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.
Wreck of the RMS Titanic . The boilers found by "Argo", which mark the point at which the ship went down, are about east of the stern at . The two main parts of the wreck of "Titanic" present a striking contrast. Although fourteen survivors testified that the ship had broken apart as she sank, this testimony was discounted by the official inquiries, and it was supposed that the ship had sunk intact. It is now clear that the stresses on "Titanic" caused the ship to split apart between the second and third funnels at or just below the surface. The bow section, which measures