History Main / GoingDownWithTheShip

* ''Film/ANightToRemember'' showed this as well. Captain Smith himself is last seen walking onto the bridge (presumably deciding to go down with the ship). Both films also showed the band which played as the ship sank, and a few passengers who ''intentionally'' stay aboard for one reason or another. There's even a sub-plot about a young married couple who initially want to stay behind just so they can remain together, but are talked out of it by Thomas Andrews, the architect who ironically went down with the ship himself.

** Captain Francesco Schettino of the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Concordia_disaster Costa Concordia]]'' became infamous for being one of the first people to abandon ship, disguised as a passenger, and leaving only his junior officers and the passengers to coordinate evacuation efforts. Not only that, but he repeatedly downplayed and in some cases outright lied to the Italian Coast Guard about the true scale of the disaster, needlessly delaying critical emergency rescue services. This drew the incredible ire of local Coast Guard Commander Gregorio De Falco, whose frustrated exhortation "Vada a bordo, [[ForeignCussWord cazzo]]!" (roughly "Get [[PrecisionFStrike the fuck]] on board!") became a global {{meme}} and even found its way onto T-shirts. 33 people died, and Schettino was later found guilty of manslaughter and hazarding a ship,[[note]]Schettino [[CaptainCrash steered the ship too close to an island]] and collided with submerged rocks, which flooded the engineering spaces and knocked out all electricity and propulsion. He claimed that he saved the ship, when it actually drifted unpowered until it ran hard aground on the island. Also [[YourCheatingHeart a 26-year-old dancer he was having an extramarital affair with]] was on the bridge at the time and [[DistractedByTheSexy may have diverted his attention]].[[/note]] and sentenced to 16 years imprisonment. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX_08zcCmx8 full exchange]] between De Falco and Schettino is worth a listen:

In modern cases, captains go down with the ship because they will [[MyGreatestFailure face major disgrace if they don't]], [[DeathEqualsRedemption especially if the ship is only sinking because of their screw-up,]] or if there are passengers or junior crew still on board. This tradition has been transferred to aviation, since TheSkyIsAnOcean. In the event of a crash, the commanding pilot is expected to make sure everyone else escapes first and has final responsibility on the well-being of the people and if possible the equipment.

Other crew members typically bear the same obligation, usually so they can [[AbandonShip oversee and direct the evacuation]]. Similar sacrifice was traditionally expected of men, who should allow [[MenAreTheExpendableGender women and children to escape first]] (in comedies, expect a DirtyCoward to dress in drag in order to save his own skin). When PlayedForDrama, the captain stoically awaits his fate. When PlayedForLaughs, the captain is anything but noble and does whatever he can to escape, even [[PromotedToScapegoat appointing someone else captain]] before making a run for it.

** Captain Yiannis Avranas of the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_Oceanos MTS Oceanos]]'' was one of the first off the ship when it sank off South Africa in 1991. He later decried the concept that the captain must go down with the ship, stating that "abandon ship is for everybody. If some people want to stay, they can stay." The problem was that Captain Avranas dreadfully mismanaged the sinking, doing little to stop it (sometimes making it worse) and failing to even notify the relevant authorities or the passengers that the ship was sinking. In fact, he was only aboard as long as he was because he'd been previously caught trying to escape multiple times by lifeboat. Instead of leading emergency efforts, the majority of the crew and all of the senior officers -- including Captain Avranas -- abandoned their post to load the two most seaworthy lifeboats with their personal possessions and escape while the passengers were kept ignorant.[[note]]Captain Avranas actually remained on the ship during the sinking, but only because he was caught trying to get into the lifeboats with the crew and did little to calm people down or organize rescue. Once the evacuation properly started, he was ''still'' one of the first to leave.[[/note]] The ship's ''entertainers'' led by Moss Hills had to run the evacuation after discovering the deception, alongside manning the now-abandoned bridge and calling for help. Their attempts were initially met with incredulity by the authorities, owing to the fact that the radio was being operated by the ship's stage musician instead of an officer. Fortunately, rescue authorities believed them and everyone aboard survived, but they were ''pissed'', and Avranas and his senior crew were later found guilty of negligence by Greek maritime authorities. It's notable that unlike the cowardly crew, the entertainment staff-come-makeshift emergency crew ''did'' wait until passengers were saved to be rescued themselves, and were hailed as heroes by the passengers for it.

** Captain Yiannis Avranas of the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_Oceanos MTS Oceanos]]'' was one of the first off the ship when it sank off South Africa in 1991. He later decried the concept that the captain must go down with the ship, stating that "abandon ship is for everybody. If some people want to stay, they can stay." The problem was that Captain Avranas dreadfully mismanaged the sinking, doing little to stop it (sometimes making it worse) and failing to even notify the relevant authorities or the passengers that the ship was sinking. In fact, he was only aboard as long as he was because he'd been previously caught trying to escape multiple times by lifeboat. Instead of leading emergency efforts, the majority of the crew and all of the senior officers -- including Captain Avranas -- abandoned their post to load the two most seaworthy lifeboats with their personal possessions and escape while the passengers were kept ignorant. The ship's ''entertainers'' led by Moss Hills had to run the evacuation after discovering the deception, alongside manning the now-abandoned bridge and calling for help. Their attempts were initially met with incredulity by the authorities, owing to the fact that the radio was being operated by the ship's stage musician instead of an officer. Fortunately, rescue authorities believed them and everyone aboard survived, but they were ''pissed'', and Avranas and his senior crew were later found guilty of negligence by Greek maritime authorities. It's notable that unlike the cowardly crew, the entertainment staff-come-makeshift emergency crew ''did'' wait until passengers were saved to be rescued themselves, and were hailed as heroes by the passengers for it.

%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!

** Captain Francesco Schettino of the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Concordia_disaster Costa Concordia]]'' became infamous for being one of the first people to abandon ship, disguised as a passenger, and leaving only his junior officers and the passengers to coordinate evacuation efforts. Not only that, but he repeatedly downplayed and in some cases outright lied to the Italian Coast Guard about the true scale of the disaster, needlessly delaying critical emergency rescue services. This drew the incredible ire of local Coast Guard Commander Gregorio De Falco, whose frustrated exhortation "Vada a bordo, [[ForeignCussWord cazzo]]!" (roughly "Get back on board, for [[PrecisionFStrike fuck's sake]]!") became a global {{meme}} and even found its way onto T-shirts. 33 people died, and Schettino was later found guilty of manslaughter. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX_08zcCmx8 full exchange]] between De Falco and Schettino is worth a listen:

In modern cases, captains go down with the ship because they will [[MyGreatestFailure face major disgrace if they don't]], [[DeathEqualsRedemption especially if the ship is only sinking because of their screw-up,]] or if there are passengers or junior crew still on board. This tradition has been transferred to aviation, since TheSkyIsAnOcean. In the event of a crash, the commanding pilot is expected to make sure everyone else escapes first and has final responsibility on the well being of the people and if possible the equipment.

* A lighthearted subversion happens in ''The Adventures of Captain Vrungel'' by Andrey Nekrasov, when Captain Vrungel rescues a Norwegian ship. The Norwegian captain is ready to go down with the ship or be the last to leave, but the rescue occurs a) during a storm at night, meaning in pitch-black darkness, b) from above (ItMakesSenseInContext), so Vrungel's first mate, as he pulls the sailors off the deck, accidentally grabs the captain first. The captain isn't happy and Vrungel also feels awkward, but since the entire crew ultimately gets saved, nobody bothers with the matter for long.

** The ship's orchestra famously stayed on board, playing music to calm the passengers until the very end. The last tune they played is commonly believed to be "Nearer My God to Thee"; although it's disputed that this is actually what they played, it's become ingrained in popular culture as the song to play as a large group of people is facing certain death (which is why Creator/{{CNN}} famously has a recording of it to play [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt right before the world ends]]).

* Admiral George Tryon went down with the HMS ''Victoria'', which sank in one of the worst naval accidents of the 19th Century. The sinking was the result of a dreadful miscalculation by Admiral Tryon, who went down with the ship in a show of apology; his last recorded words were an admission of how he'd screwed everything up and, "[[ItsAllMyFault It's all my fault.]]"

-->''Captain Dread'': A good captain goes down with their ship. But a ''great'' captain steals someone else's ship.

!!As this is a [[DeathTropes Death Trope]], unmarked spoilers aplenty. Beware.
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** In the PilotMovie of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E01E02Emissary Emmisary]]", a {{flashback}} shows us Lt. Commander Sisko and crew abandoning the ''Saratoga'' during the battle of Wolf 359; Sisko is the last to board an escape shuttle (the captain had been killed; Sisko as first officer was now in command). He had to be dragged aboard, not because he felt he should go down with the ship but because his wife was killed and he was in despair. It happens to Sisko again with the U.S.S. ''Defiant'' as it's being blasted to scrap. He's the last one on the bridge after calling for the crew to abandon ship, and probably the last one off before the Dominion finish the job.

** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': This happens even in the amoral MirrorUniverse. Captain Forrest stays on board I.S.S ''Enterprise'' to give his crew time to escape, in particular his lover Hoshi Sato.

** Captain Yiannis Avranas of the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_Oceanos MTS Oceanos]]'' was one of the first off the ship when it sank off South Africa in 1991. He later decried the concept that the captain must go down with the ship, stating that "abandon ship is for everybody. If some people want to stay, they can stay." The problem was that Captain Avranas dreadfully mismanaged the sinking, doing little to stop it (sometimes making it worse) and failing to even notify the relevant authorities or the passengers that the ship was sinking. In fact, he was only aboard as long as he was because he'd been previously caught trying to escape multiple times by lifeboat. Instead of leading emergency efforts, the majority of the crew and all of the senior officers -- including Captain Avranas -- abandoned their post to load the two most seaworthy lifeboats with their personal possessions and escape while the passengers were kept ignorant. The ship's ''entertainers'' led by Moss Hills had to run the evacuation after discovering the deception, alongside manning the now-abandoned bridge and calling for help. Their attempts were initially met with incredulity by the authorities, owing to the fact that the radio was being operated by the ship's stage musician instead of an officer. Fortunately, rescue authorities believed them and everyone aboard survived, but they were ''pissed'', and Avranas and his senior crew were later found guilty of negligence by Greek maritime authorities. It's notable that unlike the cowardly crew, the entertainment staff-come-makeshift emergency crew ''did'' wait until passengers were saved to be rescued thenselves, and were hailed as heroes by the passengers for it.