On April 10, 1912, Crosby boarded the ill-fated Titanic in Southampton, England. His wife, Catherine, and daughter Harriette were with him. As the soon-to-be-famous ship was sinking, Crosby coldly abandoned Catherine in their first-class cabin, telling her that she could “lie there and drown.” However, she and Harriette were among the first passengers to board the lifeboats. Mr. Crosby’s body was pulled from the icy waters of the North Atlantic by the Mackey-Bennet, a cable layer chartered by the White Star Line to recover bodies from the disaster.

In memory of Edward Crosby, the Naomi was soon renamed the SS E. G. Crosby.

The E. G. Crosby continued the cross-lake run until July 1918, when the United States Shipping board requisitioned her. She was renamed the General Robert M. O’Reilly and served as a convalescent hospital ship during World War I.