Edward Smith
Captain of the RMS Titanic (1850–1912)
- Fame59.0
- Momentum0.9
- Historical Figures rank#182
Source-basedStable
- Fame59.0
- Momentum0.9
- Historical Figures rank#182
- Wikipedia55.7K
Lived 1850–1912, aged 62United Kingdom
United KingdomSummary
Updated 2026-06-08
The captain who went down with the Titanic. Edward Smith commanded the world's most famous shipwreck, and his name became inseparable from the disaster that killed him and 1,495 others in the North Atlantic in 1912.
Biography
About
Born in Hanley, Staffordshire, in 1850, Smith joined the British Merchant Navy at 17 as an apprentice and spent decades climbing the ranks. He signed with the White Star Line in 1880, rose to captain, and earned the nickname "Millionaire's Captain" for his charm and hospitality among wealthy passengers. During the Second Boer War he commanded troop transports to the Cape Colony and received the Transport Medal; he also served in the Royal Naval Reserve, retiring as Commander in 1905 with the Reserve Decoration. White Star made him their unofficial Commodore, entrusting him with the maiden voya…
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The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.
Fame
Stable59.0
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum0.9
Historical26.0
Source confidence60.0
Completeness70.0
Receipts
Sources
- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
- WikipediaHigh confidencewikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
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