Edward Gifford Crosby

[Encyclopedia Titanica]

Edward Gifford Crosby : Titanic Victim

Biography of Edward Gifford Crosby : Titanic Victim

www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

 

[corposant]

The John V. Moran, one of Capt. Edward Gifford Crosby's ships was found at the bottom of Lake Michigan.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

I have always wondered why the elderly Captain Edward Crosby was not among the survivors. He was a First Class passenger travelling with his wife and daughter, both of whom were rescued. From their statements it appears that Captain Crosby, who I believe previously operated several craft on the Great Lakes, realized the seriousness of the collision damage to the Titanic very early. He reportedly roused both his wife and daughter and harried them to dress and go up to the boat deck asap. The two women were rescued on Lifeboat #7, the very first lifeboat to be lowered - less than half full and with many male passengers allowed. That being the case, I wonder why the 71 year old Captain Crosby did not join them; I would have thought the other people in the boat would have persuaded the elderly man to get in but AFAIK no one other than his wife and daughter remember him after the collision.

The only possible explanation that I could find is in Walter Lord's book A Night To Remember. There is a single sentence there which states that fellow First Class passenger Charles Hays (who did not survive himself), told Major Godfrey Peuchen that he (Hays) had been assured by Captain Crosby that the Titanic was "good for another 8 hours" at least. But that is in contrast to what Crosby reportedly told his family and hurried them to take the very first lifeboat lowered.