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| The first four days of the voyage passed without incident, but shortly after 11:40 pm on 14 April Smith emerged from his cabin to be told by First Officer ] that the ship had just collided with an iceberg. It was soon apparent that the ship was seriously damaged; designer ] reported that five of her watertight compartments had been breached and that ''Titanic'' would sink in under two hours. As the scale of the impending disaster dawned on Smith, it appears that he became paralyzed by indecision but it also might be possible that he had suffered some sort of a nervous collapse. He did not issue a general order for evacuation, gave contradictory orders, and failed to inform senior officers of the ship's perilous condition (an hour after the collision, Fourth Officer ] was still unaware that the ship would sink). He also did not supervise the evacuation or tell the officers that there were not enough lifeboats to save everyone aboard. | The first four days of the voyage passed without incident, but shortly after 11:40 pm on 14 April Smith emerged from his cabin to be told by First Officer ] that the ship had just collided with an iceberg. It was soon apparent that the ship was seriously damaged; designer ] reported that five of her watertight compartments had been breached and that ''Titanic'' would sink in under two hours. As the scale of the impending disaster dawned on Smith, it appears that he became paralyzed by indecision but it also might be possible that he had suffered some sort of a nervous collapse. He did not issue a general order for evacuation, gave contradictory orders, and failed to inform senior officers of the ship's perilous condition (an hour after the collision, Fourth Officer ] was still unaware that the ship would sink). He also did not supervise the evacuation or tell the officers that there were not enough lifeboats to save everyone aboard. | ||
| Smith perished that night along with around 1,500 others, but his exact fate is unknown and his body was never recovered. Reports on his fate conflict greatly with each other. |
Smith perished that night along with around 1,500 others, but his exact fate is unknown and his body was never recovered. Reports on his fate conflict greatly with each other. Some survivors claimed Smith quietly wandered off towards the bridge at 2:10 am, ten minutes before the final sinking, shut himself inside the ship's ], and went down with the ship. Robert Williams Daniel, a first class passenger who was rescued after the sinking from the water by either one of the collapsibles or Lifeboat #4, told the ''New York Times'' five days after the disaster of how he had witnessed Captain Smith die in the ship's wheelhouse. ''"My eyes seemingly clung to him. The deck from which I had leapt was immersed. The water had risen slowly, and was now to the floor of the bridge. Then it was to Captain Smith's waist. I saw him no more. He died a hero."''<ref>http://wormstedt.com/Titanic/shots/second.html</ref> These accounts are supported by ]'s book, ''The Discovery of the Titanic'', and ''Titanic'' historians and has remained the iconic image which has remained of Smith. Other sources however claim Smith was actively present in the radio room, issuing updates as to the status of the ship to those other ships who had responded to their distress call. Initially, rumors that he had committed suicide by shooting himself were reported by the ''Washington Times'' and the French paper ''L'Excelsior'' based off the survivor accounts of Ms. Gretchen Longley and Mrs. Washington Dodge.<ref>http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/edward-john-smith.html</ref> | ||
| Later when working to free Collapsible B, Junior Marconi Officer ] reported seeing a crewman who he believed was Smith dive into the sea from the bridge just as it submerged, a story which was corroborated by first class passenger Mrs. George D. Widener, who was in Lifeboat #4 at the time(however, the man who Bride and Mrs. Widener saw jump from the bridge may have been ], who was seen jumping at this time). Accounts of Smith urging his crew to "Be British" and carrying a child to the overturned collapsible B after the sinking before swimming off to freeze in the water are almost certainly apocryphal, according to historians featured in the A&E Documentary '']''. Despite conflicting accounts, it is most likely that Smith stood in the wheelhouse and went down with his vessel. | |||
| Robert Williams Daniel, a first class passenger who was rescued after the sinking from the water by either one of the collapsibles or Lifeboat #4, told the ''New York Times'' five days after the disaster of how he had witnessed Captain Smith die on the ship's bridge. ''"My eyes seemingly clung to him. The deck from which I had leapt was immersed. The water had risen slowly, and was now to the floor of the bridge. Then it was to Captain Smith's waist. I saw him no more. He died a hero."''<ref>http://wormstedt.com/Titanic/shots/second.html</ref> Other sources however claim he was actively present in the radio room, issuing updates as to the status of the ship to those other ships who had responded to their distress call. Later when working to free Collapsible B, Junior Marconi Officer ] reported seeing a crewman who he believed was Smith dive into the sea from the bridge just as it submerged, a story which was corroborated by first class passenger Mrs. George D. Widener, who was in Lifeboat #4 at the time. | |||
| ==Legacy== | ==Legacy== | ||
Revision as of 11:44, 18 October 2012
| CaptainEdward SmithR.D. R.N.R. | |
|---|---|
| File:Edward-smith.jpgCaptain E.J. Smith | |
| Born | (1850-01-27)27 January 1850 Hanley, Staffordshire, England |
| Died | 15 April 1912(1912-04-15) (aged 62) Atlantic Ocean |
| Resting place | 41°43′32″N 49°56′49″W / 41.72556°N 49.94694°W / 41.72556; -49.94694 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Ship Captain |
| Employer | White Star Line |
| Known for | Captain of RMS Titanic |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Eleanor Pennington (1887 – 1912; his death) |
| Children | Helen Melville Smith (1898–1973) (aged 75) |
| Parent(s) | Edward Smith (father) Catherine Hancock nee Marsh (mother) |
| Relatives | Joseph Hancock (half-brother) Thyrza Hancock (half-sister) Simon Russell-Cooke (grandson) Priscilla Russell-Cooke (granddaughter) |
| Notes | |
| "Be British" (Popularly believed to be Captain Smith's last words to the crew) Ranks: Commander – RNR Captain – White Star Line Honourific Rank of Commodore, due to being the White Star Line's most senior Captain | |
Edward Smith, RD, RNR (27 January 1850 – 15 April 1912) was an English naval reserve officer and ship's captain. He was the master of RMS Titanic and died when the ship sank in 1912. There is a statue to his legacy in Beacon Park, Lichfield, England.
Personal life
Edward Smith was born on 27 January 1850 on Well Street, Hanley, Staffordshire, England to Edward Smith, a potter, and Catherine Hancock, born Marsh, who married on 2 August 1841 in Shelton, Staffordshire. His parents later owned a shop.
Smith attended the Etruria British School until the age of 13, when he left and operated a steam hammer at the Etruria Forge. In 1867, aged 17 he went to Liverpool in the footsteps of his half-brother Joseph Hancock, a captain on a sailing ship. He began his apprenticeship on Senator Weber, owned by A Gibson & Co. of Liverpool.
On Thursday 13 January 1887, Smith married Sarah Eleanor Pennington at St Oswalds church, Winwick, Cheshire. Their daughter, Helen Melville Smith, was born in Waterloo, Liverpool on Saturday 2 April 1898. The family lived in an imposing red brick, twin-gabled house, named "Woodhead", on Winn Road, Highfield, Southampton.
Career
Ship captain
Edward Smith joined the White Star Line in March 1880 as the Fourth Officer of SS Celtic. He served aboard the company's liners to Australia and to New York City, where he quickly rose in status. In 1887, he received his first White Star command, the Republic. In 1888, Smith earned his Extra Master's Certificate and joined the Royal Naval Reserve (thus entitling him to append his name with "RNR"), qualifying as a full Lieutenant. This meant that in a time of war, he could be called upon to serve in the Royal Navy. Later, as he was a commander in the Royal Naval Reserve, Smith's ship had the distinction of being able to wear the Blue Ensign of the RNR; British merchant vessels generally wore the Red Ensign (also known as a Red Duster).
Bigger commands
Smith was Majestic's captain for nine years commencing in 1895. When the Boer War started in 1899, Majestic was called upon to transport troops to Cape Colony. Smith made two trips to South Africa, both without incident, and for his service King Edward VII awarded him the Transport Medal, showing the "South Africa" clasp, in 1903. Smith was regarded as a "safe captain". As he rose in seniority, he gained a reputation amongst passengers and crew for quiet flamboyance. Some passengers would sail the Atlantic only in a ship he captained. He became known as the "Millionaires' Captain" because England's upper class usually chose to sail on ships that he commanded.
From 1904 on, Smith commanded the White Star Line's newest ships on their maiden voyages. In 1904, he was given command of the then-largest ship in the world, the Baltic. Her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York, sailing 29 June 1904, went without incident. After three years with Baltic, Smith was given his second new "big ship," the Adriatic. Once again, the maiden voyage went without incident. During his command of Adriatic, Smith received the Royal Naval Reserve's long service decoration, along with a promotion to Commander. By virtue of his receiving the long service decoration, he would now be referred to as "Captain Edward John Smith, RD, RNR", with RD standing for "Reserve Decoration."
Olympic class command
Smith had built a reputation as one of the world's most experienced sea captains, and so was called upon to take first command of the lead ship in a new class of ocean liners, the Olympic – again, the largest vessel in the world at that time. The maiden voyage from Southampton to New York was successfully concluded on 21 June 1911, but as the ship was docking in New York harbour, a small incident took place. Docking at Pier 59 under the command of Captain Smith with the assistance of a harbour pilot, Olympic was being assisted by twelve tugs when one got caught in the backwash of Olympic, spun around, collided with the bigger ship, and for a moment was trapped under Olympic's stern, finally managing to work free and limp to the docks.
The Hawke incident
On 20 September 1911, Olympic's first major mishap occurred during a collision with a British warship, HMS Hawke, in which the warship lost her prow. Although the collision left two of Olympic's compartments filled and one of her propeller shafts twisted, she was able to limp back to Southampton. At the resultant inquiry, the Royal Navy blamed Olympic for the incident, alleging that her massive size generated a suction that pulled Hawke into her side. Captain Smith had been on the bridge during the events.
The Hawke incident was a financial disaster for White Star, and the out-of-service time for the big liner made matters worse. Olympic returned to Belfast and, to speed up the repairs, Harland and Wolff was forced to delay Titanic's completion, in order to use one of her propeller shafts and other parts for Olympic. Back at sea in February 1912, Olympic lost a propeller blade and once again returned to her builder for emergency repairs. To get her back to service immediately, Harland and Wolff again had to pull resources from Titanic, delaying her maiden voyage from 20 March to 10 April.
RMS Titanic
Main articles: RMS Titanic and Sinking of the RMS TitanicDespite the past trouble, Smith was again appointed to be in command of the newest ship in the Olympic class when the RMS Titanic left Southampton for her maiden voyage. Although some sources state that he had decided to retire after completing Titanic's maiden voyage, an article in the Halifax Morning Chronicle on 9 April 1912 stated that Smith would remain in charge of Titanic "until the Company (White Star Line) completed a larger and finer steamer."
On 10 April 1912, Smith, wearing a bowler hat and a long overcoat, took a taxi from his home to Southampton docks. He came aboard Titanic at 7 am to prepare for the Board of Trade muster at 8:00 am. He immediately went to his cabin to get the sailing report from Chief Officer Henry Wilde. After departure at noon, the huge amount of water displaced by Titanic as she passed caused the laid-up New York to break from her moorings and swing towards Titanic. Quick action from Smith helped to avert a premature end to the maiden voyage.
The first four days of the voyage passed without incident, but shortly after 11:40 pm on 14 April Smith emerged from his cabin to be told by First Officer William Murdoch that the ship had just collided with an iceberg. It was soon apparent that the ship was seriously damaged; designer Thomas Andrews reported that five of her watertight compartments had been breached and that Titanic would sink in under two hours. As the scale of the impending disaster dawned on Smith, it appears that he became paralyzed by indecision but it also might be possible that he had suffered some sort of a nervous collapse. He did not issue a general order for evacuation, gave contradictory orders, and failed to inform senior officers of the ship's perilous condition (an hour after the collision, Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall was still unaware that the ship would sink). He also did not supervise the evacuation or tell the officers that there were not enough lifeboats to save everyone aboard.
Smith perished that night along with around 1,500 others, but his exact fate is unknown and his body was never recovered. Reports on his fate conflict greatly with each other. Some survivors claimed Smith quietly wandered off towards the bridge at 2:10 am, ten minutes before the final sinking, shut himself inside the ship's wheelhouse, and went down with the ship. Robert Williams Daniel, a first class passenger who was rescued after the sinking from the water by either one of the collapsibles or Lifeboat #4, told the New York Times five days after the disaster of how he had witnessed Captain Smith die in the ship's wheelhouse. "My eyes seemingly clung to him. The deck from which I had leapt was immersed. The water had risen slowly, and was now to the floor of the bridge. Then it was to Captain Smith's waist. I saw him no more. He died a hero." These accounts are supported by Robert Ballard's book, The Discovery of the Titanic, and Titanic historians and has remained the iconic image which has remained of Smith. Other sources however claim Smith was actively present in the radio room, issuing updates as to the status of the ship to those other ships who had responded to their distress call. Initially, rumors that he had committed suicide by shooting himself were reported by the Washington Times and the French paper L'Excelsior based off the survivor accounts of Ms. Gretchen Longley and Mrs. Washington Dodge.
Later when working to free Collapsible B, Junior Marconi Officer Harold Bride reported seeing a crewman who he believed was Smith dive into the sea from the bridge just as it submerged, a story which was corroborated by first class passenger Mrs. George D. Widener, who was in Lifeboat #4 at the time(however, the man who Bride and Mrs. Widener saw jump from the bridge may have been Sixth Officer James Moody, who was seen jumping at this time). Accounts of Smith urging his crew to "Be British" and carrying a child to the overturned collapsible B after the sinking before swimming off to freeze in the water are almost certainly apocryphal, according to historians featured in the A&E Documentary Titanic: Death of a Dream. Despite conflicting accounts, it is most likely that Smith stood in the wheelhouse and went down with his vessel.
Legacy
The plaque below his memorial statue in Lichfield states:
| Capt. of R.M.S. Titanic |
| COMMANDER EDWARD JOHN SMITH R.D. R.N.R. BORN JANUARY 27 1850 DIED APRIL 15 1912 BEQUEATHING TO HIS COUNTRYMEN THE MEMORY & EXAMPLE OF A GREAT HEART A BRAVE LIFE AND A HEROIC DEATH "BE BRITISH" |
A wax figure of Captain Smith was unveiled at Madame Tussauds in London in 1915. It was destroyed in a fire in 1925.
Family
His family gradually faded from the limelight. Smith’s half-sister Thyrza died in 1921 and his widow, Sarah Eleanor Smith, was hit and killed by a taxi in London in 1931. Their daughter, Helen Melville, married and gave birth to twins, Simon and Priscilla. Simon, a pilot in the Royal Air Force, was killed in World War II. Priscilla died from polio three years later; neither of them had children. Helen died in 1973.
Portrayals
- Otto Wernicke (1943) (Titanic)
- Brian Aherne (1953) (Titanic)
- Clarence Derwent (1956) (Kraft Television Theatre) (A Night to Remember)
- Laurence Naismith (1958) (A Night to Remember)
- Michael Rennie (1966) (The Time Tunnel, episode Rendezvous With Yesterday) (fictionalised as "Captain Malcolm Smith")
- Harry Andrews (1979) (S.O.S. Titanic) (TV Movie)
- Hugh Reilly (1983) (Voyagers!) (Voyagers of the Titanic)
- George C. Scott (1996) (Titanic) (TV Miniseries)
- John Cunningham (1997) (Titanic) (Broadway Musical)
- Bernard Hill (1997) (Titanic)
- Kenneth Belton (2001) (Titanic: The Legend Goes On) (Animated Film)
- John Donovan (2003) (Ghosts of the Abyss) (Documentary)
- Alan Rothwell (2005) (Titanic: Birth of a Legend) (TV Documentary)
- Malcolm Tierney (2008) (Who Sank the Titanic? aka The Unsinkable Titanic) (TV Documentary)
- David Calder (2012) (Titanic) (TV series/4 episodes)
Bibliography
- Titanic Captain: The Life of Edward John Smith, G.J. Cooper ISBN 978-0-7524-6072-7, The History Press Ltd, 2011
References
- birth/death dates and parents at the International Genealogical Index
- Smith information at Titanic-Titanic.com
- ^ "Plaque for Titanic captain's house in Stoke-on-Trent". BBC News. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
- Emma Kasprzak (15 March 2012). "Titanic: Captain Edward John Smith's legacy". BBC News. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
- http://wormstedt.com/Titanic/shots/second.html
- http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/edward-john-smith.html
- http://www.panoramio.com/photo/46215470
- "The Time Tunnel: Rendezvous with Yesterday" at IMDb
External links
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