The captain goes down with the ship The captain goes down with the ship "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 connected to the sinking of RMS "Titanic" in 1912 and its captain, Edward J. Smith, the phrase precedes "Titanic" by at least 11 years. 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.
RMS Titanic in popular culture visited in two Russian submersibles in the summer of 1995. With the advent of television, the themes and social microcosm provided by the "Titanic" scenario inspired TV productions, from expansive serial epics to satirical animated spoofs. The list of genres relating to the "Titanic" grew to include science fiction; and beginning with the first episode of "The Time Tunnel" in 1966, titled "Rendezvous With Yesterday", the RMS "Titanic" has become an irresistible destination for time-travelers. The "Titanic" was also spoofed in the "Pokémon" series as the S.S. "Cussler" in the episode "An Undersea Place to Call Home!.". After it sunk,