Edward Smith

And then in first class, the real big story of that night was that there was a retirement dinner that only a handful of couples were invited to, even though it was in the midst of the first-class dining room.

So all around this private group, there were individual diners who were not a part of the party, but the retirement dinner was for Captain Smith.

This was going to be his last voyage.

It's another incredible irony that I cannot believe that he was going to retire after he got back on this crossing.

Could you describe that to our listeners?

At least one eyewitness testimony places...

Captain Smith as a gentleman to the end swimming out to a lifeboat with a baby.

And they did not know because you have to imagine it was complete pitch darkness.

The ship carried one of Marconi's most advanced wireless stations, capable of reaching over six thousand miles, an extraordinary claim for the time.

Wireless operators received seven warnings of sea ice along the route, but their reports were often ignored by Captain Smith, who felt the ship was unsinkable and feared appearing reckless to passengers.

This complacency would later be scrutinized in inquiries that highlighted a clash between technology and human judgment.

British Board of Trade safety regulations required Titanic to carry twenty lifeboats, enough for about half its capacity.

In lifeboat allocation, the crew's decision reflected this hierarchy, allowing more first-class occupants to board earlier boats while steerage men were often left to wait in water.

That unequal access would later be a key factor in the disparity of survival rates.

Captain Smith, age sixty-two and with a twenty-five-year record of safe voyages, had his reputation built on calm command.

His familiarity with White Star's flagship led him to maintain high speeds even as ice warnings grew frequent.

And what about the crew then? Were they really experienced in this kind of travel? Were they h- already used to going to-ing and fro-ing across the Atlantic at this time?

So the captain, Captain Smith, who is the kind of, uh, white-haired, bearded, sort of Captain Birdseye-type-

Mm

... figure you've probably seen in every version of Titanic, he was very experienced.

It's possibly a sense that this ship is slightly unmaneuverable.

It's slightly too big, uh, for its own good in a way.

So I think Captain Smith, very experienced captain, but possibly not working with the kind of hardware that he's, that he's used to.

He's also, it should be said, this is ...

The rapidly growing reports were met with mixed ridicule and alarm.

One of the skeptical group was Captain E.J. Smith of United Airlines.

I'll believe them when I see them, he told airline employees before taking off from Boise the afternoon of the 4th.

Just about sunset, his airliner was flying over Emmett, Idaho, when Captain Smith and his co-pilot, Ralph Stevens, saw five queer objects in the sky ahead.

A very charming letter from his father to Francis is still in existence.

Memorandum for the use of Mr. F.W. Austen on his going to the East Indies on board His Majesty's ship Perseverance, Captain Smith, December 1788.

My dear Francis, while you were at the Royal Academy, the opportunities of writing to you were so frequent that I gave you my opinion and advice as occasion arose, and it was sufficient to do so.

But now you are going from us for so long a time and to such a distance that neither you can consult me or I reply but at long intervals.

On this account, and because unexpected occasions of writing to us may offer, it will be a good way always to have a letter in forwardness.

You may depend on hearing from some of us at every opportunity.

Whenever you draw on me for money, Captain Smith will endorse your bills, and I dare say will readily do it as often and for what sums he shall think necessary.

At the same time, you must not forget to send me the earliest possible notice of the amount of the draft and the name of the person in whose favor it is drawn.

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If Lindsey Clancy is a good mother, would that make Captain Smith of the Titanic an outstanding captain?

Yes, it would.

You know, again, if you're going to use medical problems... whether invented or real, to justify every crime, then there's not going to be anybody in prison.

Nearby, the couple's pet dog was also found deceased.

At the time, law enforcement suspected a connection to the March 1985 murders of Edward Smith and Kimberly Diane Levine, another couple from Kent, Washington, but the investigation soon took a darker turn.

On October 26, a skull was found near Harts Lake, just 1.5 miles from where Harkin's body had been discovered.

Dental records confirmed it was Ruth Cooper.