The captain goes down with the ship
"The captain goes down with the ship" is an idiom that expresses the idea that a sea captain is responsible for both his ship and his passengers and will die trying to save either of them. The idiom has multiple variations. It may be expressed as "the captain always goes down with the ship" or simply the "captain goes down with his ship." Although the idiom is often associated with the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 and thus Captain Smith, it predates the Titanic by at least 11 years.[1]
The idiom is closely related to an idiom from the nineteenth century, "Women and children first." Both idioms reflect the Victorian ideal of chivalry in which the upper classes were expected to emulate a morality tied to sacred honor, 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 that 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 valiantry of the men who stood at attention and played in the band as their ship was sinking.
Meaning
The idiom 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 his crew and passengers, the captain will not evacuate himself. It is therefore related to "the last one off is a rotten egg," which is the opposite sentiment. 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 when danger to the vessel has relented. If a naval captain evacuates a vessel in wartime, it may be considered a capital offense like desertion, mutiny, or sedition unless he subsequently destroys the ship or permits it to sink.
References
- ^ "...for if anything goes wrong a woman may be saved where a captain goes down with his ship." The Night-hawk: a Romance of the '60s, p. 249, Alix Jones, Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York, 1901.