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.
Sinking of the RMS Titanic not members of their ship's crew; their primary responsibility was to send messages for the passengers, with weather reports as a secondary concern. The first warning came at 09:00 from reporting "bergs, growlers and field ice". Captain Smith acknowledged receipt of the message. At 13:42, relayed a report from the Greek ship "Athenia" that she had been "passing icebergs and large quantities of field ice". This too was acknowledged by Smith, who showed the report to J. Bruce Ismay, the chairman of the White Star Line, aboard "Titanic" for her maiden voyage. Smith ordered a new course to be set,