"The captain goes down with the ship" is the maritime tradition that a sea captain holds the ultimate responsibility for both the ship and everyone embarked on it, and in an emergency he will devote his time to save those on board or die trying. Although often connected to the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912 and her captain, Edward Smith, the tradition precedes the Titanic by many years.Alice Jones, pen name In most instances, captains forgo their own rapid departure of a ship in distress, and concentrate instead on saving other people. It often results in either the death or belated rescue of the captain as the last person on board.
History The tradition is related to another protocol from the 19th century: "women and children first". Both reflect the ideal of chivalry, in which the upper classes were expected to adhere to a morality tied to sacred honor, service, and responsibility for the disadvantaged. The actions of the captain and men during the sinking of in 1852 prompted praise from many, due to the sacrifice of the men who saved the women and children by evacuating them first. Rudyard Kipling's poem "Soldier an' Sailor Too" and Samuel Smiles's book Self-Help both highlighted the valour of the men who stood at attention and played in the band as their ship was sinking.
Social and legal responsibility The tradition says that the captain should be the last person to leave their ship alive before its sinking, and if they are unable to evacuate the crew and passengers from the ship, the captain will refuse self-rescue even with an opportunity to do so. In a social context, especially as a mariner, the captain will feel compelled to take this responsibility as a social norm.
In maritime law, the ship's master's responsibility for their vessel is paramount, no matter what its condition, so abandoning a ship has legal consequences, including the nature of salvage rights.
Abandoning a ship in distress may be considered a crime that can lead to imprisonment. Captain Francesco Schettino, who left his ship in the midst of the Costa Concordia disaster of 2012, was not only widely reviled for his actions, but received a 16-year sentence including one year for abandoning his passengers. Abandoning ship has been recorded as a maritime crime for centuries in Spain, Greece, and Italy. South Korean law may also require captains to rescue themselves last. In Finland, the Maritime Law (Merilaki/Sjölag) states that the captain must do everything in their power to save everyone on board the ship in distress, and that unless the captain's life is in immediate danger, they shall not leave the vessel as long as there is reasonable hope that it can be saved. In the United States, abandoning the ship is not explicitly illegal, but the captain could be charged with other crimes, such as manslaughter, which encompass common law precedent passed down through centuries. It is not illegal under international maritime law.
Notable examples
March 1841: Richard Roberts in command of the SS President. Famous passengers also lost were Irish stage actor and comedian Tyrone Power and clergyman George Grimston Cookman. September 27, 1854: James F. Luce was in command of the Collins Line steamer when it collided with off the coast of Newfoundland. Captain Luce was able to escape the wreck and swim to the surface after initially going down with the ship. He was rescued two days later drifting on wreckage of the same paddle-wheel box that killed his youngest son Willie. September 12, 1857: William Lewis Herndon was in command of the commercial mail steamer when it encountered a hurricane. Two ships came to the rescue, but could save only a fraction of the passengers, so Captain Herndon chose to remain with the rest. September 17, 1894: Captain Deng Shichang, in command of the Zhiyuan during the Battle of the Yalu River, went down with the ship and refused to be rescued, after the ship was struck by a Japanese shell, causing a massive explosion. March 27, 1904: Commander Takeo Hirose, in command of the blockship Fukui Maru at the Battle of Port Arthur, went down with the ship while searching for survivors, after the ship sustained a direct strike from Russian coastal artillery, causing it to explode. April 13, 1904: Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov of the Imperial Russian Navy went down with his ship, , after his ship hit a Japanese naval mine during the early phase of the Siege of Port Arthur. April 15, 1912: Captain Edward Smith, in command of when it sank in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg, was seen returning to the bridge just before the ship began its final plunge. Conflicting accounts of Smith's death followed; initial rumours claimed that Smith shot himself, while others suggest that he died on the bridge when it submerged. Some reliable accounts claim that Smith jumped overboard from the bridge, and subsequently perished in the water, possibly near lifeboat Collapsible B.A Night to RememberOn a Sea of Glass: The Life & Loss of the RMS Titanic by Tad Fitch, J. Kent Layton & Bill Wormstedt. Amberley Books, March 2012. p 335 August 26, 1914: Captain Zimro Moore was in command of the , a U.S. cargo and passenger steamship, when it was rammed by the steamship, Princess Victoria, in fog near Seattle, Washington. He refused to leave the ship and with other crew managed to help most passengers to safety on the Princess Victoria. He went down with the ship.
World War I December 30, 1917: The troop transport HMT Aragon was torpedoed outside Alexandria, Egypt, after being ordered by the senior naval officer on depot ship HMS Hannibal to turn around when having just entered the entrance channel. Confusion over mine clearance and communication procedures resulted in the loss of approximately 610 men from Aragon and HMS Attack, her escort, which had just rescued approximately 700 men from Aragon. Captain Francis Bateman had overseen the full evacuation and is reported as shouting his last words demanding an inquiry as to why he was ordered out to sea after reaching safe channel. He then jumped overboard going down with his ship. Both ships were torpedoed by the same German U-boat, , within less than thirty minutes. May 27, 1918: HMT Leasowe Castle was torpedoed and sunk carrying ~2900 troops and ship's company out of Alexandria. Captain Edward John Holl went down with his ship with the exhortation to his crew "...they must be saved!" May 30, 1918: When the Italian steamer Pietro Maroncelli was torpedoed by the German submarine and started to sink, Italian Rear Admiral Giovanni Viglione, who was on board as the convoy commodore, ordered all the survivors into the lifeboats, then chose to stay aboard and to go down with the ship.
Inter-war period October 25, 1927. Captain Simone Gulì went down with his ship off the coast of Brazil, five hours after a propeller shaft fractured and damaged the hull; there were 314 fatalities out of the 1,252 passengers and crew on board the ship.
World War II June 27, 1940. When was forced to surface by British destroyers in the Mediterranean, her commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Lorenzo Bezzi, ordered his crew to abandon ship and then scuttled the submarine, going down with it. October 21, 1940. During the Action off Harmil Island, Italian destroyer Francesco Nullo was disabled by and later finished off by Royal Air Force (RAF) Blenheim bombers. Her commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Costantino Borsini, chose to go down with his ship; seaman Vincenzo Ciaravolo, his attendant, chose to follow him. May 27, 1941: Captain Ernst Lindemann of the was said to be with his combat messenger, a leading seaman, and apparently trying to persuade his messenger to save himself. In this account, his messenger took Lindemann's hand and the two walked to the forward flagmast. As the ship turned over, the two stood briefly to attention, then Lindemann and his messenger saluted. As the ship rolled to port, the messenger fell into the water. Lindemann continued his salute while clinging to the flagmast, going under with the ship. December 10, 1941: Admiral Sir Tom Phillips and Captain John Leach went down with after an attack by Japanese warplanes off the coast of Pahang, British Malaya. February 28, 1942: Rear Admiral Karel Doorman was killed in action when his flagship was torpedoed in the Battle of the Java Sea. Part of the crew was rescued before the sinking, but the Dutch admiral chose to go down with the ship. Captain Lieutenant Eugène Lacomblé also died in the sinking.
June 5, 1942: Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi, on board the aircraft carrier , insisted on staying with the stricken ship during the Battle of Midway. The ship's commander, Captain Tomeo Kaku, followed his example. Yamaguchi refused to allow his staff officers to stay with them. Yamaguchi and Kaku were last seen on the bridge waving to the crew who were abandoning ship. In addition, Captain Ryusaku Yanagimoto chose to remain with his ship when it was scuttled after being destroyed in the same battle. September 27, 1942: Captain Paul Buck of , a lightly armed US liberty ship, went down with his ship after fighting German commerce raider to a standstill. Captain Buck was posthumously awarded the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal. November 24, 1943: Captain Irving Wiltsie and Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinnix were killed in action on board the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay when it was torpedoed by the while acting as the flagship of Carrier Division 24, which was supporting US Marines in the Battle of Makin. February 3, 1943: Captain Preston Krecker of the SS Dorchester went down with the ship after it was struck by a German U-boat. He was last seen on the deck assisting his men into lifeboats. The sinking was made famous by the story of the Four Chaplains. Captain Krecker's body was never found. February 7, 1943: Commander Howard W. Gilmore, captain of the American submarine , gave the order for crew to "clear the bridge" and leave the exposed deck of the submarine, as his crew was being attacked by a Japanese gunboat. Two men had been shot dead; Gilmore and two others were wounded. After all others had entered the sub and Gilmore found that time was critically short, he gave his last order: "Take her down." The executive officer, hearing his order, closed the hatch and submerged the crippled boat, saving the rest of the crew from the attack of the Japanese convoy escort. Commander Gilmore, who was never seen again, received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his "distinguished gallantry", making him the second submariner to receive this award.
July 24, 1943: Author Norman Franks writes that Kapitänleutnant Georg von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff was seen on the bridge of German submarine , saluting his crew before disappearing into the conning tower hatch to complete the scuttling. He seemingly made no attempt to escape, going down with his boat. November 19, 1943: Captain John P. Cromwell went down on the sinking sub . October 24, 1944: Rear Admiral Toshihira Inoguchi chose to go down with the , during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, even though he could have escaped. Over half of the ship's crew, 1,376 of 2,399, were rescued. November 29, 1944: Captain Toshio Abe went down with the after she was torpedoed by USS Archerfish. December 24, 1944: Captain Charles Limbor went down with the Léopoldville after it was torpedoed and sank by U-486 5 miles from Cherbourg. April 7, 1945: Vice Admiral Seiichi Itō, the fleet admiral, and Captain Kosaku Aruga went down with the during Operation Ten-Go.
Post World War II December 30, 1950: Luis González de Ubieta (born 1899), exiled Admiral of the Spanish Republican Navy, went down with his ship. He refused to be rescued when Chiriqui, a merchant vessel under his command, sank in the Caribbean Sea not far from Barranquilla.