The short answer
Titanic’s captain was Edward John Smith (1850–1912), the White Star Line’s most senior commander, who had been at sea for more than 40 years. He died when the ship sank on 15 April 1912, and his body was never found.
If one person on board could have changed the outcome of the night of 14 April 1912, most people would name the captain: Edward John Smith.
Who was Edward John Smith?
Smith was born in Hanley, Staffordshire, on 27 January 1850, and first went to sea as a teenager. He joined the White Star Line in 1880 as a junior officer and spent the next three decades working his way up, commanding the company’s ships on the Australian and transatlantic routes.
By 1911 he was White Star’s senior captain, and the obvious choice to command its newest and largest ship, the Olympic. Her first crossing to New York ended in June 1911 with a minor accident: as she was being nudged into her pier, the wash from her propellers pulled a tugboat underneath her stern and damaged it. A more serious collision with the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Hawke followed that September.
Neither incident ended Smith’s career. When the Olympic’s sister ship Titanic was ready, he was given command of her too. It is often said that this was to be his final voyage before retirement, but a Halifax newspaper reported on 9 April 1912 that he would stay with Titanic until White Star had an even bigger ship for him.
J. Bruce Ismay, the head of White Star, wanted Smith on the bridge. Smith was popular with wealthy passengers, many of whom chose to sail with him, and he looked every bit the part. On paper, taking a brand-new ship that was widely believed to be unsinkable across the Atlantic should have been routine.
What was his role in the sinking of the Titanic?
On the evening of 14 April, Smith left the bridge at about 9.20 pm and went to his cabin. His instruction to the officer of the watch was to call him at once if conditions became at all doubtful.
He was back on the bridge within moments of the collision at 11.40 pm. He asked First Officer William Murdoch what the ship had hit, and Murdoch told him it was an iceberg.
Smith sent for Thomas Andrews of Harland & Wolff, the shipbuilder who had led Titanic’s design and was on board to note any problems on the maiden voyage. The two men went below to see the damage for themselves.
Andrews soon worked out that too many of the watertight compartments were flooding and that the ship would sink, probably within a couple of hours. Smith knew there were lifeboat seats for only about half of the people on board. After more than 40 years at sea, he gave the order to uncover and swing out the lifeboats, to wake the passengers and to bring everyone up on deck in their lifebelts, and he urged his officers to keep the process calm and orderly.
Was Edward Smith at fault?
As captain, Smith carried final responsibility for the safety of everyone on board. That is simply how command at sea works.
Yet many of the causes of the disaster were beyond his control: the shortage of lifeboats allowed by the law of the day, the missing ice warnings that never reached the bridge, and the commercial pressure to keep up speed.
With hindsight, he could have slowed down or changed course after the ice warnings he did receive. Once the ship was sinking, however, most accounts agree that he did what was expected of a professional captain of his time.
So was he to blame? Historians still disagree, and it is a good question for students to argue using evidence.
How did Captain Smith Spend his last moments?
Nobody knows for certain how Smith died.
Some historians, including Robert Ballard in The Discovery of the Titanic, place him on the bridge in the final minutes before the ship went under at 2.20 am. Encyclopedia Titanica collects the different eyewitness accounts.
Other survivors remembered seeing him in the wheelhouse or near the wireless room. The junior wireless operator, Harold Bride, said he saw the captain jump into the sea from the bridge shortly before the end.
Later stories had him swimming to a lifeboat with a child in his arms, or telling his crew to “Be British”. Most historians treat these as legends that grew up after the disaster, although “Be British” is the phrase on his memorial plaque in Hanley.
His body, like those of most of the people who died, was never found.
Frequently asked questions
Who was the captain of the Titanic?
Captain Edward John Smith, born in Hanley, Staffordshire, England, in 1850. He commanded the White Star Line’s biggest ships, including Olympic before Titanic.
Did Captain Smith go down with the ship?
Yes. Smith was last seen near the bridge as the ship sank, and he died in the disaster. Accounts of his final moments differ.
Was Captain Smith to blame for the Titanic disaster?
The inquiries found the ship was going too fast for the ice conditions, but also that Smith was following normal practice of the day. Historians still debate how much of the blame he deserves.
Keep exploring: The Titanic sinking · The Titanic inquiry · Teaching the Titanic? See our Titanic resources for teachers.