Edward Smith. Portrait of Edward Smith, British captain of the liner Titanic which struck an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic during its first voyage on the night of 14-15 April 1912. Of the 891 crew and 1316 passengers, only 705 survived; Edwards was amongst the victims. Many thought that the ship's design made it unsinkable. This belief was partly to blame for the disaster. The captain knew that he was sailing in an iceberg area but was still travelling quickly. The number of deaths was increased because the passengers had not been given any training on what to do in an emergency; many of the lifeboats launched were only partly full. Photographed during the Titanic's voyage.