ONE OF OVER 2,208 PASSENGER & CREW STORIES - CAPTAIN EDWARD JOHN ‘E.J.’ SMITH, DIED APRIL 15, 1912

Being the Captain of the RMS Titanic was to be the crowning glory of a long and distinguished career. Edward J. Smith was 62 years old and had been at sea for nearly 50 years. Serving on a variety of ships, he had become popular with his crew and with passengers, and many wealthy people would only sail on a ship under his command. As Captain of Titanic, he would receive a substantial salary, as well as a “no-collision” bonus.

E.J. Smith was married and had a daughter. Retirement and spending time with his family filled his thoughts on the maiden voyage of the greatest ship ever built. As Titanic launched from Southampton, England, Captain Smith narrowly averted a collision with a smaller boat, the New York, and some saw the incident as a bad omen.

He normally dined alone, but on the night of April 14, 1912, he was the guest of honor at a dinner hosted by wealthy Philadelphians George and Eleanor Widener. He excused himself from the dinner early, possibly because Titanic had received warnings of ice in the vicinity. He retired to his cabin and was later awakened by the collision with the iceberg. He quickly made his way to the bridge and was reportedly seen at various locations during the ensuing hours, but his actions during the chaos of the sinking remain largely a mystery. What he expected as his crowning glory instead became the end of his career—and the end of his life.