Captain of the Titanic John Edward Smith. Biography of historical personality

Captain Edward John Smith - an extraordinary personality, whose name is forever inscribed in the story in connection with involvement in the most massive catastrophe on the water.

Childhood and family

Edward John Smith, whose biography begins with the birth of the twenty-seventh of January one thousand eight hundred and fiftieth year, is very famous.

The boy appeared in the family of Edward Smith and Catherine Hancock (Marsh) in the small town of Hanley, in Staffordshire, Great Britain.

John Edward was the son of a potter. Father instilled love for his work, but his son was interested in traveling, the sea, distant countries. The boy's mother was a good banker, but later she preferred to open her own grocery store.

Carier start

At the age of twelve, Captain Titanic Edward John Smith lost his father, who died of tuberculosis. The boy had to leave the school and get a job at a factory in Stoke-on-Trent, where a young but very persistent worker was entrusted with the management of the steam hammer. But this work did not bring the boy the desired pleasure. He dreamed of the sea and travel.

At seventeen, fate led him to Liverpool, where he forever linked his life with ships and the sea.

After two years of training, John Edward was able to find his first job on the sailing ship "Senator Weber", in a company that specialized in the transport of goods. Persistent young man did not disdain any work. He quickly moved up the career ladder and within four years he was given the right to hold the position of assistant captain.

In the year eighteen seventy-six, the twenty-six-year-old John Edward headed his first ship, Lizzie Fennell. Over the next three years, he crossed hundreds of thousands of nautical miles, transporting goods between the United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Big changes

In the year eighteen eighty, the captain's long-time dream came true - he was able to join the ranks of the largest and most powerful shipping company of the time - the White Star Line.

The catch was that the corporation almost did not handle the transportation of goods. The main direction of the company's work was the movement of passengers.

Due to the fact that the passenger and cargo ships are different in handling, the captain who has already taken up had to start his career from the very bottom.

Thanks to his diligence and perseverance, seven years later he again stood at the helm on the main bridge.

In subsequent years, John Edward ran such courts as "Republic", "Baltic", "Coptic", "Adriatic", "Germanik", "Runik" and others.

In the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-two the captain was entrusted with the management of the company's largest steamship, Majestic. From that time, Edward Smith could be found only on huge ships.

The public, using the services of airliners of this class, was more than wealthy. John Edward and nicknamed: "captain of millionaires."

Military service

The situation in the world was heated. In the year eighteen eighty eight, the captain was recorded in the reserve of the British naval forces.

He did not take part in active hostilities. However, Edward had to make several flights to transport troops to the shores of South Africa, where the Anglo-Boer War was taking place.

In the year 1,900 the captain was given the military rank of Commodore.

Family life

The eighteen hundred and eighty-seventh year was marked for John Edward, not only by success in the service field. On the twelfth of July he married Sarah Elianor Pennington. Already on April 2 of the next year their young family celebrated the completion - they had a daughter named Helen.

The family life of the captain took place in a large, spacious house, built of red brick in a suburb of Southampton.

Last Flight

On the tenth of April, one thousand nine hundred and twelve, from the port of Southamptor, the most grandiose project of the beginning of the twentieth century, striking by its scale even after a hundred years - the ultra-modern liner, which was called the Titanic, was launched. The ship was built for three years at the shipyard in Belfast.

The displacement of the Titanic was 52,310 tons, speed to twenty-three knots, it was characterized by a steel hull, a power plant with a capacity of fifty-five thousand horsepower, one thousand three hundred and seventeen passengers on board. And this famous man was appointed to manage the famous captain.

"Edward John Smith! Titanic will lead him! "- About this were the newspaper headlines of English newspapers, dedicated to the legendary ship.

The liner was considered unsinkable. Engineers-developers were confident that the compartments designed with impenetrable bulkheads would help the ship to withstand any element.

For John Smith, this was to be the last flight in his career, after which he had to go on a well-deserved pension.

Catastrophe

According to the official version, on the night from the fourteenth to the fifteenth of April one thousand nine hundred and twelve, the liner collided with an iceberg, he received critical holes. The ship began to sink quickly and after three hours it finally went to the bottom.

The exact number of deaths - one thousand four hundred ninety-six people. The rescued are seven hundred and twelve.

The last minutes of the captain

The most basic version - the officer shot himself. Indications of the surviving members of the team diverge. Some argue that they saw the last time John Smith on the bridge. Others are sure that he was among other people in the water. Someone even tried to help the captain get into the boat, but these attempts were unsuccessful.

The body of John Smith was never found. His soul remains forever with the ocean.

The captain's family after the disaster

Sarah's wife lived another nineteen years after the death of her husband. In 1931, she died in a car accident in London, where she later moved.

Helen's daughter lived an active and interesting life - she was an entrepreneur, a pilot of a racing car.

The girl followed with interest all the news related to the Titanic. It is noted that she repeatedly visited the film sets and very carefully looked at the actor who played her father.