While everyone knows the outcome of the Titanic and its devastating last day, no one knows for certain how its captain met his end. It remains one of the world's many great mysteries. However, author Dan E. Parkes is now setting the record straight against one of the rumors surrounding the captain's death. In his new book "Titanic Legacy: The Captain, the Daughter and the Spy" he disproves the rumors that the Titanic captain took his own life. Instead, he uses eyewitness accounts of shipwreck survivors to detail the Titanic captain's last moments.
New Book Reveals Possible Truth Behind Titanic Captain's Last Moments
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The sinking of the Titanic is one of the most memorable maritime tragedies. The NY Post shares that over 1,500 people died that fateful night the ship collided with the iceberg. Out of those deceased, only 337 bodies were recovered. Unfortunately, none of those bodies belonged to the captain. Naturally, with no body, it is easy for speculations to arise — and many did. There were countless rumors and ideas circulating what happened in the Titanic captain's last moments.
Some rumors claimed he went down with his ship in a heroic fashion. Others claimed he escaped and was living in disguise. Some even claimed that he shot himself prior to the ship's sinking. No one knows for certain what happened to him. However, one thing that Mr. Parkes argues he knows for certain is that the rumor that the captain killed himself is false.
Why Parkes Doesn't Believe The Rumors
Many claims were made about the Titanic captains supposed suicide. As well as the fact that he had an affiliation for booze and may have been operating the ship under the influence. Not to mention blatantly disregarding the warning about the iceberg. However, Parkes doesn't believe any of these rumors. Instead, the NY Post shares he argues labeled the rumors as "unfounded character assassinations ." He insists that the captain froze to death in the frigid waters as he went down with his ship.
Although, eyewitnesses claim to have heard the gunshots. being fired. Despite their claims, Parkes is still not a believer. He believes the shots were fired to calm passengers, and many who were already traumatized just assumed it was the self-inflected gunshot wound. Additionally, he claimed that many of the eyewitnesses were unreliable due to the fact that they were far away on lifeboats by the time any of this occurred.
In addition, there were also several eye witnesses that backed up Parkes's version of events as well. Many of those witnesses claimed to have seen "Captain Smith on the bridge" as the Titanic made her final descent into the water. Robert Williams Daniel, one of the survivors, claimed that he watched the water swallow the captain whole.
New Book Shows Titanic Captain As A Hero
Many of the eyewitness accounts that Parkes shares in his new book depict the captain as a hero. Not only do those survivors claim he went down with the ship, they also say that he helped save others. Issac Maynard, another survivor, claimed that in addition to seeing the captain on the bridge, he also saw him "swimming in the water fully dressed with his captain's hat atop his head."
From there he recounted, "One of the men clinging to the raft tried to save him by reaching out a hand, but he would not let him." Instead the captain apparently called out "look after yourselves boys." Other survivors even made claims that in the Titanic captain's final moments he rescued a baby and handed it off to a lifeboat.
It seems despite some of the less favorable rumors many still view the captain as a hero.
