Figure 1: Illustration of Captain Hook and
Peter Pan by F.D.Bedford, in the 1911 book
Peter and Wendy by J.M.Barrie
(Click to enlarge)
Peter Pan: You know the rules, Hook — a good captain always goes down with his ship!
Captain Hook: [Pause] I don’t wanna be a good captain!
— Peter Pan: Return to NeverLand (2002)
In 1902, Scottish author J. M. Barrie created the fictional character of Peter Pan in a series of works that embodied the Edwardian ideals of nobility and self-sacrifice. In the 1911 novel Peter and Wendy, when villainous Captain Hook demands that the Lost Boys walk the plank, Wendy opines: "We hope our sons will die like English gentlemen.” Later in a 2002 animated film, Peter Pan: Return to Neverland, the titular character followed such established morality by telling Captain Hook that "a good captain always goes down with his ship."
Arguably, of all captains, Edward John Smith, who originally hailed from a landlocked, working-class background and yet against all odds became the Titanic’s “Millionaires’ Captain,” would come to epitomise the concept of a captain going down with his command. Was he a “good” captain? There has been much debate over whether he was specifically to blame for the Titanic disaster, due to perceived overconfidence that resulted in alleged recklessness. However, contemporary transatlantic captains said Smith was a widely respected, careful commander and simply followed company policy and maritime protocols that remain unchanged to this day. While the title of a "good" captain will likely never be settled, what is not in question is that Smith indeed went down with his ship, becoming perhaps the most well-known example of this particular maritime legend.
Figure 2: The Denver Post 19 April 1912 (Author’s collection).
(Click image to enlarge)
But what is the origin of this seemingly obligatory, self-destructive action? And what previous examples may have formed Smith’s decision to sacrifice himself to a watery grave?
The overall concept is as old as the sea; abandoning a vessel would quite simply constitute deserting authority. Since the captain has the final word and is responsible for the care of all crew and passengers aboard, it is quite logical that if a vessel was sinking, he would have to ensure crew have performed their duties and all passengers have been cared for before contemplating his own survival.
The imperative nature of such a policy was no doubt crystallised by growing imperialism and the industrial revolution of the 1700 and 1800s that utilised the sea as its primary means of international cargo transport. It also necessitated becoming a matter of maritime salvage law. If a captain deserted a vessel before it sank, it would allow an opportunity for anybody to simply board and claim salvage rights.
Figure 3: Alec Guinness played the role of a captain who went down with his ship in the Edwardian period film Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949).
Not that there is any law that specifically states a captain must ‘go down with his ship’, as such would constitute in practice recommending suicide. But it is imputed in country-specific laws that require a captain to be the last person to leave a sinking vessel. For example, in Italy, a captain can be jailed for two years if he does not do so and if the vessel is lost, he could face up to 8 years in prison.[1.] Other countries have laws that would otherwise claim criminal negligence in such a case, with similar consequences. Such punishment was highlighted when Captain Francesco Schettino was jailed for 16 years after abandoning the cruise ship Costa Concordia during her grounding off the coast of Italy. One year of his term was for abandoning his passengers.[2.]
As the waters crept up to the level of Titanic’s boat deck, it is highly unlikely that Captain Smith’s mind was on any legal precedent regarding salvage rights. In addition to his reputation as a careful and considerate commander, he was almost undoubtedly influenced by an unwritten code of honour based on previous examples of self-sacrifice. He even once referred to a specific instance that he had likely learned during his time at school.
Figure 4: Captain Robert Salmond
(Author’s collection)
On 20 April 1912, there was a meeting in Belfast, Ireland and a Harland & Wolff managing director John Kempster recalled asking Captain Smith just before the Titanic departed Belfast “if the old-time seamen’s courage and fearlessness in the face of death still existed.” Smith was said to have replied: “If a disaster like that to Birkenhead happened they would go down as those men went down.”[3.] He was making reference to the 1852 sinking of the British troopship the HMS Birkenhead off Cape Town after striking an unchartered rock. It is believed to be the origin of the naval tradition of “women and children first”[4.] in which 454 of the 638 aboard perished, including its master, Captain Robert Salmond (Figure 4). One of Smith’s schoolfriends, Joseph Turner, would later recall a class lesson on the loss of the Birkenhead and relate that “none of us thought at that time that we had one amongst us who would become a hero of a very similar tragedy.”[5.]
While such sacrifice was known in times of war, during the Victorian and Edwardian eras it was also not unusual for a commander of a commercial vessel to also perish along with his ship, and, in some extreme cases, were even known to commit suicide. There are many pre-1912 examples:
Figure 5: Captain William Herndon
(Wikipedia Commons)
Captain William Herndon (Figure 5), a United States Navy seaman and Amazon explorer, was in command of the Atlantic Mail Steamship Company steamer the SS Central America when he encountered a hurricane off the coast of North Carolina and the vessel began to sink on the 12 September 1857. Carrying 15 tons of gold, 477 passengers and 101 crew, another ship came to their rescue but could not take everyone aboard, leading to the loss of 425, including Herndon. Newspaper reports described Herndon as supervising the loading of women and children into lifeboats and at the last lifeboat giving his watch to a passenger with a request for it be delivered to his wife. He was last seen in the wheelhouse, in his uniform, uncovering his head in prayer.[6.]
Figure 6: Captain John S. McIntosh
(The New Zealand Graphic and
Ladies Journal, 17 November
1894, p.470)
Just after midnight on the 29th of October 1894 the S.S. Wairarapa struck a reef off the Great Barrier Island on approach into Auckland, New Zealand, with the loss of approximately 131 people making it the third worst maritime disaster in the country’s history. 54-year-old Captain John S McIntosh, who was on the bridge at the time of the collision, was later held accountable for the disaster when it was discovered they were steaming at full speed in a thick fog on an incorrect course, and that he had ignored concerns about the conditions from both passengers and crew.
Chief Engineer Sinclair later testified that previously McIntosh “had been exceedingly careful He went slow and used every precaution, in cases of fog. I cannot account for his conduct on this occasion, except on the ground of his illness.” Just two hours prior to the collision Sinclair observed the captain “walking up and down the deck eating a large sandwich-an unusual thing with him. I thought he wasn’t well.”
Saloon passenger Miss Eve Buckleton also testified that Captain McIntosh deliberately dived off the bridge. After telling the chief officer to save himself, McIntosh proclaimed “This is the last watch.” Buckleton then saw “the captain put up his two hands, facing the ocean, and dive into the waves. It was a deliberate dive.”[7.]
Figure 7: Captain von Goessel
The Gartenlaube 1895, anthology,
No. 7, p. 116
Captain von Goessel (Figure 5) was lost with his transatlantic ship the Elbe when it foundered on the night of 30 January 1895 following a collision with the steamship Crathie in the North Sea, with the loss of 334 lives. A large number of the German crew survived, but in stark comparison only one woman passenger was rescued. The Crathie was later found at fault, and its captain, Alexander Gordon, criticised for abandoning ship to save himself. In contrast, “Captain von Goessel, and the first officer of the Elbe, were last seen shouting orders from the bridge” and never seen again.[8.]
Figure 8: Le Petit Journal, 24 July 1898
In July 1898, Captain Deloncle (Figure 6) of the French ocean liner the SS La Bourgogne went down with his ship when it collided with a sailing vessel in thick fog off Nova Scotia. Over 500 died in the disaster, while nearly half of the crew survived. Nevertheless, Captain Deloncle allegedly refused to leave the bridge, standing with folded arms as the ship sank. However his actions were not necessarily seen as heroic. Fifteen people sued the ship’s owner with claims that Captain Deloncle was a “madman” and had prophesied he would “go to the bottom with his ship,” taking no measures to avoid disaster or save the lives of passengers.[9.]
Figure 9: Captain Richard Griffith
(wrecksite.eu)
Later that same year, 46-year-old Welsh Captain Richard Griffith (Figure 9) of the SS Mohegan died with his ship after it ran aground on the Manacles Reef off the coast of Cornwall on 14 October 1898 with the loss of 106 of the 197 aboard. The newly built Atlantic Transport Line ship on her second voyage to New York, had just been renamed from the Cleopatra to Mohegan that month and ended up sinking in twelve minutes, with only two lifeboats launched. Captain Griffith, last seen on the bridge “cooly” giving orders, was lost along with all his officers, leaving no one behind to explain why the ship had inexplicably veered so far off course as to run aground at full speed.[10.]
Figure 10: Captain William Ward
(The Minneapolis Journal, 23 Feb. 1901)
At 5am on the 22 February 1901, 45-year-old Captain William Ward (Figure 10) of the SS City of Rio de Janeiro, an iron-hulled steam-powered Pacific Mail Steamship Company passenger ship which sank after striking rocks trying to reach San Francisco in dense fog, was said to have closed the door of his cabin and shot himself. Around 130 people of the more than 200 aboard died in the disaster for which he was likely not to blame – although the company would later decide that Ward disobeyed an order not to enter a harbour in fog. Ward, who was engaged to be married, was said to have initially been calm and did all in his power to rescue passengers, many of whom were Chinese and Japanese immigrants but only three of eleven lifeboats were launched. Ward was last seen by quartermaster Frederick Lindstrom meeting his doom behind the locked door of his cabin.[11.] His headless body was recovered several months later and only identified by a watch tangled in his rib cage. In the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, it was reported that Captain Ward “told one friend that if he saw his ship lost and there was nothing more for him to do he would go into his cabin and blow out his brains.”[12.] His grave situated in Raleigh’s Oakwood Cemetery has the inscription “Went Down With His Ship.”
Figure 11: Captain H. Brunswig
(German Maritime Museum Archive,
Bremerhaven)
Captain H. Brunswig (Figure 11) of the German HAPAG line passenger ship, the Prinzessin Victoria Luise (often credited as one of the first purpose-built cruise ships), retreated to his cabin and committed suicide with a gunshot to the head after running aground off Port Royal, Jamaica, on the night of 16 December 1906. This was despite all the passengers being rescued. It is thought the 38-year-old was in fear of losing his certificate and indeed he was later found to be negligent by a German Admiralty court as he had misidentified a lighthouse while trying to enter a harbour.[13.] An HAPAG executive said at the time: “I cannot account for his act except on the theory that his pride was crushed by the accident, and that he believed that only death would wipe out what he regarded as his disgrace.”[14.]
Only two years before the Titanic disaster, Captain Albert E. Hemmings (Figure 12) was in command of the SS Brighton on the cross-channel Newhaven-Dieppe route, when it collided on 5 November 1910 with the five-mast German windjammer the Preussen (or Preußen) – reputedly the ‘world’s largest sailing ship.’ Hemmings misjudged the sailing ship’s speed and attempted to cross her bows with rumours that he said “a sailboat can’t go that fast.” While the initial damage was relatively minor, as neither vessel sank, the Preussen lost most of its forward rigging, eliminating her ability to steer, and attempts to anchor her off Dover were thwarted by unsuitable weather conditions and she eventually was driven onto rocks and wrecked.
Figure 12: Captain Albert Hemmings in 1905
(courtesy of David Kent and the Newhaven Historical Society))
There were several similarities to the Titanic disaster. It happened at night (around midnight) when there was no moon. The SS Brighton was travelling at up to 17 knots, as she was on a rail and mail service and no doubt attempting to stay on schedule, while the Preussen was sailing at a comparatively slow 4 knots. And according to the Preussen’s helmsman, a “hard-a-starboard” order was given just prior to collision.[15.] The inquiry into the accident found the Brighton at fault which resulted in Hemming losing his Board of Trade qualifications and the owners of the Brighton held liable for the loss. The reputation as the captain who sank the world’s largest sailing ship was too much for 36-year-old Hemming and he allegedly took his own life on 11 August 1911, shooting himself in a London pub according to local gossip. His death certificate lists kidney disease as the actual cause, so alcohol may well have been connected to his demise.[17.]
Figure 13: Captain Smith dramatically committing suicide
as illustrated in the French newspaper L’Excelsior, 20
April 1912, in a drawing by Paul Thiriat, although the
caption notes “according to the accounts of some
survivors.” (Author’s collection).
The reports of captains shooting themselves is quite likely what inspired early accounts of Captain Smith committing suicide with his Webley revolver. This resulted in some newspaper headlines, such as the Daily Mirror, claiming “Captain Smith Shoots Himself on Bridge.”[18.] While Smith and his senior officers were issued company revolvers, most of the eye-witness accounts of a shooting and/or suicide refer to a deck officer – Chief Officer Wilde or First Officer Murdoch – rather than the more distinctive look of the older, white bearded captain. Unsurprisingly, the Daily Mirror retracted their suicide story the following day, blaming Reuters as their source for causing confusion via a mistaken telegram.[19.]
On 6 June 1912, Captain Smith’s widow, Eleanor, wrote a letter on black-bordered mourning stationery to her husband’s nephew Frank Hancock in which she referenced a more recent “noble death” she felt was deserving of comparison with her Edward:
“I never knew any one man create such love & esteem as he had the power of doing, and no son of England died a more noble death, he and Captain Oates may stand together, and away up higher than the highest.”[20.]
Figure 14: Captain Lawrence Oates
(The Inniskilliner, February 1913)
Captain Lawrence Oates (Figure 14) was a 32-year-old British army officer who sacrificed his life for his team during the doomed Robert Scott expedition to the South Pole only a month before the Titanic disaster. Suffering from frost bitten feet, Oates realised he was lessening the chances of survival for the other three remaining men. On 17 March 1912 –Oates’ birthday – he told the others: "I am just going outside and may be some time." He was never seen again. Robert Scott later wrote in his diary: “We knew that Oates was walking to his death... it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman.”[21.]
Figure 15: The statue to Captain Smith as it looks
today in Lichfield, Staffordshire (Photo: Dan Parkes).
Tributes, such as Oates monument in Holy Trinity Church, Meanwood, Leeds, use the phrase “A Very Gallant Gentleman.” It is a curious parallel of how “Be British” became Smith’s immortal mantra, despite the fact it is unlikely he ever uttered such a phrase. Captain Smith’s wax work in Madame Tussauds was placed next to the explorer Robert Scott, in a nod to the heroic nature of their deaths, with Scott having also perished over a week after Oates. An intriguing end note in Gary Cooper’s 2011 “Titanic Captain” biography points out that his widow, Lady Kathleen Scott “was aboard a ship, reading an account of the Titanic disaster, when she received news that her husband’s remains had been found.”[22.] Lady Scott was later commissioned to sculpt the large bronze statue of Captain Smith that stands in a park in Lichfield, Staffordshire, with the words “Be British” on its plaque.
While the legendary phrase is too unrealistically patriotic to be taken seriously, what is not in question is that E.J. Smith, like many captains before him, did indeed go down with his ship – as even Captain Hook admitted every good captain must do.
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1. "Why the Captain Goes Down with the Ship" by Ian Fortey, https://www.boatsafe.com/captain-goes-down-with-the-ship/↩
2. "Costa Concordia captain Schettino guilty of manslaughter" BBC, 11 February 2015, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-31430998↩
3. The New York Times, 21 April 1912↩
4. “Women and Children First!” by Ben Johnson https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Women-Children-First/↩
5. Staffordshire Sentinel 24 April 1913↩
6. "William Lewis Herndon, 13 October 1813 - 12 September 1857" Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/research-guides/z-files/zb-files/zb-files-h/herndon-william-lewis.html↩
7. “The Wairarapa Disaster” New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIII, Issue XXI, 24 November 1894, Pages 492 – 498, courtesy of Papers Past - paperspast.natlib.govt.nz)↩
8. Ashburton Guardian, Volume Xvi, Issue 3537, 15 March 1895, page 2↩
9. New York Journal, Sunday, September 25, 1898↩
10.“SS Mohegan 1898” https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?561↩↩
11.Shipwrecks in Pacific Waters: 1800s, "The Maritime Heritage Project" https://www.maritimeheritage.org/ships/ss-Rio-de-Janeiro.html↩
12.Pacific Commercial Advertiser, 4 March 1901↩
13.The New York Times, 29 December 1906 “VICTORIA LUISE WRECK TALE.; Vessel Was Entering Kingston Harbor – Rescue of the Passengers.”↩
14.The Sun, 8 February 2024↩
15.“The Preussen,” http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=218.0↩
16.Newhaven in Old Picture Postcards volumes 1 – 4 by Peter S, Bailey (1988) ↩
17.Information courtesy of David Kent, of the Newhaven Historical Society↩
18.Daily Mirror, 19 April 1912↩
19.Daily Mirror, 20 April 1912↩
20.Reprinted with kind permission by the Mystic Seaport Museum: VFM 194, Manuscripts Collection, G.W. Blunt White Library, Mystic Seaport Museum)↩
21.Scott's Last Expedition: The Journals of Captain R.F. Scott by Captain R.F. Scott, (2003) p.462↩
22.Titanic Captain: The Life of Edward John Smith, by G.J. Cooper (2011), The History Press. p.226↩