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| Captain Edward John Smith |
In Robert Ballard's book, The Discovery of the Titanic, he claims that Captain Smith went to the bridge to await his fate at 2:17 A.M., three minutes before the ship went under completely.
This may have been partially based on the account of Philadelphia banker Robert W. Daniel, who claimed that just before he jumped into the water, he saw Captain Smith on the bridge, which was slowly being swallowed by the icy sea
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James Cameron supports this account in his 1997 movie Titanic by showing Captain Smith enter the bridge and grasp the wheel as water crashes in. While some survivors testified that they saw Captain Smith enter the bridge, other Titanic survivors said that they saw Captain Smith in the water with a life jacket.
It is possible that he may have jumped from the bridge area as the ship went down. A boy who was one of the last children to leave the ship told Dr. J.F. Kemp, a passenger on the Carpathia, that "Captain Smith put a pistol to his head and then fell down." Other witnesses reported having seen Captain Smith commit suicide as well. Surviving crewmen vigorously denied the possibility. His body was never recovered.
There are conflicting accounts of Smith's death. Some survivors said they saw Smith enter the ship's wheelhouse on the bridge, and die there when it was engulfed. Captain Smith himself made statements hinting that he would go down with his ship if he was ever confronted with a disaster. A friend of Smith's, Dr. Williams, asked Captain Smith what would happen if the Adriatic struck a concealed reef of ice and was badly damaged. "Some of us would go to the bottom with the ship," was Smith's reply. A boyhood friend, William Jones said, "Ted Smith passed away just as he would have loved to do. To stand on the bridge of his vessel and go down with her was characteristic of all his actions when we were boys together." Because of these factors as well as the accounts of Smith going inside the wheelhouse, this has remained the iconic image which has remained of Smith and has been perpetuated by film portrayals.
ReplyDeleteWhen working to free Collapsible B, Junior Marconi Officer Harold Bride said he saw Captain Smith dive from the bridge into the sea just as Collapsible B was levered off the roof of the officers' quarters, a story which was corroborated by first class passenger Mrs Eleanor Widener, who was in Lifeboat No.4 (the closest to the sinking ship) at the time. Also second class passenger William John Mellors, who survived aboard collapsible B, stated that Smith jumped from the bridge. Tim Maltin, author of 101 Things You Thought You Knew About The Titanic - But Didn't! affirms that the witnesses "could here be mistaking Captain Smith for Lightoller, who we know did exactly this at this time, first swimming towards the crow's nest."
Several accounts say that Smith may have been seen in the water near the overturned Collapsible B during or after the sinking. Colonel Archibald Gracie reported that an unknown swimmer came near the capsized and overcrowded lifeboat, and that one of the men on board told him "Hold on to what you have, old boy. One more of you aboard would sink us all,"; in a powerful voice, the swimmer replied "All right boys. Good luck and God bless you.". Gracie did not see this man, nor was able to identify him, but some other survivors later claimed to have recognised this man as Smith. Another man (or possibly the same) never asked to come aboard the boat, but instead cheered its occupants saying "Good boys! Good lads!" with "the voice of authority". One of the Collapsible B survivors, fireman Walter Hurst, tried to reach him with an oar, but the rapidly rising swell carried the man away before he could reach him. Hurst said he was certain this man was Smith. Some of these accounts also describe Smith carrying a child to the boat. Harry Senior, one of Titanic's stokers, and second class passenger Charles Eugene Williams, who both survived aboard Collapsible B, stated that Smith swam with a child in his arms to Collapsible B, which Smith presented to a steward, after which he apparently swam back to the rapidly foundering ship. Williams' account differs slightly, claiming that, after Smith handed the child over to the steward, he asked what had become of First Officer Murdoch. Upon hearing news of Murdoch's demise, Smith "pushed himself away from the lifeboat, threw his lifebelt from him and slowly sank from our sight. He did not come to the surface again." These accounts are almost certainly apocryphal, according to historians featured in the A&E Documentary Titanic: Death of a Dream. Lightoller who survived on Collapsible B never reported seeing Smith in the water or receiving a child from him. There is also no way in which survivors on Collapsible B would have been able to verify the identity of the individual concerned under such dimly lit and chaotic circumstances. It is more likely based upon wishful thinking that the person they saw was the Captain. Captain Smith's fate will probably remain uncertain.