The ghost of Edward John Smith, captain of the wrecked Titanic. The incredible adventures and undeniable virtues of captain john smith 5 what made captain john smith famous

Captain Edward John Smith is an extraordinary person, whose name is forever inscribed in history in connection with his involvement in the largest disaster on the water.

Childhood and family

Edward John Smith, whose biography begins from the moment of birth on January 27, 1850, is very famous.

The boy appeared in the family of Edward Smith and Katherine Hancock (Marsh) in the small town of Hanley, in Staffordshire, UK.

John Edward was the son of a potter. The father instilled love for his work, but his son was interested in traveling, the sea, distant countries. The boy's mother was a good banker, but she later preferred to open her own grocery store over clerical work.

Carier start

At the age of twelve, Titanic captain Edward John Smith lost his father, who died of tuberculosis. The boy had to leave school and get a job at a factory in Stoke-on-Trent, where a young but very hard worker was entrusted with the management of a steam hammer. But this work did not bring the desired pleasure to the young man. He dreamed of the sea and travel.

At the age of seventeen, fate brought him to Liverpool, where he forever connected his life with ships and the sea.

After two years of training, John Edward was able to find his first job on the Senator Weber sailing ship, with a company that specialized in shipping cargo. The stubborn young man did not shun any work. He moved quickly along career ladder and four years later he received the right to hold the post of assistant captain.

In 1876, twenty-six-year-old John Edward headed his first ship, the Lizzie Fennell. Over the next three years, he covered hundreds of thousands of nautical miles, carrying cargo between the United States of America, Canada and the UK.

Big changes

In 1880, the captain's old dream came true - he was able to join the ranks of the largest and most powerful shipping company of that time - the White Star Line.

The catch was that the corporation almost did not serve the transportation of goods. The main activity of the company was the movement of passengers.

Due to the fact that the passenger and differ in handling, the already held captain had to start his career anew from the very bottom.

Thanks to his diligence and perseverance, seven years later he again stood at the helm on the main bridge.

In subsequent years, John Edward managed such ships as the Republic, Baltik, Koptik, Adriatic, Germanik, Runik and others.

In 1892, the captain was entrusted with the management of the company's largest steamship, the Majestic. Since that time, Edward Smith could only be found on huge ships.

The public using the services of liners of this class was more than wealthy. John Edward was nicknamed "Captain of the Millionaires".

Military service

The situation in the world was heating up. In one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, the captain was recorded in the reserve naval forces Great Britain.

He did not take part in active hostilities. However, Edward had to make several flights to transport troops to the coast. South Africa where the Anglo-Boer War took place.

In one thousand nine hundred and four, the captain was awarded the officer military rank of "commodore".

Family life

One thousand eight hundred and eighty-seventh year was marked for John Edward not only by success in the service field. On the twelfth of July he married Sarah Eleanor Pennington. Already on April 2 next year, their young family celebrated replenishment - they had a daughter, who was named Helen.

The captain's family life took place in a large, spacious red brick house in the suburbs of Southampton.

Last flight

On April 10, 1912, the most ambitious project of the early twentieth century, striking in its scale even after a hundred years, was launched from the port of Southamptor - an ultra-modern liner, which was called the Titanic. The ship was built over the course of three years at a shipyard in the city of Belfast.

The displacement of the Titanic was 52,310 tons, the speed was up to twenty-three knots, it was characterized by a steel hull, power point fifty five thousand Horse power, one thousand three hundred and seventeen passengers on board. And this colossus was appointed to manage the famous captain.

"Edward John Smith! He will lead the Titanic! ”, - these were the newspaper headlines dedicated to the legendary ship.

The liner was considered unsinkable. The design engineers were confident that the compartments they designed with impenetrable bulkheads would help the ship withstand any elements.

For John Smith, this was to be the last flight of his career, after which he was to go on a well-deserved retirement.

Catastrophe

According to the official version, on the night of the fourteenth to the fifteenth of April, one thousand nine hundred and twelve, the liner collided with an iceberg, it received critical holes. The ship began to sink rapidly and after three hours it finally sank to the bottom.

The exact number of dead has been established - one thousand four hundred ninety-six people. The survivors are seven hundred and twelve.

Captain's last minutes

The most basic version is that the officer shot himself. The testimonies of the surviving members of the team differ. Some claim to have seen last time John Smith on the captain's bridge. Others are sure that he was among other people in the water. Someone even tried to help the captain get into the boat, but these attempts were unsuccessful.

John Smith's body was never found. His soul forever remained with the ocean.

Captain's family after the disaster

Sarah's wife lived another nineteen years after her husband's death. In 1931, she died in a car accident in London, where she later moved.

Daughter Helen lived an active and interesting life- She was an entrepreneur, a racing car pilot.

The girl followed with interest all the news related to the Titanic. It is noted that she repeatedly visited movie sets and very carefully looked at the actor who played her father.

English Marine officer, captain of the passenger liner "Titanic" Edward John Smith (Edward John Smith) was born on January 27, 1850 in the city of Hanley (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK).
His father, Edward Smith, was a potter, and his mother, Katherine Smith (Marsh), worked in a bank and later opened a small grocery store with her husband.
Edward's father died of tuberculosis in October 1864. Edward dropped out of school and took a job at Etruria Forge, a large foundry in Stoke-on-Trent, where he operated a steam hammer.
In February 1867, Smith went to Liverpool to start a career as a sailor.

In 1869 he became an apprentice on the American-built sailing ship Senator Weber of the shipping company A. Gibson & Co in Liverpool, which specialized in cargo transportation.
Over the following years, Edward served on other ships of the company, gradually moving up the career ladder: in 1871 he received the certificate of the 2nd mate, in 1873 he passed the exams for the 1st mate, becoming the captain's mate.
In 1875, Smith received a diploma in navigation, a year later he was entrusted with the management of the first ship - the cargo ship Lizzie Fennell. For the next three years, Smith served on this ship, carrying cargo between Canada, the UK and the US.

In March 1880, Smith took a job with Britain's largest shipping company, the White Star Line. The company operated passenger liners, not the cargo ships that Smith dealt with. So he had to learn new skills and, in a certain sense, start his career over again. Already by 1887, Smith rose to the rank of captain and received command of the ship "Ripablik". He also managed the ships of the company "Baltik", "Koptik", "Adriatic", "Germanic", "Runik", etc.
In 1888, Smith became part of the Royal Naval Reserve of Great Britain (Royal Naval Reserve) and therefore could be called up for service in wartime.
In 1892, the White Star Line sent its largest steamship, the Majestic, on its maiden voyage, choosing Smith as its captain. Since then, it was he who led the first voyages of the company's largest liners.
During the Boer War (1899-1902), Smith's Majestic was used to transport troops, making two voyages to the coast of South Africa.
For services in the Boer War, the British government awarded Smith with the Transport Medal (it was awarded to officers who distinguished themselves on transport ships in this war).
In addition, he was awarded the Royal Navy Reserve for 15 years of service (Royal Distinction).
In 1904 he reached the rank of commodore (preceded by the rank of rear admiral).

There were several incidents involving ships under Smith's control. On February 16, 1899, the Germanic, captained by Smith, capsized in the port of New York. In June 1911, the Olympic liner (one of the three giant transatlantic liners along with the Titanic and Britannic) under the control of Captain Smith damaged a tug during maneuvers in the port of New York.
In September of the same year, the Olympic, returning from America, collided with the British cruiser Hawk in the port of Southampton. The White Star Line company was forced to pay compensation.

By 1912, Edward John Smith had already sailed about 2 million miles and was in command of 14 ships. Because of the high rank of these ships and their passengers, he was called the "Captain of the Millionaires".

Smith built successful career: the company trusted him to lead their flagships on the first voyage, passengers and crew spoke of him with great respect, more often he was simply called E.J. (E.J.). Some passengers agreed to sail across the Atlantic only on a ship driven by Captain Smith.
On April 10, 1912, the Titanic, captained by Edward John Smith, set out on her first and last transatlantic voyage from Europe to the United States.
There is an opinion that this transatlantic cruise was to be the last in the career of Captain Smith, after which he intended to retire. However, in an official statement from the White Star Line, it was stated that it would continue to operate after the return of the Titanic from the transatlantic voyage.
April 14 at 23:40 "Titanic"

Recently, the owners of a two-story mansion of the nineteenth century in the British county of Staffordshire announced that they were putting it up for sale. The fact is that in the house, according to the spouses Neil and Louise Bonner, mysterious events take place. In particular, the ghost of Edward John Smith, the captain of the deceased Titanic, allegedly repeatedly appeared there.

According to sources, the mansion once belonged to the Smith family. Edward John Smith himself died after the famous liner collided with an iceberg on April 14, 1912. The captain still had a chance to escape, but he made a courageous decision not to leave the captain's cabin until the last minute. At least that's what the official version of events says.

After the Smiths, the house passed to other owners. The Bonners bought it in 2002 for £32,000. But the elderly couple could not find peace in their new home. The couple constantly felt incomprehensible fear and anxiety. Twice over the years, for unknown reasons, their kitchen was flooded. But most importantly - from time to time both observed a ghost roaming the house! The Bonners have no doubt that it was the unfortunate captain of the Titanic!

"Smith was not dressed in a naval uniform or anything like that, but it was definitely him," the owners of the mansion are convinced.

The Bonners do not want to live further in "bad" apartments. By the way, the price at which the mansion is put up for sale is as much as 80 thousand pounds. And you can be sure that there will be those who wish, since you can make good money on ghosts by arranging excursions for tourists in the building. The Bonners, apparently, are not satisfied with such a business ...

By the way, this is not the only mystical event associated with the Titanic in the present. So, at the turn of the century, rumors suddenly arose about the miraculous rescue of people from a sunken ship, who were considered dead. They say they were transported ... into the future!

Years after the sinking of the Titanic, ships plying in the wreck zone of the ship allegedly repeatedly took direction finding calls for help from the liner that sank at the beginning of the 20th century ...

They say that on December 14, 1992, in front of the eyes of Norwegian fishermen who were fishing for herring in the North Atlantic Ocean, a huge ship in which the sailors recognized the famous "Titanic"! Passengers rushed about the decks of the liner in a panic. They called for help, some threw themselves from the stern into the icy water ... A few minutes later the ship again disappeared under the water. The Norwegians repulsed a radiogram to the headquarters of the US Navy. Soon an American warship arrived on the scene. 13 people in life jackets with the inscription "Titanic" were lifted from the water. All those rescued had memory loss. They had with them documents issued no later than 1912. The appearance of these people corresponded to the age indicated in the documents ...

The authorities in Norway and the United States have agreed to keep this story a secret. The newspapers reported only that the passengers from the wrecked ship were rescued, without even indicating the name of the ship. What happened to the survivors is unknown. Most likely, they were placed under the supervision of doctors and they are still in some closed medical institution.

And in 1994, in the North Atlantic, three more living victims of the disaster were allegedly fished out of the water - Captain Smith himself and two passengers - a man named Winnie Coots and a perfectly healthy 10-month-old girl tied to the Titanic's lifebuoy. All of them were listed as dead 82 years ago...

But most likely it's just a legend. After all, as long as there is hope, people are alive... Another thing is that those who died a premature and violent death do often "return" in the form of ghosts to their loved ones or to their native places...

Here is one such story. On the morning of December 7, 1918, British Royal Air Corps pilot David McConnell set out on his next flight to Tedcaster. His friend, Air Lieutenant James Larkin, remained at Skempton. McConnell said goodbye to him that he would be back by 5:00 pm.

At 3:25 pm, McConnell appeared on the threshold of Larkin's room at the air base. He wondered why David had returned so early. "It's all right, the flight went well," McConnell replied. They talked for a few minutes about some ordinary things, then David wished James all the best and left.

At night, Larkin was awakened by his colleagues. They reported that McConnell's plane had crashed on the way to Skempton. James did not believe: "How! After all, I talked to him after the flight, he said that everything was fine!" Nobody could explain this to him. Later, Larkin learned that his friend's plane had run into fog and lost control. It happened at about 15.25 - at the very moment when James Larkin saw David in his room. Parapsychologists explain such phenomena by the fact that at the moment of death or serious danger, the human brain throws out a huge amount of energy into space, which does not dissipate in space for a long time and can exist for some time in the form of phantoms...

Plan
Introduction
1 Biography
1.1 early years
1.2 Virginia expedition
1.3 Smith's books

Bibliography

Introduction

John Smith (English) John Smith; January 9, 1580 (15800109), Willoughby - June 21, 1631, London) - English writer and sailor, one of the founders and leaders of Jamestown - the first British settlement in the modern United States. Known as Captain John Smith or John Smith of Jamestown, american national hero, received particular fame in connection with the story of the daughter of an Indian leader named Pocahontas, set forth in his books.

1. Biography

1.1. early years

John Smith was born January 9, 1580 in Willoughby ( Willoughby), near Alford, Lincolnshire (en: Alford, Lincolnshire), England. Studied at the grammar school of King Edward VI. Orphaned at the age of 13, he soon became an apprentice to the merchant Thomas Sendall. At the age of 16, Smith left Sandall's training and went to France, accompanying the second son of Lord Willoughby, whom he soon left to join the struggle for the independence of the Netherlands. Two years later, he is hired on a commercial ship sailing the Mediterranean.

In 1600, Smith goes to the Austrian army, which is at war with Ottoman Empire. For courage and courage, he was promoted to the rank of captain by the Transylvanian ruler Sigismund Batory. He fought in Wallachia in the ranks of Radu Shcherban against the governor Jeremiah Movila, but in 1602 in Transylvania he was seriously wounded and captured, and then sold into slavery in the Crimean Khanate. The noble Turkish Bogal, who bought Smith, sent him as a gift to his Greek bride, who, according to the captain himself, allegedly fell in love with him. Later, the girl sent the prisoner to her brother. Then he was sent to Azov.

After killing his new master, Smith escaped from slavery. Through Russian kingdom and the Commonwealth, he reached the Holy Roman Empire. Some time later, Smith, having received well-deserved awards, left the army and went to travel around Europe and North Africa. In the winter of 1604, John Smith returns to England.

There is an assumption that Smith used the "palisade" fortification system, which he met with the Don Cossacks, when protecting a settlement in Virginia from the Indians; and Russian log huts became a model of the buildings of the first American settlers, known as "log cabins".

1.2. Virginia expedition

In England, John Smith joins the Virginia Company, which was preparing to colonize new lands. On December 20, 1606, three ships of the Virginia Company (the Susan Constant, the Godspit, and the Discovery) set sail from England. The journey lasted 4 months. In April 1607, the ships of the expedition reached the land.

John Smith joined the Council of seven people chosen by the company's management to manage the new colony. On May 13, 1607, Jamestown was founded.

1.3. Smith's books

Smith's main books:

· « A True Narrative of Notable Events in Virginia(1608), is often considered the first work of American literature.

· « Virginia map» (1612).

· The Proceedings of the English Colony in Virginia (1612)

· "Description of New England" (1616).

· New England's Trials (1620, 1622)

· « General history Virginia, New England and the Sommers Islands" in 6 parts (1624), where he tells the story of Pocahontas.

· An Accidence, or the Pathway to Experience Necessary for all Young Seamen (1626)

· « Maritime grammar» (c. 1627)

· "True wanderings, adventures and observations of Captain John Smith in Europe, Asia, Africa and America from 1593 to 1629 AD." (1630).

· Advertisements for the Unexperienced Planters of New England, or Anywhere (1631)

Bibliography:

1 King Edward VI Grammar School Louth

2. History of world literature. T.4. M., 1987. S.559

Captain John Smith(1580-1631) - author of the first book written in America, and a person who, long before the formation of the nation, showed what is now defined as the national American character. John Smith with his unshakable faith in the civic and even divine mission of developing the uninhabited spaces of the mainland, with his attitude to difficulties, in overcoming which he saw the basis of spiritual rebirth, with his conviction in unlimited forces and abilities common man, was the true captain of his destiny.

The son of a middle-class English farmer, he was orphaned early and managed to get only the bare necessities school education. At the age of fifteen, Smith enlisted in the soldiers and went to fight in the Netherlands. vicissitudes military life carried it from end to end. Germany, Spain, Austria, Transylvania, Romania, Russia, Turkey, North Africa- such is the geography of his movements.

Smith completed his military career twenty-five-year-old regiment commander, having by this time served in the Austrian army, saving christianity from the Turks, show miracles of personal courage, get mortally wounded in battle and survive, be captured, be sold into slavery and flee. Everything that he experienced then and after, he summed up in a brief autobiography, "The True Voyages, Adventures and Observations of Captain John Smith" (1630). In England, honor and glory awaited him, but Smith did not want to rest on his laurels.

The thirst for adventure made him sail in 1607 to North America with a party of colonists who then founded the first English settlement of Jamestown in Virginia. An emotional and colorful chronicle of this enterprise, published by Smith in 1608 under the title A True Description of Virginia, became the source of American literature.

Smith, however, was not only the chronicler of the colony. He scouted the furthest reaches of Jamestown, which was not safe in those days. An experienced commander, aware of the need for iron discipline in matters of this nature, he almost single-handedly tried to rally that motley group of disorganized, inept and often disaffected people that the Virginia pioneers represented. He, at the risk of his life, established diplomatic and trade relations with the Indian tribes, whose lands were occupied by the colonists. In recognition of his services, Smith was elected President of the Council of Virginia.

Forced a year later, in the autumn of 1609, to leave for England to improve his health, he returned to England at the first opportunity. New World, accepting in 1614 the offer of the Virginia Company to lead an expedition to explore the Atlantic coast of America in a northerly direction. It was Captain John Smith who named these places "New England" and studied and mapped them until 1617. In the book "Description of New England" (1616), he examined in detail the features of the local topography, climate, vegetation, weighed the prospects for fishing, farming and farming, and advocated in every possible way for the colonization of this region.

"What can be more honest and honorable than discovering the unknown: to build cities, populate countries, enlighten the ignorant, correct wrongs, instruct in virtue and, as a result, win for our homeland a new kingdom that will inherit its glory!" he wrote. Perhaps because of the inspired appeal of the Admiral of New England - such was the title of John Smith now - the "pilgrim fathers" settled in Plymouth, preferring it to Virginia, already inhabited by compatriots. The last ten years of Smith's life are especially productive in terms of literature. The main themes of his writings: navigation and America - its nature and its colonization.

Read also other articles in the section "Literature of the 17th century":

• Colonization
  • Captain John Smith. Beginnings of American Literature