SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - Why Do Captains Go Down With Their Ships?

Dantenoc · 05-05-06, 04:32 PM

I find this tradition somewhat strange, but I guess I can understand it somehow on a case by case basis.

But what I really don't get, is the stupid behaviour of some captains sinking their own ships when things seemed not to favor them. Take that German-English incident that ocured in South American at the begining of the war (I forget the ships name right now, but it was one Germany's "super" ships designed for merchant raiding).

Faced against three smaller british ships the german captain should have won... ok, maybe bad luck or something, he decides to dock at an international neutral port to regroup... o.k., maybe not my choice but understandable and even reasonable. Some days later, he gets all paranoid that maybe the entire royal navy is waiting for him outside the port so he gives out orders to sink his own ship and then kills himself.... what the hell?!?!?!

What kind of idiotic stupid thinking is that? If he really had a death wish why not go out fighting? (in hind sight we now know for a fact that he could have won, because no new english ships had arrived at the scene).

If he was scared of dying in battle and prefered living over fighting then why kill himself?.

If he was ashamed of failure, then why do what he did and inflict on the WHOLE country of Germany one of the most embarrasing moments of utter failure in the early days of the war?

Why didn't he fight it out and dye in glory (with only a squeleton crew of volunteers on board). Why didn't he just simply whait out the war interred on that neutral port, tying up a few capital english ships indefinitely for watch dutty outside the port? Better yet, why not whait until reinforcements could be sent? Even better, he could stay inside the neutral port as bait, for enemy capital ships to guard him, while U-boats arrived at the scene and snipe at the enemy capital ships?

There are so many scenarios I can think of where it's better not to sink your own ship, and only maybe one or two very unlikely, extreme, unplausible and completely improbable scenarios where it is justifyable (but not better) to sink your own ship that it just fails to make any sense whatsoever to me....

Any thoughts?

05-05-06, 04:32 PM	#7
Dantenoc Captain Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Ensenada, B.C., Mexico Posts: 504 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I find this tradition somewhat strange, but I guess I can understand it somehow on a case by case basis. But what I really don't get, is the stupid behaviour of some captains sinking their own ships when things seemed not to favor them. Take that German-English incident that ocured in South American at the begining of the war (I forget the ships name right now, but it was one Germany's "super" ships designed for merchant raiding). Faced against three smaller british ships the german captain should have won... ok, maybe bad luck or something, he decides to dock at an international neutral port to regroup... o.k., maybe not my choice but understandable and even reasonable. Some days later, he gets all paranoid that maybe the entire royal navy is waiting for him outside the port so he gives out orders to sink his own ship and then kills himself.... what the hell?!?!?! What kind of idiotic stupid thinking is that? If he really had a death wish why not go out fighting? (in hind sight we now know for a fact that he could have won, because no new english ships had arrived at the scene). If he was scared of dying in battle and prefered living over fighting then why kill himself?. If he was ashamed of failure, then why do what he did and inflict on the WHOLE country of Germany one of the most embarrasing moments of utter failure in the early days of the war? Why didn't he fight it out and dye in glory (with only a squeleton crew of volunteers on board). Why didn't he just simply whait out the war interred on that neutral port, tying up a few capital english ships indefinitely for watch dutty outside the port? Better yet, why not whait until reinforcements could be sent? Even better, he could stay inside the neutral port as bait, for enemy capital ships to guard him, while U-boats arrived at the scene and snipe at the enemy capital ships? There are so many scenarios I can think of where it's better not to sink your own ship, and only maybe one or two very unlikely, extreme, unplausible and completely improbable scenarios where it is justifyable (but not better) to sink your own ship that it just fails to make any sense whatsoever to me.... Any thoughts?