The captain goes down with the ship


"The captain goes down with the ship" is a maritime tradition that a sea captain holds ultimate responsibility for both his ship and everyone embarked on it, and that in an emergency, he will either save them or die trying. Although often connected to the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912 and its captain, Edward J. Smith, the tradition precedes Titanic by at least 11 years. In most instances, the captain forgoes his own rapid departure of a ship in distress, and concentrates 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 nineteenth century, "women and children first." Both reflect the Victorian ideal of chivalry, in which the upper classes were expected to adhere to a morality tied to sacred honour, service, and respect 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' 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 a captain will be the last person to leave a ship alive before its sinking or utter destruction, and if unable to evacuate the crew and passengers, the captain will not save themselves even if they can. 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. Therefore, even if a captain abandons their ship in distress, they are generally responsible for it in their absence and would be compelled to return to the ship until the danger to the vessel has relented. If a naval captain evacuates a vessel in wartime, it may be considered a serious crime similar to desertion, unless they subsequently return to the ship at their first opportunity to prevent its capture and rescue the crew.
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, was not only widely reviled for his actions, but lost his final appeal against his 16-year Italian prison sentence, including one year for abandoning his passengers, five years for causing the shipwreck, and ten years for the manslaughter of its victims. Abandoning ship is a maritime crime that has been on the books for
centuries in Spain, Greece, and Italy. South Korean law may also require captains to rescue themselves last. In Finland the Maritime Law states that the captain must do everything in their power to save everyone on board the ship in distress and that unless their 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

In some cases the captain may choose to scuttle the ship and escape danger rather than die as it sinks. This choice is usually only available if the damage does not immediately imperil a vast portion of the ship's company and occupants. If a distress call was successful and the crew and occupants, the ship's cargo, and other items of interest are rescued, then the vessel may not be worth anything as marine salvage and allowed to sink. In other cases a military organization or navy might wish to destroy a ship to prevent it being taken as a prize or captured for espionage, such as occurred in the incident. Commodities and war materiel carried as cargo might also need to be destroyed to prevent capture by the opposing side.
In other cases a captain may decide to save himself to the detriment of his crew, the vessel, or its mission. A decision that shirks the responsibilities of the command of a vessel will usually bring upon the captain a legal, criminal, or social penalty, with military commanders often facing dishonor.
When used metaphorically, the "captain" may be simply the leader of a group of people, "the ship" may refer to some other place that is threatened by catastrophe, and "going down" with it may refer to a situation that implies a severe penalty or death. It is common for references to be made in the case of the military and when leadership during the situation is clear. So when a raging fire threatens to destroy a mine, the mine's supervisor, the "captain," may perish in the fire trying to rescue his workers trapped inside, and acquaintances might say that he went down with his ship or that he "died trying."

In aviation

The concept has been explicitly extended in law to the pilot in command of an aircraft, in the form of laws stating that he " final authority and responsibility for the operation and safety of the flight." Jurisprudence has explicitly interpreted this by analogy with the captain of a sea vessel.
This is particularly relevant when an aircraft is forced to ditch in the ocean and becomes a floating vessel that will almost certainly sink. For example, following the crash of US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River in 2009, Pilot in command Chesley Sullenberger was the last person to exit the partially-submerged aircraft, and performed a final check for any others on board before doing so.
Similarly, on October 16, 1956, Pan Am Flight 6 was a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser that was forced to ditch in the Pacific Ocean due to multiple engine failures. The airliner broke apart when one of its wings collided with a wave swell. Airline Captain Richard N. Ogg was the last to exit the airplane during the successful mid-ocean ditching and rescue of all 31 on board by the US Coast Guard cutter. The airplane fuselage sank with no one on board a few minutes later.

In academia

After a major scandal at Baylor University, the university fired President Kenneth Starr and appointed him chancellor. A week later, Starr resigned as chancellor and "willingly accepted responsibility" for the actions of Baylor that "clearly fell short." He stated that his resignation for the scandal was "a matter of conscience," and said, "The captain goes down with the ship." He indicated that his resignation was necessary even though he "didn't know what was happening."