea for icebergs.
Blair, from Forfar, Scotland, also took the key to the crow’s nest binocular box, that was also responsible for scanning the sea.
Had either set of binoculars been available then it is very possible the iceberg Titanic struck would have been seen by the crew a lot sooner and saved 1,517 people.


The Sock