Captain Edward John Smith

Captain Smith Before Titanic

Captain Edward John Smith was perceived by some as a hero, and by others as the villain who sank the greatest ship in the world on that fateful April night. Captain Smith was brave, intelligent, determined, experienced, and a true hero. I put him in the Lifesaver Hero category, for what he did on the night he died.

Captain Smith actually isn’t known by as many people as he probably should be. Captain Smith was the captain on the ship called “Unsinkable” and “The Ship of Dreams” by its creator, the White Star Line. Captain Smith was the captain of the Titanic, the most famous ship in America, and perhaps the world.

On April 15, 1912, the boilers of the Titanic had all been lit, and the ship was going at a maximum speed of 26 knots, just as the Captain had ordered. It was 11:40 p.m. and one of the lookouts had spotted an iceberg. The ship was turned to the left to avoid the iceberg, but the submerged part of the glacier was even larger than the portion above the water, and passengers listened to the metallic screech as the side of the ship scraped alongside the iceberg. Smith knew the boat would sink. He ordered crew around to get people out of their rooms and to start loading the lifeboats. He also ordered the band to set up and play on the deck to keep people from panicking. Even though people thought the giant ship was certainly more secure than the dingy little rowboats, they still got on the lifeboats. At 2:20 a.m., the last visible part of Titanic sank into the dark abyss that was the Atlantic Ocean. Smith, like a true hero, went down with his ship. His last voyage as captain became his final voyage, and his final resting place. His actions helped a lot of the 750 passengers saved get off of that deathtrap.

These events shock me. I cannot imagine how hard it was to watch the last lifeboat slowly drift out of view. How did it feel as the icy seawater engulfed him? Did cry out as he saw Death coming for him? Did he stare it down until the last second? No one will be able to answer these questions now.

Captain Smith was brave right up until the very end, gambling his life and losing it. He was determined to get every living soul off of that boat, and though he did not succeed, everyone who was on the Titanic that night will be missed greatly. We will forever hold in our hearts the majesty of Titanic.