The captain goes down with the ship

Captain Edward J. Smith of RMS Titanic is well known for his association with the sinking of the Titanic

"The captain goes down with the ship" is an idiom and 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 associated with the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 and its captain, Edward J. Smith, the phrase predates the Titanic by at least 11 years.[1] In most instances the captain of the ship 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 concept is closely 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 emulate a morality tied to sacred honour, service, and respect for the disadvantaged. The actions of the captain and men during the sinking of HMS Birkenhead 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 idiom literally means that a captain will be the last person to leave a ship alive prior to its sinking or utter destruction, and if unable to evacuate the crew and passengers, the captain will not evacuate himself.[2] In a social context, especially as a mariner, the captain will feel compelled to take this responsibility as a type of social norm. Shirking this responsibility in a crisis would go against societal mores because of the offender's lack of ethics.

In maritime law the responsibility of the ship's master for his ship is paramount no matter what its condition, so abandoning a ship has legal consequences, including the nature of salvage rights. So even if a captain abandons his ship in distress, he is generally responsible for it in his absence and would be compelled to return to the ship until danger to the vessel has relented. If a naval captain evacuates a vessel in wartime, it may be considered a capital offence similar to desertion unless he subsequently returns to the ship at his 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.[2] Captain Francesco Schettino, who left his ship in the midst of the Costa Concordia disaster, was not only widely reviled for his actions, but was arrested by Italian authorities on criminal charges.[3] Abandoning ship is a maritime crime that has been on the books for centuries in Spain, Greece and Italy.[4] South Korean law may also require the captain to rescue himself last.[5] In Finland the Maritime Law (Merilaki) states that the captain must do everything in his power to save everyone on board the ship in distress and that unless his life is in immediate danger, he shall not leave the vessel as long as there is reasonable hope that it can be saved.[6] 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.[7]

Notable examples

Bounty sank during Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012. Two people died, including Captain Walbridge, after the ship lost generator power and flooded.

Counter-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 USS Pueblo 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.

Extended or metaphorical use

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."

The concept has been explicitly extended in law to the pilot in command of an aircraft, in the form of laws stating that he "[has] final authority and responsibility for the operation and safety of the flight."[20] Jurisprudence has explicitly interpreted this by analogy with the captain of a sea vessel. For example, following the crash of US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River, pilot Chesley Sullenberger was the last person to exit the aircraft, and performed a final check for any others on board before doing so.

See also

References

  1. John, Alix (1901). The Night-hawk: A Romance of the '60s. New York: Frederick A. Stokes. p. 249. ...for, if anything goes wrong a woman may be saved where a captain goes down with his ship.
  2. 1 2 "Must a captain be the one off a sinking ship?". BBC News. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  3. Thuburn, Dario (14 January 2012). "Captain arrested, 41 missing after Italian cruise disaster". Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 15 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  4. Hetter, Katia (19 January 2012). "In a cruise ship crisis, what should happen?". CNN. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  5. 1 2 Drew, Christopher; Mouawad, Jad (April 19, 2014). "Breaking Proud Tradition, Captains Flee and Let Others Go Down With Ship". The New York Times. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  6. "Merilaki 6 Luku 12 §. 15.7.1994/674 - Ajantasainen lainsäädäntö". FINLEX, database of Finnish Acts and Decrees (in Finnish). 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  7. Longstreth, Andrew. "Cowardice at sea is no crime – at least in the U.S.". Reuters. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  8. Shaw, David (2002). The Sea Shall Embrace Them. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. p. 256.
  9. "Day 9 - Testimony of Edward Brown (First Class Steward, SS Titanic)". British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry. 16 May 1912. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  10. "Day 7 - Testimony of Samuel Hemming (Lamp Trimmer, SS Titanic)". United States Senate Inquiry. 16 May 1912. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  11. "Day 14 - Testimony of Harold S. Bride, recalled". United States Senate Inquiry. 4 May 1912. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  12. "Capt. Smith Ended Life When Titanic Began To Founder (Washington Times)". Encyclopedia Titanica. 19 April 1912. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  13. Bartlett 2011, p. 224.
  14. Spignesi, Stephen (2012). The Titanic for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 207. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
  15. "Toshihira Inoguchi". World War II Database. 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  16. García Fernández, Javier (coord.) (2011). 25 militares de la República; "El Ejército Popular de la República y sus mandos profesionales. Madrid: Ministerio de Defensa.
  17. Ware, Beverley (15 February 2013). "Witness recounts Claudene Christian’s last minutes on Bounty". The Chronicle Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia). Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  18. "참사 2주째 승무원도 제대로 파악 안돼" [Exact Number of Crew still not known 2 weeks after the ferry disaster]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 20 April 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  19. "Yangtze River Ship Captain Faces Questions on Sinking". The Wall Street Journal. June 2, 2015.
  20. "Title 14 Chapter I Subchapter A Part 1 §1.1". Code of Federal Regulations. 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
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