Edward John Smith RD RNR (27 January 1850 – 15 April 1912) was a British sea captain and naval officer.

During the Second Boer War, he served in the Royal Naval Reserve, transporting British Imperial troops to the Cape Colony.

On 13 January 1887, Smith married Sarah Eleanor Pennington at St Oswald's Church, Winwick, Lancashire.

[4][5] Edward Smith joined the White Star Line in March 1880 as the Fourth Officer of SS Celtic.

Smith joined the Royal Naval Reserve, receiving a commission as a lieutenant, which entitled him to add the letters "RNR" after his name.

During his command of Adriatic, Smith received the long service Decoration for Officers of the Royal Naval Reserve (RD).

At the resultant inquiry, the Royal Navy blamed Olympic,[13][14] finding that her massive size generated a suction that pulled Hawke into her side.

The Hawke incident was a financial disaster for White Star, and the out-of-service time for the big liner made matters worse.

To get her back to service immediately, Harland and Wolff again had to pull resources from Titanic, delaying her maiden voyage from 20 March to 10 April.

[citation needed] Despite the past trouble, Smith was again appointed to command the newest ship in the Olympic class when Titanic left Southampton for her maiden voyage.

Although the crew was aware of ice in the vicinity, they did not reduce the ship's speed and continued to steam at 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph).

[17][b] Titanic's high speed in waters where ice had been reported was later criticised as reckless, but it reflected standard maritime practice at the time.

According to Fifth Officer Harold Lowe, the custom was "to go ahead and depend upon the lookouts in the crow's nest and the watch on the bridge to 'pick up' the ice in time to avoid hitting it".

Lowe, who was crossing the Atlantic for the first time in his life, admitted under examination that he had never heard that icebergs were common off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and said that the fact would not have interested him if he had.

[19] The North Atlantic liners prioritised time-keeping above all other considerations, sticking rigidly to a schedule that would guarantee arrival at an advertised time.

It was widely believed that ice posed little risk; close calls were not uncommon, and even head-on collisions had not been disastrous.

In 1907, SS Kronprinz Wilhelm, a German liner, had rammed an iceberg and suffered a crushed bow, but was still able to complete her voyage.

This was the first crisis of his career, and he would have known that even if all the boats were fully occupied, more than a thousand people would remain on the ship as she went down, with little or no chance of survival.

Even some of his bridge officers were unaware for some time after the collision that the ship was sinking; Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall did not find out until 01:15, barely an hour before the ship went down,[24] while Quartermaster George Rowe was so unaware of the emergency that after the evacuation had started, he phoned the bridge from his watch station to ask why he had just seen a lifeboat go past.

[24][26] Just minutes before the ship started its final plunge, Smith was still busy releasing Titanic's crew from their duties; he went to the Marconi operators' room and released Junior Marconi Officer Harold Bride and senior wireless operator John "Jack" Phillips from their duties.

[31] The New York Herald in its 19 April 1912 edition quoted Robert Williams Daniel, who jumped from the stern immediately before the ship sank, "I saw Captain Smith on the bridge.

[35] Also second class passenger William John Mellors, who survived aboard Collapsible B, stated that Smith jumped from the bridge.

[36] One writer states that witness and survivor Harold Bride "could here be mistaking Captain Smith for Lightoller, who we know did exactly this at this time, first swimming towards the crow's nest.

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.

Harry Senior, one of Titanic's stokers, and second class passenger Charles Eugene Williams, who both survived aboard Collapsible B, stated that Smith[36] 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.

[47] In 2010, as part of the "Parks for People" programme, the statue was restored and the green patina removed from its surface at a cost of £16,000.

Whilst in command of the White Star SS Titanic that great ship struck an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean during the night and speedily sank with nearly all who were on board.

Captain Smith having done all man could do for the safety of passengers and crew remained at his post on the sinking ship until the end.