Captain Edward Smith was the captain of the ill-fated Titanic.
He was an experienced seafarer throughout his life. Edward Smith Captain Edward Smith's full name was: Edward John Smith. Edward was born on the 27th of January 1850 in Hanley in the United Kingdom. His parents were Edward Smith and Catherine Smith. Hanley is a town in the county of Staffordshire, England, in the United Kingdom. His parents later owned a shop after Edward was born. Edward went to a school in Staffordshire called the Etruria school. He left school at a young age and was still only a boy when he left school. Smith left school at 12. He left school to work in Etruria (Etruria was not just the name of the school Smith had gone to, it was (and still is) also the name of a suburb in Staffordshire). Upon leaving school, Captain Edward Smith went into a factory to work in Etruria; that factory was called the Etruria Forge. Today the Etruria Forge is a museum. This museum is known as the Etruria Industrial Museum. Working Life Before Titanic Edward worked at the Etruria Forge for around nine years, until he moved to Liverpool when he was 17. He moved to Liverpool to start an apprenticeship at Senator Webber in 1867. Just a few years later - in 1871 - Edward gained a master's certificate, which gave him the qualifications that he needed to command a ship. Smith had a long career that would see him take command of many ships before he took command of the Titanic. These other ships he commanded included the Titanic's sister ship: RMS Olympic. Many of the ships that Edward took control of were ships that were made by White Star Line. White Star Line's most famous creation was the Titanic.
Smith had a long and successful career at White Star Line. He joined White Star Line in 1880. His career at White Star Line started as a fourth officer to the SS Celtic. He also worked on many other ships; these ships included: the Majestic, Baltic, and Adriatic.
Captain Smith and The RMS Olympic Edward Smith had previously worked for decades with White Star Line. Then, he became the captain of the Titanic's sister ship: the RMS Olympic. The RMS Olympic and the RMS Titanic looked identical, though; there were small differences between both of the ships. One of the differences between the RMS Olympic and the RMS Titanic was their maiden voyage. The differences between their maiden voyages though, were staggering - one ended in tragedy, while the other maiden voyage went pretty successfully. Smith was the captain of both of these ships on their maiden voyage. The RMS Olympic had the maiden voyage that the RMS Titanic was supposed to. The Olympic was ready for sea on the 31st of May 1911 (just under a year before Titanic took her ill-fated maiden voyage). The Olympic successfully passed her sea trials on the 29th of May 1911. Olympic was built in Belfast, like, Titanic was, and after she passed her sea trials, she set sail to Southampton on the 3rd of June 1911. Later on the 14th of June 1911, the Olympic set off from Southampton to start her maiden voyage, captained by Smith, and successfully reached New York City on the 21st of June 1911. This was the journey that Titanic was supposed to make but never did.
Smith showed that he was still a capable seaman and captain with the RMS Olympic, just a few months before Titanic's ill-fated maiden voyage.
Captain Smith and The Titanic We probably would have never even known who Captain Edward Smith was if Titanic's maiden voyage went like Olympics' voyage. If Titanic's voyage went as smoothly as the Olympics', we probably would have never heard of Titanic too. But, we do know of Smith and Titanic today. The Olympic wasn't without its own ill-fate after it's maiden voyage - it is also a ship that had its own bad luck. But, nothing like what had happened to the Titanic. Titanic's sea trials were supposed to begin on the 1st of April 1912. However, her sea trials were postponed on the 1st of April 1912, due to bad weather (one of several omens that happened to the Titanic). Titanic's sea trials were only delayed for a day. The next day, on the 2nd of April 1912, Titanic completed her trials - Captain Smith was in Belfast for Titanic's sea trials. The sea trials of the Titanic lasted all day out at sea. After her sea trials, the Titanic made her way to Southampton during the early evening of the 2nd of April 1912. Titanic's Maiden Voyage Titanic's maiden voyage happened just over a week after her successful sea trials. On the morning of her maiden voyage, Captain Smith turned up to Southampton docks (where the Titanic waited to go on her maiden voyage), he arrived in a taxi, wearing a bowler hat and long coat. He took a taxi to Southampton docks from his home that morning. Smith arrived on the Titanic that morning at 7 am - several hours before the Titanic was to set sail on her maiden voyage. Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton at noon that day. Just shortly after, the Titanic nearly had a collision with another ship while leaving Southampton docks. Thanks to Captain Smith, Titanic avoided colliding with the ship. Most of Titanic's maiden voyage was normal and went the way it was supposed to. However, there were indications that something was wrong, as the Titanic received many icebergs warnings before she hit the iceberg. During Titanic's final day, she received multiple iceberg warnings throughout the day and night of the 14th of April, 1912 - the 14th of April, 1912, was the date when Titanic hit the iceberg. Just hours before Titanic struck the iceberg, Captain Smith was at a dinner party with first-class passengers in the A La Carte restaurant. Smith retired that same night at around 10 PM. First Officer Murdoch took control of Titanic to captain it through the night, upon Captain Smith retiring to bed for the evening. Titanic struck the iceberg at 11.40 PM that same night. Smith came to the bridge of Titanic immediately after the Titanic hit the iceberg. Upon realizing there was no hope for Titanic - with the ship predicted to sink into the Atlantic ocean - Smith gave the order that the lifeboats should be prepared, with the sea code of 'women and children first' into the lifeboats. Titanic didn't take long to sink into the Atlantic ocean - she was completely pulled under the waves in the early morning hours of the 15th of April, 1912. But, what happened to Captain Smith? Captain Smith bravely stayed on the Titanic until the very end. He died in those early morning hours of the 15th of April, 1912. There are different views from eyewitnesses at the time of the Titanic's sinking, but there are two main eyewitness accounts about what happened to Smith upon the sinking. The first account from some eyewitnesses about Smith was that they saw Smith going into the bridge room (the wheelhouse) just before the whole went ship went down, and, that was the last time they saw him. Other eyewitnesses said that they saw Captain Smith jumping from Titanic's bridge into the sea just as the ship was going down. Perhaps both of these things happened: that Smith went into the bridge room and then jumped from the bridge into the water. Or, perhaps one of these events occurred and the other was a case of mistaken identity, where they thought the person jumping from the bridge (or going into the bridge room) was Captain Smith, but, was someone else. Captain Edward Smith was born on the 27th of January 1850 and died on the 15th of April 1912. Sources: https://www.biography.com/historical-figure/edward-j-smith http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2006/04/10/local_heroes_captain_edward_john_smith_feature.shtml https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/edward-john-smith.html
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