If you don't mind my asking, what is the source for this information? The reason I ask is that your post hints that Smith was at fault in all of these incidents but upon closer inspection it doesn't actually say that. I would like to know the full details of each before passing judgement. For example, the times when he ran his ship aground, was he forced to do so to avoid a collision? When his ship did collide with another how do we know that one or more of the other captains were not at fault? Were any of these incidents the result of mechanical failure? If I remember right, never before had there been any ships that even approached the size of Olympic and Titanic. There was bound to be some sort of learning curve with vessels that big, at least when trying to maneuver around a tight harbor. In that respect Smith was a guinea pig of sorts.

Of course none of this detracts from your main point: complacency kills. And by 1912 it definately appears that Smith had lost his edge.