there are many different theries of what happened to ej smith. some survivors place him going to the bridge as the ship sank. some say that just as the bridge was going under he jumped the ship. some say that he jumped off the ship and swam down towards the bottom of the ocean. some say that he swam towards an overturned lifeboat, but they turned him away and he swam away and became still. also, jj astor was not with smith. astor's body was found floating with the other's, but how he died was a smoke stack fell on top of him. when they found him his body was crushed. also, they found $1000, if i remember correctly, found in his pocket. I found this out through reading the list of the bodies recovered from the scene. I don't remember where on the internet I got it, but I know it's there somewhere. it states the name of the passenger, if it was known, and what was found on their bodies. but like some stated, we will never truely know what happened to captain smith.