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Message: [QUOTE="Mark Baber, post: 442166, member: 79063"] Hello, Shaun--- I have a couple of comments, but no significant information. 1. I've done a fair amount of digging into White Star's history over the years, but I've never come across Capt. Norris. Do you have any details of his service history? 2. Neither he nor anyone else would have captained ships for both Cunard and White Star. Except for instances where one line acquired another, the many White Star commanders I'm familiar with came up through the ranks, not from other lines. 3. Had Smith not been assigned to Titanic for some reason---he was White Star's senior commander, had had command of the newest North Atlantic steamer for years, and did not have any incidents in his past that would affect his assignment to Titanic---the alternative would almost certainly have been Capt. Haddock, who succeeded Smith on Olympic. In any event, Titanic's commander would have come from the ranks of White Star's North Atlantic commanders, not from another line or from one of White Star's other services. [/QUOTE]