The question of what would have happened to Smith had he survived was one which interested his contemporaries as well. The New York Herald on 21/04/1912 ran a piece headed Capt. Smith’s Death on Titanic Adds another to the Hero List which — amidst much admiration for his stoic acceptance of death along the lines that George Bernard Shaw was so critical of (lines like ‘he stuck to his post and went down with flying colours’) — referred to the fates of several Masters of vessels involved in maritime accidents. The article is quite enlightening about what contemporary expectations were, at least among the land bound: ‘In many instances captains of vessels that have met with some mishap have committed suicide on the spot, not waiting for the inevitable suspension that was almost certain to follow. Captain Smith had been given more than one chance, his splendid record being instrumental in keeping him in the service of the White Star Line even after the Olympic, sister ship of the Titanic, had been in collision with the Hawke, a British war ship’.
According to the reporter, Americans should feel a ‘thrill of pride’ over the fate of Commander William L Herndon, USN, who stood on the bridge of the steamship Central America of the Pacific Mail Line when she foundered on 18 September 1857 while serving in the mercantile service. Sir George Tryon, Vice Admiral of the British Navy, who died when HMS Victoria went down on 23 June, 1893. The reporter in this instance made no reference to the rather mysterious reasons for the collision that caused the sinking, decisions made by Tryon that had doomed the ship and her men. Instead, the article says that he was ‘on the bridge directing the men under him’ and that ‘A story dear to the heart of the British sailor is that Vice Admiral Tryon saluted the colors just as the swirling waters shut out his form forever’ (and as an OT aside here, what do people here think the reasons were for that particular maritime mishap? Why did Tryon give the orders he did? And the first person who mentions that thoroughly debunked ghost story regarding him will get a clout across the ears).
Captain Louis Deloncle, commander of the Bourgogne, was ‘another hero whose courage will always be remembered’, in contrast with the behaviour of some of the male passengers on board. Captain Von Goessel of the Lloyd line ship Elbe also rates a mention in the ‘going down with the ship heroically’ category, as does Captain JV Gundel of the Norge, Captain Griffith of the Mohegan, the captain of the Berlin, Captain H Brunswig of the Prinzessin Victoria Louise and Captain Giuseppe Paradi. In the case of Captain Brunswig, his suicide is attributed to the following:
‘His employers had every faith in his judgment, and it was almost certain he could have cleared himself, but the dread of suspension and subsequent loneliness were too strong to stay his hand’.
As to the fate of Captains who did survive:
‘Many are the instances in which the commander of a steamship has been retired to private life following a mishap to his vessel, the most recent case being that of Captain Inman Selby , who was in command of the steamship Republic, of the White Star Line, when it was rammed by the steamship Florida, of the Lloyd Italian line, off Nantucket, early on the morning of Saturday, January 23, 1909. The collision occurred during a dense fog. Six lives were lost in the accident…Captain Selby wept bitterly as the lifeboat bore him away from the sinking vessel. It was generally conceded that his seamanship had not been at fault and that he was not to blame for the collision, but he was dismissed from the service of the company. The fact that he is now, at the age of fifty, studying admiralty law in the University of Michigan shows the pluck and determination of the man.’
Also cited was Captain Francis Watkins, ‘one of the most popular commanders’, who lost his certificate after the grounding of his ship The City of Paris although no lives were lost, but ‘in the investigation which followed Captain Watkins assumed entire responsibility for the error of judgment. It was his first mistake, but it finished his career’. Another instance of a surviving Master losing his certification was Captain Le Horn of the steamship China, although in this instance negligence seems to have been proven (the vessel ran aground in 1897. According to the article, Le Horn apparently was helping a passenger celebrate her birthday and ignored several written notes from one of his officers warning him of the danger).
Had Smith lived, I believe he would have had the support of the White Star Line counsel, just as the surviving officers did. To abandon him to the inquiries was to admit that he had been negligent, and it was criminal negligence which Senator Smith was anxious to demonstrate in order to enable legal action to be taken against the White Star line. E J Smith, and the individual officers, were small fry — it was IMM and J P Morgan he was after. But in order to ‘get’ them, it had to be demonstrated that the Company’s agents (i.e. the Titanic’s officers) had been criminally negligent, and therefore liable to prosecution. Senator Smith investigated the possibilities of negligence anyway with WSL employees and with the surviving officers, but discovered that there were insufficient grounds to pursue them legally. As Wyn C Wade puts it, ‘Although his inquiry had produced a remarkably accurate and complete portrait of the epic disaster, it had not succeeded in satisfying the basic provisions of the Harter Act. As far as the Senator was concerned, he had failed in his most tangible goal. The House of Morgan could not be held responsible, and Americans suffering losses in the disaster would be unable to collect from International Mercantile Marine’. It is interesting to note that legal action against the WSL met with more success in England, in the case of Ryan v. Oceanic Steamship Navigation Company. I doubt, though, that EJ Smith would have been put on trial — he would have been dragged through the Senate Inquiry the same as the surviving officers, and would have been called as a witness in actions against the White Star Line (as Lightoller was) but at the end of the day the legal grounds would have been insufficient, as Senator Smith found at his inquiry. He might have been censured, but I doubt he would have been tried.
As for his subsequent career, I doubt very much that he would have been given another command (even if he had sought one, and I think it unlikely that he would have). The best he could have hoped for was to shuffled off quietly to pasture, under a cloud.
Inger
