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John Edward Smith was
born in England on January 27, 1850. Attending Etruria British School until
the age of 13, he then moved
on to Liverpool to start his seafaring career.
John began working as an apprentice, in the year
1869, on a clipper ship called "Senator Weber" which was own by a company
called
Gibson & Co..
It wasn't until 1880 that he joined the White
Star Line as Fourth Officer. In 1887 he would gain
his first command. The ships he was in
command of include the "Republic", the
"Baltic", the "Adriatic" and the "Olympic". |
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In total, Captain John Edward Smith would be the captain
of 17 of the
White Star Lines ships. Sadly, he would never be
able to reach his goal
of retirement after captaining the Titanic's first
voyage.
At the age of 62, Captain John Smith had decided to
make the maiden
voyage of Titanic, his last. He had captained all
of the White Star lines
new ships on their maiden voyages, since 1904 when
he had taken the
"Baltic" out. Though he said he woudl retired after
Titanics maiden voyage, the White Star Line announced that John Smith would
be the captain of Titanic until their newest ship was completed. If he
had made it to the age of 65, Captain John Edward Smith would have been
the oldest to be commanding transatlantic ships.
"When anyone asks me how I can best describe
my experience
in nearly forty years at sea, I merely say,
uneventful. Of course
there have been winter gales, and storms and
fog and the like.
But in all my experience, I have never been
in any accident ...
or any sort worth speaking about. I have seen
but one vessel in
distress in all my years at sea. I never saw
a wreck and never
have been wrecked nor was I ever in any predicament
that
threatened to end in disaster of any sort."
Edward John Smith:1907
Little is known about what the last actions of Captain
Smith were on the night that the Titanic sank. The last anyone saw of him,
he was on the bridge giving the oder to "Abandon ship" and made no attempt
to save himself.
There were other supposed witnesses who gave different
testimony
about his last actions. One claims to have seen
him walk calmly onto
the bridge and the water came in and cover it.
Another claims to have
seen him shoot himself in with a pistol, while
still others claim he swam to a lifeboat with a baby in his arms and after
putting the baby into the lifeboat.
His last words are also not clear...some hear him
say "Be Brittich boys,
be Brittish", others hear him say "Every man for
himself" and those who claim to have seen swim to a lifeboat and save a
baby claim he said "Goodbye boys, I'm going to follow the ship.
Captain John Edward Smith's body was never recovered..
The plaque beneath the statue reads:
Commander
Edward John Smith RD. RNR.
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 "
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A life sized statue of Captain John Edward Smith
was unveiled on July 29, 1914, by Helen Melville Smith, his Daughter (left).
The Statue stands in Beacon Park in Lichfield, England.
The statue was designed by Kathleen Scott. The bronze
statue is 7' 8" and sits on a piece of cornish granite.
In 1985 , the words
"Captain Of The Titanic"
were added.
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