The captain of the RMS "Titanic" was chosen as Edward Smith.
The White Star Line intended to expand its fleet with even bigger vessels. The business said in 1907 that it was constructing two new ocean liners to compete with Cunard's Lusitania and Mauretania. (The order for the Gigantic was placed later; following the Titanic catastrophe, it was renamed Britannic.) Smith served as the commanding officer when the Olympics, the first of the two ships, was launched in 1910. When a British Royal Navy cruiser collided with the side of his ship in September 1911, his ship sustained damage.
Edward Smith was chosen as the RMS Titanic's commander in spite of the financial difficulties brought on by the tragedy during the Olympic docking. After the maiden voyage of the ship was completed, several people claimed that Smith would retire.
Smith took over as the Titanic's captain in 1912. For the ship's initial sea testing on April 2, 1912, he was in Belfast. The ship was ready for its first trip across the North Atlantic when it arrived in Southampton two days later and berthed there. It was hailed as one of the largest and most opulent ships ever built.
The Titanic left Southampton on April 10, 1912, and made a stop at Cherbourg, France, to pick up additional passengers and mail. The next day, it made just one stop in Queenstown, Ireland, before heading out into the Atlantic. More people and mail intended for delivery to the United States were boarded by the ship there. More than 2,200 passengers were on board the ship as it traveled across the Atlantic.
The first several days of the ship's cruise proceeded without incident. On the fourth day of the expedition, the crew got many alerts regarding icebergs that were drifting. The crew chose to raise the pace while being aware of the potential risk.
