Did captain smith's response to the first reports of icebergs sent the titanic by the California seem appropriate explain?

Answer 1

Captain Smith did not receive all the ice warnings sent to Titanic but he did respond to those he read. He ordered a more southerly route to avoid the likely icefields.

Answer 2

Partially, in that he advised a decrease in speed and alerted the look-outs to be on their guard for icebergs. But he could've done more, and there are two conflicting reasons why he didn't.

For many decades, it was believed that the White Star Line's Managing Director Bruce Ismay, who was travelling on board, was urging Smith to try and get to New York in record time, as a means of triumphantly completing the Titanic's maiden voyage. As the captain, Smith should have disregarded Ismay's requests- it wouldn't have mattered to him if he was threatened with the sack, as he was due to retire at the end of the voyage anyway. But he may have been worried that he'd lose his company pension, and so went along with Ismay's demands when he should have stood up to him and told him it was too dangerous.

However, recent studies of documented evidence suggest that Ismay was in fact urging caution, and that it was Smith and not he who wanted to reach their destination in record time, as a way of topping off his long seafaring career in style.

Whichever version is the correct one, Captain Smith only heeded the warnings of the Californian up to a point- he should have ordered a much slower speed, doubled the watch, and equipped them with adequate lighting to scan the ocean ahead of them.