Titanic Captain Edward John Smith pictured at a ship launch in c.1909...

Rare photograph of 'Captain Smith' to be auctioned
A rare picture which may depict Titanic Captain Edward John Smith at a ship launch in c.1909 is to be auctioned.
hmmm, we have a mystery man on our hands! Who is he?It is quite clearly NOT Captain Smith, not by a long stretch.
Compare with actual photographs of the man: Titanic's Officers - RMS Titanic - Captain E.J. Smith
hmmm, we have a mystery man on our hands! Who is he?
Lol!!!I had a "captain" at my Titanic party who had the gray hair and beard. He loved playing Captain. When we got to the end of the evening right before dessert I pulled a head of lettuce from my fridge and yelled to him as I tossed him the lettuce, "Captain, Iceberg straight ahead." He and I had planned it before the party, but know one else knew and everyone found it hilarious, laughing for minutes afterward and still talking about it four years later.
I think he does too, but we'll just have to see what happensAnd my husband and I have both been looking at the photos and unless you are comparing the man in the top hat to Captain Smith the facial features look like it's Captain Smith to me.
One would hope the auction house has done their job verifing it. Either way it is a cool looking photo.
Hmmm...I guess one would need to be a gambler to bid on that then. My first impression when I saw it was he looked liked George C. Scott a little, not Captain Smith. By the way...I "believe" I have some moon rocks...for sale of course...The actual auction listing reads "believed to be showing Titanic's Captain Edward J. Smith at the launch of an unknown liner" (emphasis mine). Which already shows there is doubt. Other captions, for example for a portrait of Harold Lowe, do not use such speculative language.
Nonetheless, on close examination, the man in the photograph does not match the facial features of Captain Edward Smith (especially the eyes and ears). So it is not him.
Common in those days until Mr. Gillette came along with his disposable blades. But I wonder if anybody has run that photo thru a facial recognition program. Might provide some answers. The more I look at that pic I don't think its him.Old b/w photos of middle aged full-whiskered men can be confusing in terms of identification. IMO, the bearded gentleman on the left in that picture does NOT look anything like Captain Edward Smith. Smith had a more rounded face and not as tall as the man in the picture.
I have seen a b/w photo of the late Richard Attenborough on the sets of the 1993 film Jurassic Park that can be very easily passed off as that of Captain Smith.
No it isn't. Look at that uniform coat; I have never seen Smith in a dark uniform coat with light coloured shoulder epaulettes and no quadruple Captain's stripes at the wrist. His darker uniform jackets had those stripes but no epaulettes. The white naval uniform on the other hand, had dark coloured shoulder epaulettes with the stripes.The more I look at that pic I don't think its him.
The angle of the photo does make it confusing. There are other pics with him having the same style cap. I guess if one wanted to try and solve the mystery I would try to find out what ships were launched in 1909 and cross reference his location if one could. But I'll leave that up to the slueths. I like old photo's from history so still a nice pic. Cheers all.No it isn't. Look at that uniform coat; I have never seen Smith in a dark uniform coat with light coloured shoulder epaulettes and no quadruple Captain's stripes at the wrist. His darker uniform jackets had those stripes but no epaulettes. The white naval uniform on the other hand, had dark coloured shoulder epaulettes with the stripes.
Of course, by 1909 Smith had already attained the seniority that he had when he took over the Titanic.
Unless they were smiling broadly or laughing out loud, most men of that age group and that style of whiskers looked dour. I still feel that the man in that picture is taller than Edward Smith and has a different build. Smith had a more rounded face and a stockier build.The gentleman is dour-looking, so maybe it is Smith.