Encyclopedia Titanica

Photograph possibly of Captain Smith at a ship launch

   Join Us and Hide Ads
Photograph possibly of Captain Smith at a ship launch

A figure reminiscent of Captain Edward John Smith, wearing the uniform and cap of the mercantile marine rather than the White Star Line, is shown attending the launch of a ship, probably at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in c.1909.

There is no positive identification of the figure or the location.

The lot (#290) formed part of Henry Aldridge & Son's regular Titanic, White Star, Ocean Liner and Travel Memorabilia auction. The rare photograph, which could depict the White Star Line's most senior Captain and Titanic's commander, was auctioned on 14 November 2020.

Related Biographies

Edward John Smith

Comment and discuss

  1. Steven Christian Steven Christian
    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.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.
  2. Jim Currie Jim Currie
    So why is the person behind the bearded officer wearing a mortar board and gown to a ship launch? In addition, that officer is wearing what looks like an RN cap badge with high crown and fouled anchor - it has double - not single - laurel leaves on the peak and what looks like the epaulettes of a senior RN Officer of flag rank on his bridge coat shoulder. Ranks from Captain and below had curved dark back ground epaulettes with horizontal gold lace insignia of rank. Smith retired from the RNR with the rank of Commander... three gold bars on a black back ground.The records show that In 1909 there were 10 Naval vessels and only 2 Merchant vessels launched that year from UK yards. The latter two were the "Melina" built for Australian owners at H&W Belfast and launched on 27 March and the "Balmore Castle" built for the Union Castle Line at my G-Grandpa's yard - Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Glasgow.Source: List of ship launches in 1909 - Wikipedia.
  3. Cam Houseman Cam Houseman
    Oh yeah, Jim would know! Thank you Jim
  4. Doug Criner Doug Criner
    What if it were a genuine photo of Smith? What would it be worth? Is there a big market for that? And, what exactly is an authentic photograph? One of only one prints made from the original negative? How many prints were made? Where is the negative and where has it been? Who printed it? The gentleman is dour-looking, so maybe it is Smith.
  5. Arun Vajpey Arun Vajpey
    The gentleman is dour-looking, so maybe it is Smith. 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.
  6. Dan E. Parkes Dan E. Parkes
    The gentleman is dour-looking, so maybe it is Smith.It isn't. I have shared the photograph with various Titanic researchers and historians and not found one person who thinks it is Smith. Notably, a talented portrait artist who confirmed the facial proportions are completely different.The total lack of provenance should be a clue really.But that didn't stop someone paying £750 for it!
  7. Bo Bowman Bo Bowman
    Hell, I think I'm a better ringer for the Captain than this fellow.
    attachment
  8. Jim Currie Jim Currie
    At least you will never be out of a job and a "red suite" every Christmas, Bo. Have a Good one. Here is my Christmas card to you and all our members
    attachment
  9. Cam Houseman Cam Houseman
    Hell, I think I'm a better ringer for the Captain than this fellow.[ATTACH type="full" alt="Bo & Jo.jpg"]74654[/ATTACH]yes!!
View 24 comments... Open Thread Leave a Reply

Contribute

  Get in touch

Citation

Encyclopedia Titanica (2020) Photograph possibly of Captain Smith at a ship launch ( ref: #190, published 12 November 2020, generated 10th November 2024 02:16:39 PM); URL : https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/rare-photograph-of-captain-smith-to-be-auctioned.html