Captain Edward Smith was born on January 27, 1850 in Hanley, Staffordshire, England. He is most noted as the captain of the 
doomed passenger ship the Titanic, which went down in April 1912. Captain Smith was responsible for over 2,200 passengers and crew, more than 1,200 were killed that fateful night of April 14. Titanic was built to the highest standards of the day and was deemed unsinkable. The ship was built in the Harland & Wolfe shipyard in Belfast, Ireland, before setting sail to pick up its passengers in Southampton, England. “She was fine when she left here” is a standard Irish refrain which is still used in Belfast today when conversation turns to the subject of the tragic Titanic. Others say the Titanic was “built by Irishmen and sunk by an Englishman.” Captain Smith was ultimately found “not responsible” for the sinking of the Titanic on her maiden voyage, but is that completely true? There are a few reasons to call into question the qualifications and attentiveness of Captain Smith.
Education
Captain Smith was born the son of a potter and was taking training to follow suit at a school that was sponsored by the famous Wedgwood pottery works. Smith finished school at 12 years old and took to the sea as a teenager. There’s not much known as to what he did during the years between leaving school and becoming a sailor. He did work his way up the ranks and earn certifications in handling cargo vessels, but that had nothing to do with the enormous responsibility that goes along with carrying human freight, or passengers. He certainly had no formal Royal Navy training. It might have been over-reaching to think that 12 year old school drop out could handle the tasks of being captain to some of the largest passenger vessels ever created.
The Olympic
Captain Smith was involved in another disaster, the year before the Titanic accident, involving a sister ship of the Titanic called the Olympic. He was captain of the Olympic and had been in post one year prior to the Titanic disaster when the Olympic was seriously damaged during sea trials in Belfast Lough in Ireland. The Hawke, a British Royal Navy cruiser crashed into the side of the Olympic, and while he was not formally declared responsible, there were investigations. Years later observers say this accident was also his responsibility.
There’s nothing anyone can do to turn back the clock and demand a more thorough investigation of the events that lead up to a Royal Naval cruiser plowing into the side of a huge vessel like the Olympic, but a closer look at the events on the night of April 14, 1912 might suggest that not heeding warnings and obvious dangers could have played a key role in the Olympic mishap.
The Grand finale: Titanic
After the historic launch of the “unsinkable” Titanic which was to make its way from England to New York, did tragedy strike due to the negligence and improper management of Captain Smith? On the night of April 14th 1912, The Coronia, Baltic, Californian and Mesaba all sent warnings to the Titanic that there were icebergs in the area. There are accounts that Captain Smith willingly chose to ignore seven warnings he received about the dangers in the ocean. It is said he ordered the crew to plow through the treacherous icy waters at full speed without any change in course as he should have done in response to the serious danger warnings. Unfortunately we all know the tragic ending of the unheeded warnings.
The Titanic was built in Belfast, Ireland, before it sailed over to Southampton in England. We are pretty clear when it comes to apportioning blame for the Titanic disaster. The ship was fine when it left Ireland.
