Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Edward Smith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Captain Edward John Smith | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | January 27, 1850 Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom |
| Died | April 15, 1912 (aged 62) Atlantic Ocean |
| Occupation | Ship captain |
| Spouse | Sarah Eleanor Pennington |
| Children | Helen Melville Smith |
Captain Edward John Smith, RD , RNR (January 27, 1850 – April 15, 1912) was the captain of the RMS Titanic when it sank in 1912. He and his wife Janet had a daughter named Helen Melville Smith. There is a statue to his legacy in Lichfield, England.[1]
Contents |
Edward John Smith was born on January 27, 1850 in the town of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. His parents were Edward Smith, a potter, and Catherine Hancock née Marsh, who married in 1847 in Wolstanton. His parents later owned a shop. Smith attended the Etruria British School until the age of 13 when he went to Liverpool to begin a seafaring career. He apprenticed with Gibson & Co., Liverpool.
On July 12, 1887, Smith married Sarah Eleanor Pennington. Two years later, they had a daughter Helen Melville Smith. The family lived in an imposing red brick, twin-gabled house, named "Woodhead", on Winn Road, Portswood, Southampton. According to his daughter, Captain Smith loved cigars and the smoke from them. He wouldn't let anyone into his study while he was smoking because he didn't want the ring of smoke to be disturbed.
Smith joined the White Star Line in March 1880 as the Fourth Officer of the Celtic. He served aboard the company's liners to Australia and to New York, where he quickly rose in stature. In 1887, Smith received his first White Star command, the SS Republic. In 1888, Smith earned his Extra Master's Certificate and joined the Royal Naval Reserve (thus enabling him to append his name with "RNR"), qualifying as a full Lieutenant. This meant that in a time of war, Smith and his ship could be called upon to serve by the Royal Navy. Because of his position as a Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve, Smith had the distinction of being able to fly the Blue Duster of the R.N.R.; most ships flew the Red Duster of the merchant marine.
Smith was Majestic's captain for nine years commencing in 1895. When the Boer War started in 1899, Smith and the Majestic were called upon to transport troops to Cape Colony. Two trips were made to South Africa, both without incident, and for his service, King Edward VII awarded Smith the Transport Medal, showing the "South Africa" clasp, in 1903. Smith was regarded as a "safe captain".
As he rose in seniority, Smith gained a reputation amongst passengers and crew for quiet flamboyance. Eventually Smith became the commodore of White Star Line, or one who all other captains reported to. Some passengers would only sail the Atlantic in a ship commanded by him. He became known as the "Millionaires' Captain" due to the fact that England's upper class were usually the ones who requested he be in command of the ships they sailed on. After he became commodore of the White Star fleet in 1904, it became routine for Smith to command the line's newest ships on their maiden voyages. In 1904, he was given command of the largest ships in the world at the time, White Star's new Baltic. Her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York, sailing 29 June 1904, went without incident. After three years with the Baltic, Smith was given his second new "Big Ship", the Adriatic. Once again, the maiden voyage went without incident.
During his command of the Adriatic, Smith received the Royal Naval Reserve's "Long Service" medal along with a promotion at White Star to Commander. He would now sign his name as "Commander Edward John Smith, R.D., R.N.R.", with "R.D." meaning "Reserve Decoration."
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 Liverpool to New York was successfully concluded on 21 June 1911, but as the ship was docking in New York harbour, it experienced a small incident which would foreshadow future events. Docking at Pier 59 under command of a harbor pilot, the Olympic was being assisted by twelve tugs when one got caught in the backwash of the Olympic's starboard propeller. The tug was spun around, collided with the bigger ship, and for a moment was trapped under the Olympic's stern, finally managing to work free and limp to the docks.
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 watertight 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 HMS Hawke into her side. At the helm during this incident was Captain Smith.
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 her propeller shaft for the 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 & Wolff yet again had to pull resources from Titanic, delaying her maiden voyage from 20 March to 10 April.
 |
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007) |
White Star's most prized captain was yet again at the helm of the greatest steamship when Titanic left Southampton for her maiden voyage. Although some sources state that Smith had decided to retire after commanding the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage, an article which appeared in the Halifax Morning Chronicle on 9 April 1912 stated that Captain Smith would remain in charge of the Titanic "until the Company (White Star Line) completed a larger and finer steamer".
On April 10, 1912, Smith, wearing a bowler hat and a long overcoat, took a taxi from his home to Southampton docks. He came aboard the Titanic at 7AM to prepare for the board of trade muster at 8.00AM. He immediately went to his cabin to get the sailing report from Chief Officer Henry Wilde.
After departure at 12:00PM, 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 the Titanic. Quick action from Smith helped to avert a premature end to the maiden voyage. The unfortunate incident was seen by some as an ill omen and it was reminiscent of the Hawke incident in 1911 when that vessel collided with the Olympic, under the command of Captain Smith.
At 11:40PM, on 14 April, the Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The ship sank two hours and forty minutes later killing an estimated 1,500 people. It is still unknown how Captain Smith died. Some say he committed suicide by shooting himself, others say he went down with the ship, and some claim to have seen him in the water cheering the passengers to survive. Some people even say that he swam over to one of the over-turned lifeboats and handed a man a baby he had saved. Then he went back to the sinking ship to help save more people. His body was never recovered.
|
|
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007) |
It is not known how Smith died on the night of the sinking. Some survivors reported seeing him in the water with a life jacket, while others reported seeing him in the bridge wheelhouse as the open bridge flooded. In Robert Ballard's book, The Discovery of the Titanic, he claims that Captain Smith went into the bridge to await his fate at 2:13AM, three minutes before the final sinking. This idea is used by the 1997 film. Still, one other passenger claimed to have seen Smith swim back into the A Deck Promenade, soon after which he was sucked back inside the Grand Staircase when the windows gave way. The Titanic struck the iceberg at around 11:40PM, but did not sink until around 2:20AM the following day. This would make Captain Smith's date of death April 15, 1912. Also in question were his last words. Reports include "Be British Boys, Be British!", "Every Man for Himself!" or, after supposedly delivering a baby to a lifeboat, he refused to be brought aboard, saying "Good-Bye Boys, I'm going to follow the ship!"
Smith was first portrayed on film by the German actor Otto Wernicke in the 1943 Nazi propaganda movie Titanic. He was then portrayed by Brian Aherne in the 1953 film of the same name. Following that, he was played several times, including Laurence Naismith (A Night to Remember), Harry Andrews (S.O.S. Titanic) and by George C. Scott in the 1996 mini-series. His most recent portrayal was in 1997's Titanic, played by Bernard Hill who in appearance resembled him closely. In the latter, he refuses the crew's help in leaving the ship and locks himself in the bridge.
He was portrayed on television by Michael Rennie in the pilot episode of The Time Tunnel. (For some unknown reason, he was billed as "Malcolm Smith" in the show's closing credits.)
Captain Smith has also made a cameo appearance in the Star Trek novel series The Captain's Table. In the novel Once Burned, written by Peter David, Smith appears in the Captain's Table - a bar which can appear in any era of history, and which only captains can enter. Smith is seen, clutching a drink and repeating "Damned iceberg. Damned iceberg," over and over, by Captain Mackenzie Calhoun, who takes pity on Smith and gives him his communicator.
- TITANIC - A Voyage of Discovery (captain)
- Captain Smith on Titanic-Titanic.com
- Captain Smith's Memorial on Titanic-Titanic.com
- One of Stoke-on-Trent Museums' Local Heroes
|
|
|---|
| Captain Edward J. Smith • Chief Officer Henry T. Wilde • First Officer William M. Murdoch • Second Officer Charles H. Lightoller • Third Officer Herbert J. Pitman • Fourth Officer Joseph G. Boxhall • Fifth Officer Harold G. Lowe • Sixth Officer James P. Moody |