In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, newspapers cast Smith as a hero, the brave captain who went down with his ship. For a villain, there was J. Bruce Ismay, the White Star chairman, who got off in a lifeboat and was accused of pressuring Smith to maintain a reckless speed.
Like Captain Smith, Thomas Andrews, the designer of the Titanic, went down with his ship. It was he who delivered the shocking news to the captain that it was a mathematical certainty that the Titanic would sink, once he had found out that the ship was holed in five of its watertight compartments.
If a ship is sinking, maritime tradition dictates that the captain ensures the safe evacuation of every passenger before he evacuates himself. He (or she) is responsible for the lives of those onboard, and he can't coordinate their exit unless he's the last person off.
The sea's surface shone like glass, making it hard to spot icebergs, common to the North Atlantic in spring. Nevertheless, Captain Smith kept the ship at full speed. He believed the crew could react in time if any were sighted.
Edward John Smith was born on 27 January 1850 in Hanley, Staffordshire. He joined the Merchant Navy as an apprentice aged 13.
Robert Hichens: How 'man who sank the Titanic' spiralled into depression before being jailed for attempted murder. The man at the wheel of the Titanic when it struck a fateful iceberg in 1912 has not been remembered well throughout history.
Following the Titanic disaster, Bruce Ismay was savaged by both the British and American press for deserting the ship while women and children were still on board. Some papers called him the 'Coward of the Titanic' or 'J. Brute Ismay', and suggested the White Star flag be changed to a 'yellow liver'.
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. His last message to the crew was 'Be British. '"
As depicted in the 1997 film starring Kate Winslet, Capt Smith later received warnings of icebergs while the liner was en route to New York. But these were not heeded and the ship travelled at speed until it struck an iceberg and sank.
On April 14, after four days at sea the Titanic collided with a jagged iceberg at 11:40 p.m. Because it was dark that night, and the lookouts in the crow's nest didn't have binoculars with them since they were locked up, they didn't see the iceberg until it was too late.
Of the 337 bodies recovered, 119 were buried at sea. 209 were brought back to Halifax. 59 were claimed by relatives and shipped to their home communities. The remaining 150 victims are buried in three cemeteries: Fairview Lawn, Mount Olivet and Baron de Hirsch.
On today's date in 1912, the body of James McGrady, a saloon steward aboard the RMS Titanic, was interred in Halifax, N.S., where he's buried at Fairview Lawn Cemetery. Recovered in the preceding weeks, McGrady's body was the last body recovered from the tragic sinking that took place about two months prior.
Due to the size and speed of the Titanic it was not able to avoid the iceberg. Some historians suspect that if the order hadn't been given to stop the engines, the Titanic may have been able to swing around and out of the way of the iceberg.
Yes, a handful of people did survive the Titanic without being in a lifeboat. These individuals were fortunate enough to be able to climb onto debris in the ocean, like overturned lifeboats, rafts and collapsible boats.
The Titanic — billed as an unsinkable ship — hit an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912. Over 1,500 people died in the maritime disaster, while 705 individuals survived. A number of the victims and survivors were famous people. Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.
The Titanic grazed the fatal iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on April 14, creating what is now believed to be a series of punctures below the waterline. Many passengers were in bed at the time, and few survivors said they noticed anything more than a slight vibration if even that.
Answer: That's wrong – it would probably have survived. When a ship hits an iceberg head on, all the force would be transferred back to the ship, so it wouldn't have ripped open, but crumpled round, so only 2-3 compartments would have been breached. It was built to survive with 4 compartments breached.
On April 14, 1912, the day of the disaster, Titanic received seven iceberg warnings.
On April 14, 1912, the Titanic tragically struck an iceberg in the cold Atlantic Ocean despite receiving seven warnings throughout the day of the imminent danger.
Bruce Ismay, chairman of Titanic's owner the White Star Line persuaded the captain to continue sailing, sinking the ship hours faster than would otherwise have happened.
Final calls and sinking
Around 1:45 a.m., Cottam received Titanic's final intelligible message: "Come as quickly as possible, old man, the engine room is filling up to the boilers." He replied that "all our boats were ready and we were coming as hard as we could come" but received no further response.
Stoker William Mintram inhabited a suitably Dantean inferno after the crime of killing his wife. He slaved in punishing heat to propel the souls aboard a White Star liner to a far-flung shore. AB George Francis McGough, on the other hand, sauntered the decks, almost rubbing shoulders with the passengers.
Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller was the most senior crewman to survive the sinking of Titanic. Lightoller first boarded Titanic in Belfast for her trials and then took his place as First Officer on the voyage to Southampton.