<Ul> <Li> July 17, 1880: The captain and crew of the SS Jeddah abandoned the ship and their passengers in a storm expecting it would sink, but the ship was found with all passengers alive two weeks later . A key part of Joseph Conrad's 1899 - 1900 novel Lord Jim is based on this incident; Conrad had been a captain in the merchant marine before turning to writing . </Li> <Li> August 4, 1906: Captain Giuseppe Piccone abandoned the SS Sirio at the first opportunity . Between 150 and 400 people died when the ship sank . </Li> <Li> July 30 1945: The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine . Captain Charles B. McVay III managed to survive in shark - infested waters for three days before the survivors were discovered, and later became the only captain in the history of the U.S. Navy to face court - martial for his ship being sunk by enemy action . He committed suicide on November 6, 1968, and was cleared of wrongdoing by the Secretary of the Navy in 2001 . </Li> <Li> November 12, 1965: When a fire broke out aboard the SS Yarmouth Castle, Captain Byron Voustinas was on the first lifeboat, which had only crew and no passengers aboard . 90 people died . </Li> <Li> April 7, 1990: Having been erroneously informed the ship was evacuated, Captain Hugo Larsen abandoned the MS Scandinavian Star after arson caused the ship to burn . 158 people died . </Li> <Li> August 3--4, 1991: Captain Yiannis Avranas of the cruise ship MTS Oceanos abandoned ship without informing passengers that the ship was sinking . All passengers survived . A Greek board of inquiry found Avranas and four officers negligent in their handling of the disaster . </Li> <Li> January 13, 2012: Captain Francesco Schettino abandoned ship during the Costa Concordia disaster . 32 people died in the accident . Schettino was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his role in the disaster . </Li> <Li> April 16, 2014: Captain Lee Joon - seok abandoned the South Korean ferry MV Sewol . The captain and much of the crew were saved, while hundreds of students from Danwon High School embarked for their trip remained in their cabins, according to instructions provided by the crew . Many passengers apparently remained on the sinking vessel and died . Following this incident, the captain was arrested and put on trial beginning in early June 2014, when video footage filmed by some survivors and news broadcasters showed him being rescued by a coast guard vessel . Orders to abandon ship never came, and the vessel sank with all life rafts still in their stowage position . The captain was subsequently sentenced to 36 years in prison for his role in the deaths of the passengers, and was also given a life sentence, after being found guilty of murder of the 304 passengers that did not survive . </Li> <Li> June 1, 2015: The Chinese captain of the river cruise ship Dong Fang Zhi Xing left the ship before most passengers were rescued . On June 13, 442 deaths were confirmed with 12 rescued among 454 on board . It was the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in China's history . </Li> </Ul> <Li> July 17, 1880: The captain and crew of the SS Jeddah abandoned the ship and their passengers in a storm expecting it would sink, but the ship was found with all passengers alive two weeks later . A key part of Joseph Conrad's 1899 - 1900 novel Lord Jim is based on this incident; Conrad had been a captain in the merchant marine before turning to writing . </Li> <Li> August 4, 1906: Captain Giuseppe Piccone abandoned the SS Sirio at the first opportunity . Between 150 and 400 people died when the ship sank . </Li> <Li> July 30 1945: The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine . Captain Charles B. McVay III managed to survive in shark - infested waters for three days before the survivors were discovered, and later became the only captain in the history of the U.S. Navy to face court - martial for his ship being sunk by enemy action . He committed suicide on November 6, 1968, and was cleared of wrongdoing by the Secretary of the Navy in 2001 . </Li>

A captain always goes down on his ship