The sunken ship in South Korea has had me wondering where the concept that the captain must go down with the ship came from. In this case, the captain got off the ship while many passengers died/missing.
Is this an unwritten rule based on honor? Where did it originate? What is the stigma attached to not going down with the ship? Will this captain ever get another job?
There was a post not too long ago that did a pretty good job at covering this question:
Sea captains have a legal obligation to the safety of their crew and their ship. Governments take this very seriously because there is the chance of great loss of life and property when things go badly at sea. The chain of command on a ship is unambiguous. The captain is ultimately responsible for everything that transpires under their command.
Consider the grounding of the USS Missouri in 1950. A Naval Court of Inquiry was launched by the US Navy and the captain and many other officers were found guilty of negligence. They knocked him back 250 points on the promotion ladder, effectively ending his career.
The role of the Captain is to the "Merchant Marine Officers Handbook" is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of his passengers or crew, the idea that the captain must go down with the ship is slightly untrue. He must ensure that every one else is safely evacuated first before leaving himself. In the US navy and coast guard there is a similar order, saying that the Captain must be the last one to leave.
I am relying on a source written by an American so unfortunately I can't say much for certain but I would imagine this applies to other navies around the world, as evacuating a ship with a thousand plus people on it requires a great deal of organisation, thusly requiring the captain's presence.
The stigma is with not ensuring that your crew and passengers are properly taken care of first rather than with not dying with the ship.This source has some really good stories of captains praised for their efforts who survived
As for where it came from it doesn't really go too far back in history, I mean I am not an expert in martime history but given that the vast majority of sailors could not swim boats were not equipped nor trained for evacuation. By the time it came to abandoning ship most were resigned to their fates and the tales that followed were more of a romantic reimagination of the terrors of naval warfare than an actual law.