These Were The Haunting Last Words Of The Titanic's Captain

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

Captain Edward Smith, born on Jan. 27, 1850, was a seasoned sailor who began his naval career while still a teenager. He had been with the White Star line for nearly 40 years. His crew respected him, and he was beloved by passengers, especially the ones in first class, earning the title the "Millionaire's Captain" (per Britannica). While the Titanic disaster was by far his worst accident at sea, it wasn't his first. On more than one occasion, his ships ran aground. And just six months prior to Titanic, on Sept. 20, 1911, the White Star passenger liner Olympic, with Smith as captain, collided with the Royal Navy cruiser Hawke near the Isle of White in the English Channel, causing extensive damage to both ships.

The Royal Navy blamed Olympic and the ensuing legal defense by the White Star line, as well as repairs to the ship, were financially hard on the company. White Star backed their captain, who would contend that his record at sea was unblemished. "When anyone asks me how I can best describe my experience in nearly forty years at sea, I merely say, uneventful. In all my experience, I've never been in any accident, or any sort worth speaking about," Smith said, according to Titanic: History's Most Famous Ship. As the clock ticked into the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, Capt. Smith must have realized that his tenure as a ship's captain, and most likely his life, was coming to a close. He called his crew members together.

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