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{{trope}}
{{trope}}
[[File:titanic-sinking-7790481_9018.jpg|link=Titanic|right|[[Tempting Fate|Unsinkable my ass!]]]]
[[File:Stöwer Titanic (colorized).jpg|thumb|link=Titanic|[[Tempting Fate|Unsinkable my ass!]] ]]




Essentially, you have a ship of some sort, be it an oceangoing vessel or a [[Cool Starship]]. At some point, be it in the prologue of the story, or at the climax near the end, or any point in between, the ship suffers some catastrophe that makes it a very good idea not to remain there, because it is about to [[Made of Explodium|explode]], [[Colony Drop|fall to the planet below]], go careening uncontrollably [[Hurl It Into the Sun|into the nearest star]], or, you know, [[Captain Obvious|sink]]. What are the passengers and crew to do? Why, they must [[Self Demonstrating Article|Abandon Ship]]! Bonus points if the trope's actual name, which is a [[Stock Phrase]] nearly omnipresent in all movies dealing with naval action, wet or [[Space Is an Ocean|otherwise]], is used.
Essentially, you have a ship of some sort, be it an oceangoing vessel or a [[Cool Starship]]. At some point, be it in the prologue of the story, or at the climax near the end, or any point in between, the ship suffers some catastrophe that makes it a very good idea not to remain there, because it is about to [[Made of Explodium|explode]], [[Colony Drop|fall to the planet below]], go careening uncontrollably [[Hurl It Into the Sun|into the nearest star]], or, you know, [[Captain Obvious|sink]]. What are the passengers and crew to do? Why, they must [[Self-Demonstrating Article|Abandon Ship]]! Bonus points if the trope's actual name, which is a [[Stock Phrase]] nearly omnipresent in all movies dealing with naval action, wet or [[Space Is an Ocean|otherwise]], is used.


If much of the story has taken place on the ship, then [[Setting As a Character|her death]] (and it will often be played as a death rather than a destruction, complete with strangely mournful sounding metallic groans and dramatic music) will be rather dramatic and played out. If our hero gets to the lifeboat only to realize that a friend or loved one has not similarly done so for some reason, a miniature [[The Quest|quest]] may ensue as they [[Sinking Ship Scenario|make their way through]] the chaotic process of the ship [[Collapsing Lair|breaking up and sinking]]. Some reference might be made to the Captain [[Going Down With the Ship]].
If much of the story has taken place on the ship, then [[Setting as a Character|her death]] (and it will often be played as a death rather than a destruction, complete with strangely mournful sounding metallic groans and dramatic music) will be rather dramatic and played out. If our hero gets to the lifeboat only to realize that a friend or loved one has not similarly done so for some reason, a miniature [[The Quest|quest]] may ensue as they [[Sinking Ship Scenario|make their way through]] the chaotic process of the ship [[Collapsing Lair|breaking up and sinking]]. Some reference might be made to the Captain [[Going Down with the Ship]].


On a military airplane, the crew might be expected to make use of [[Ejection Seat|Ejection Seats]] to escape the plane. Otherwise, they'll probably have to get out the old fashioned way: Strapping on a parachute and getting to an exit before the plane crashes.
On a military airplane, the crew might be expected to make use of [[Ejection Seat]]s to escape the plane. Otherwise, they'll probably have to get out the old fashioned way: Strapping on a parachute and getting to an exit before the plane crashes.


[[Not to Be Confused With]] [[Abandon Shipping]], which occurs when a [[Shipping]] community suddenly abandons a given pairing (and was [[Trope Transplant|formerly known as]] Abandon Ship).
[[Not to Be Confused With]] [[Abandon Shipping]], which occurs when a [[Shipping]] community suddenly abandons a given pairing (and was formerly known as Abandon Ship).

{{examples|Examples:}}


{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'', the crew of the ''White Base'' is forced to [[Abandon Ship]] after getting shot down during the [[Final Battle]].
* In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'', the crew of the ''White Base'' is forced to Abandon Ship after getting shot down during the [[Final Battle]].
* In [[Gundam Seed]], where the crew of the {{spoiler|Dominion (along with Flay), who abandon ship when Natarle turns on her commander and the Archangel sinks the ship. Too bad the pod drifts straight into [[Big Bad|Rau le Creuset]], who's more than happy to finish the job.}}
* In [[Gundam Seed]], where the crew of the {{spoiler|Dominion (along with Flay), who abandon ship when Natarle turns on her commander and the Archangel sinks the ship. Too bad the pod drifts straight into [[Big Bad|Rau le Creuset]], who's more than happy to finish the job.}}
** And again in [[Gundam Seed Destiny]], where [[The Captain]] of ORB's attack fleet urges the crew to join the Archangel while he [[Going Down With the Ship|goes down with the ship]].
** And again in [[Gundam Seed Destiny]], where [[The Captain]] of ORB's attack fleet urges the crew to join the Archangel while he [[Going Down with the Ship|goes down with the ship]].
* ''[[After War Gundam X (Anime)|After War Gundam X]]'': the crew of the Freeden escape from their ship (in jeeps; remember that they're on Earth) after [[Ramming Always Works|ramming]] an enemy battleship to clear the path for Garrod's launch into space.
* ''[[After War Gundam X]]'': the crew of the Freeden escape from their ship (in jeeps; remember that they're on Earth) after [[Ramming Always Works|ramming]] an enemy battleship to clear the path for Garrod's launch into space.
* ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]],'' when {{spoiler|the Going Merry}} went down.
* ''[[One Piece]],'' when {{spoiler|the Going Merry}} went down.




== Comic Books ==
== Comic Books ==
* Almost inevitably happens whenever [[Groo the Wanderer]] gets on board a boat.
* Almost inevitably happens whenever [[Groo the Wanderer]] gets on board a boat.
* In ''[[Main/Tintin/The Red Sea Sharks/Recap|Recap]]'', Tintin and Haddock's kidnappers abandon ship after the engine breaks down, only for Haddock to fix it later and take over the now-repaired ship.
* In ''[[Tintin/Recap/The Red Sea Sharks|The Red Sea Sharks]]'', Tintin and Haddock's kidnappers abandon ship after the engine breaks down, only for Haddock to fix it later and take over the now-repaired ship.




== Film ==
== Film ==
* ''[[Battle of Britain]]'', being a war film about a months-long aerial battle, includes numerous scenes of airmen bailing out of bombers and fighters. Or at least trying to.
* ''[[Battle of Britain]]'', being a war film about a months-long aerial battle, includes numerous scenes of airmen bailing out of bombers and fighters. Or at least trying to.
* ''[[Spaceballs (Film)|Spaceballs]]'' plays it for comedy, evacuating ''everyone'' (including the orchestra and the zoo), but leaving behind Colonel Sandurz, President Skroob, and Dark Helmet.
* ''[[Spaceballs]]'' plays it for comedy, evacuating ''everyone'' (including the orchestra and the zoo), but leaving behind Colonel Sandurz, President Skroob, and Dark Helmet.
* ''[[Starship Troopers (Film)|Starship Troopers]]''. When the ''Roger Young'' is seriously damaged by Bug plasma the crew tries to get to the lifeboat deck to escape.
* ''[[Starship Troopers (film)|Starship Troopers]]''. When the ''Roger Young'' is seriously damaged by Bug plasma the crew tries to get to the lifeboat deck to escape.
* ''[[Titanic]]'': [[Just Here for Godzilla|Half the reason for watching the movie.]]
* ''[[Titanic]]'': [[Just Here for Godzilla|Half the reason for watching the movie.]]
** And about the only reason to watch ''Titanic II'' is to see The Asylum subvert the hell out of ''Titanic''.
** And about the only reason to watch ''Titanic II'' is to see The Asylum subvert the hell out of ''Titanic''.
* Happens in several ''[[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]]'' movies:
* Happens in several ''[[Star Trek]]'' movies:
** ''[[Star Trek III the Search For Spock (Film)|The Search for Spock]]'' features the destruction of {{spoiler|the ''[[Cool Starship|Enterprise]]''}}, though there weren't exactly a lot of crew members to evacuate.
** ''[[Star Trek III: The Search For Spock|The Search for Spock]]'' features the destruction of {{spoiler|the ''[[Cool Starship|Enterprise]]''}}, though there weren't exactly a lot of crew members to evacuate.
** ''[[Star Trek Generations (Film)|Star Trek Generations]]'' has the [[Trope]] implied when the ''Enterprise''-B, under the command of Captain Harriman, arrives to rescue the passengers and crew of two El-Aurian refugee ships trapped in a [[Negative Space Wedgie]]. Later in the same [[Film]], the [[Trope]] is played straight with the loss of {{spoiler|the ''[[Cool Starship|Enterprise]]''[[Cool Starship|-D]]}}
** ''[[Star Trek Generations]]'' has the [[Trope]] implied when the ''Enterprise''-B, under the command of Captain Harriman, arrives to rescue the passengers and crew of two El-Aurian refugee ships trapped in a [[Negative Space Wedgie]]. Later in the same [[Film]], the [[Trope]] is played straight with the loss of {{spoiler|the ''[[Cool Starship|Enterprise]]''[[Cool Starship|-D]]}}
** ''[[Star Trek First Contact (Film)|Star Trek First Contact]]'' features a scene where the crew of the ''Enterprise''-E evacuates the ship so as to self-destruct and kill the Borg on board. {{spoiler|Subverted when the Borg Queen deactivates the selfdestruct sequence and gets killed shortly afterward, so the ship is saved.}}
** ''[[Star Trek: First Contact|Star Trek First Contact]]'' features a scene where the crew of the ''Enterprise''-E evacuates the ship so as to self-destruct and kill the Borg on board. {{spoiler|Subverted when the Borg Queen deactivates the selfdestruct sequence and gets killed shortly afterward, so the ship is saved.}}
** ''[[Star Trek (Film)|Star Trek]]'': The prologue features the crew of the USS ''Kelvin'' abandoning ship, with the shuttles launching from the shuttle bay making for a nice visual metaphor for [[The Kirk|James T. Kirk's]] birth just before {{spoiler|the ''Kelvin'' is destroyed, with [[The Kirk|Kirk's]] father, George Kirk, [[Heroic Sacrifice|staying aboard to make sure the shuttles escape.]]}}
** ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'': The prologue features the crew of the USS ''Kelvin'' abandoning ship, with the shuttles launching from the shuttle bay making for a nice visual metaphor for [[The Kirk|James T. Kirk's]] birth just before {{spoiler|the ''Kelvin'' is destroyed, with [[The Kirk|Kirk's]] father, George Kirk, [[Heroic Sacrifice|staying aboard to make sure the shuttles escape.]]}}
* [[Invoked]] in ''[[Star Wars]]: [[The Empire Strikes Back]]'', where [[Sixth Ranger|Lando]] orders Cloud City abandoned after the Empire seizes control, then played straight in ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'' after the [[Big Bad|Emperor]] dies and the [[Cool Starship|Super Star Destroyer]] crashes into the Death Star.
* [[Invoked]] in ''[[Star Wars]]: [[The Empire Strikes Back]]'', where [[Sixth Ranger|Lando]] orders Cloud City abandoned after the Empire seizes control, then played straight in ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'' after the [[Big Bad|Emperor]] dies and the [[Cool Starship|Super Star Destroyer]] crashes into the Death Star.
* ''[[The Last Jedi]]'' runs with this by having the crews of the smaller ships in the Resistance's fleet evacuate to their flagship, which is eventually vacated so that it can used as a battering ram against the pursuing First Order.
* The Filipino film ''[[Temptation Island (Film)|Temptation Island]]'' forces its characters to do this, after a fire sinks their yacht.
* The Filipino film ''[[Temptation Island]]'' forces its characters to do this, after a fire sinks their yacht.
* ''[[Red Tails]]'' depicts an aviation variation on this trope:
* ''[[Red Tails]]'' depicts an aviation variation on this trope:
** In the prologue, a formation of American bombers is being attacked by German fighters. The pilot of a badly damaged bomber orders his crew to prepare to bail out. {{spoiler|Immediately afterwards, a German fighter attacks the bomber head-on, killing both pilots. Some men can briefly be seen tumbling out and opening chutes.}}
** In the prologue, a formation of American bombers is being attacked by German fighters. The pilot of a badly damaged bomber orders his crew to prepare to bail out. {{spoiler|Immediately afterwards, a German fighter attacks the bomber head-on, killing both pilots. Some men can briefly be seen tumbling out and opening chutes.}}
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* The movie "Abandon Ship!" (1957 starring Tyrone Power) has the survivors from a torpedoed ship in an overloaded lifeboat. The captain tries to keep it afloat by ruthlessly throwing out those who can't survive and keeping those he feels can, making no moral judgements on who is worth saving. Supposedly based on a true story.
* The movie "Abandon Ship!" (1957 starring Tyrone Power) has the survivors from a torpedoed ship in an overloaded lifeboat. The captain tries to keep it afloat by ruthlessly throwing out those who can't survive and keeping those he feels can, making no moral judgements on who is worth saving. Supposedly based on a true story.
* Also "Lifeboat"
* Also "Lifeboat"
* In the film [[Battleship (Film)|Battleship]], the destruction of the ''John Paul Jones'' via a pair of alien "Shredder" droids sees a good portion of the crew bailing out of the ship as it's taken apart beneath them. Earlier in the film, the ''Myouko'' has several bail-outs after getting blown in half by alien det-charges. However, this trope is sadly averted with the loss of the ''Sampson'', the destruction of which is so sudden and [[Stuff Blowing Up|cataclysmic]] that there are no survivors.
* In the film [[Battleship (film)|Battleship]], the destruction of the ''John Paul Jones'' via a pair of alien "Shredder" droids sees a good portion of the crew bailing out of the ship as it's taken apart beneath them. Earlier in the film, the ''Myouko'' has several bail-outs after getting blown in half by alien det-charges. However, this trope is sadly averted with the loss of the ''Sampson'', the destruction of which is so sudden and [[Stuff Blowing Up|cataclysmic]] that there are no survivors.



== Literature ==
== Literature ==
* Happens reasonably frequently in [[Honor Harrington]] with crew abandoning ships that have taken damage in combat. These run the range from small numbers of survivors evacuating in escape pods right before the ship explodes to an orderly evacuation of a ship that is still intact but has taken sufficient damage to its alpha nodes or hyper-generator that it cannot leave the system and has to be scuttled.
* Happens reasonably frequently in [[Honor Harrington]] with crew abandoning ships that have taken damage in combat. These run the range from small numbers of survivors evacuating in escape pods right before the ship explodes to an orderly evacuation of a ship that is still intact but has taken sufficient damage to its alpha nodes or hyper-generator that it cannot leave the system and has to be scuttled.
* The crew of the ''Cerys'' in ''[[Septimus Heap (Literature)|Septimus Heap]]'' is forced to [[Abandon Ship]] after it's overrun with [[Mook|Warrior Jinn]]. It doesn't work very well at the start.
* The crew of the ''Cerys'' in ''[[Septimus Heap]]'' is forced to Abandon Ship after it's overrun with [[Mook|Warrior Jinn]]. It doesn't work very well at the start.
* It's not the whole ship that's abandoned, but when an enemy attack breaches the section that [[Ciaphas Cain]] <ref>'''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM'''</ref> and Jurgen are in, they are forced to abandon the ship in order to save their own lives. This being a Ciaphas Cain <ref>'''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM'''</ref> book, this just drops them into even greater danger.
* It's not the whole ship that's abandoned, but when an enemy attack breaches the section that [[Ciaphas Cain]] <ref>'''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM'''</ref> and Jurgen are in, they are forced to abandon the ship in order to save their own lives. This being a Ciaphas Cain <ref>'''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM'''</ref> book, this just drops them into even greater danger.
* In the novel "When the Ship Sank" a ship is torpedoed and sinks slowly but people cannot escape because the entire engine crew has been killed and no one can turn off the engines. It eventually sinks and the survivors spend a horrific night in the water until they are picked up by another ship. {{spoiler|The second ship is taking them back to England, where the first ship came from, but is intercepted by another submarine (or maybe even the first one) which opens fire with its deck guns sinking it in minutes. Most of the people on board, including almost all the survivors from the first ship are killed almost instantly.}}
* In the novel "When the Ship Sank" a ship is torpedoed and sinks slowly but people cannot escape because the entire engine crew has been killed and no one can turn off the engines. It eventually sinks and the survivors spend a horrific night in the water until they are picked up by another ship. {{spoiler|The second ship is taking them back to England, where the first ship came from, but is intercepted by another submarine (or maybe even the first one) which opens fire with its deck guns sinking it in minutes. Most of the people on board, including almost all the survivors from the first ship are killed almost instantly.}}
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== Live Action Television ==
== Live Action Television ==
* An example from the final season of [[Lost]]. {{spoiler|Many of the remaining characters are on board a submarine, and soon find that the [[Big Bad]] has smuggled a bomb on board. It detonates (taking out a major character in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]), and proceeds to cause the sub to sink. The survivors rush to flee the sinking vessel, with the exception of Sun (who is trapped behind debris) and Jin (who chooses to remain on-board to die with his wife).}}
* An example from the final season of [[Lost]]. {{spoiler|Many of the remaining characters are on board a submarine, and soon find that the [[Big Bad]] has smuggled a bomb on board. It detonates (taking out a major character in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]), and proceeds to cause the sub to sink. The survivors rush to flee the sinking vessel, with the exception of Sun (who is trapped behind debris) and Jin (who chooses to remain on-board to die with his wife).}}
* ''[[Babylon 5 (TV)|Babylon 5]]'': The first season episode ''Babylon Squared'' takes place aboard the space station Babylon Four, which had been lost (as in, physically misplaced, as in, a five mile long space station just disappeared in a instant for no known explanation) years previously. The station reappears, just long enough for the crew of Babylon Five to effect an evacuation. As the station is about to disappear again, the remaining crew members (and the personnel from Babylon Five who came to retrieve them) make a hasty retreat to cram onto the remaining shuttles.[[hottip:*: Incidentally, the [[Going Down With the Ship]] trope is discussed and dismissed: Commander Sinclair is most definitely ''not'' Babylon Four's commander, and the officer who ''was'' in charge of the station had every intention of leaving as soon [[The Men First|as the personnel under his command had been evacuated.]]
* ''[[Babylon 5]]'': The first season episode ''Babylon Squared'' takes place aboard the space station Babylon Four, which had been lost (as in, physically misplaced, as in, a five mile long space station just disappeared in a instant for no known explanation) years previously. The station reappears, just long enough for the crew of Babylon Five to effect an evacuation. As the station is about to disappear again, the remaining crew members (and the personnel from Babylon Five who came to retrieve them) make a hasty retreat to cram onto the remaining shuttles.<ref>Incidentally, the [[Going Down with the Ship]]</ref> trope is discussed and dismissed: Commander Sinclair is most definitely ''not'' Babylon Four's commander, and the officer who ''was'' in charge of the station had every intention of leaving as soon [[The Men First|as the personnel under his command had been evacuated.]]
** The same episode includes a [[Flash Forward]] where Babylon Five, in flames, is being evacuated as the security personnel frantically attempt to hold off the unseen attackers to give the civilians time to escape. As a matter of fact, the visual of a lone shuttle escaping the station just before it explodes gets used for a long string of [[Prophecy Twist|Prophecy Twists]] {{spoiler|That visual does finally come true. But not the way anyone expects.}}
** The same episode includes a [[Flash Forward]] where Babylon Five, in flames, is being evacuated as the security personnel frantically attempt to hold off the unseen attackers to give the civilians time to escape. As a matter of fact, the visual of a lone shuttle escaping the station just before it explodes gets used for a long string of [[Prophecy Twist]]s {{spoiler|That visual does finally come true. But not the way anyone expects.}}
** In the episode ''A Voice In The Wilderness'', the station is at risk of being destroyed by the planet below [[Earthshattering Kaboom|blowing itself to pieces.]] Sinclair asks Garibaldi to make sure that [[The Lancer|Ivanova]] makes it onto an escape ship, even if Garibaldi has to [[Tap On the Head|knock her out and bodily toss her in]].
** In the episode ''A Voice In The Wilderness'', the station is at risk of being destroyed by the planet below [[Earthshattering Kaboom|blowing itself to pieces.]] Sinclair asks Garibaldi to make sure that [[The Lancer|Ivanova]] makes it onto an escape ship, even if Garibaldi has to [[Tap on the Head|knock her out and bodily toss her in]].
* Just as it happens fairly often in the [[Film|films]], this [[Trope]] also plays out surprisingly often in the various ''[[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]]'' series:
* Just as it happens fairly often in the [[film]]s, this [[Trope]] also plays out surprisingly often in the various ''[[Star Trek]]'' series:
** In the ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' episode ''Cause And Effect'', the [[Cold Open]] starts with [[The Captain|Picard]] announcing "[[Oh Crap|All hands abondon ship!]] [[Killed Mid Sentence|All hands abando--]]" just before the ''[[Cool Starship|Enterprise]]'' explodes. We then go through variations of this same scenario [[Groundhog Day Loop|several more times]].
** In the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' episode ''Cause And Effect'', the [[Cold Open]] starts with [[The Captain|Picard]] announcing "[[Oh Crap|All hands abondon ship!]] [[Killed Mid-Sentence|All hands abando--]]" just before the ''[[Cool Starship|Enterprise]]'' explodes. We then go through variations of this same scenario [[Groundhog Day Loop|several more times]].
** ''[[Star Trek Deep Space Nine (TV)|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' actually begins this way. The first scene of the series is a prologue, showing the starship ''Saratoga'' serving as part of a Starfleet task force assembled to stop the Borg at Wolf 359. After the ''Saratoga'' is knocked out of the fight by a [[One Hit Point Wonder|single hit]] from the Borg Cube, the rest of the scene is the panicked crew (and passengers) abandoning the crippled and burning ship.
** ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' actually begins this way. The first scene of the series is a prologue, showing the starship ''Saratoga'' serving as part of a Starfleet task force assembled to stop the Borg at Wolf 359. After the ''Saratoga'' is knocked out of the fight by a [[One-Hit-Point Wonder|single hit]] from the Borg Cube, the rest of the scene is the panicked crew (and passengers) abandoning the crippled and burning ship.
*** Near the end, {{spoiler|the ''Defiant'' itself, along with all but one ship from the allied fleet,}} gets taken out to demonstrate the Breen as being a credible threat.
*** Near the end, {{spoiler|the ''Defiant'' itself, along with all but one ship from the allied fleet,}} gets taken out to demonstrate the Breen as being a credible threat.
* Happens in the finale of ''[[Power Rangers Lost Galaxy]]''. Unlike most other examples, a sizable amount of the ship remains, even after the [[Final Battle]] takes place in it. Unfortunately, the [[Big Bad]] had already set it for a [[Colony Drop]] - it's possible there was enough left after impact to be turned into a galactic settlers' colony as intended, but we never get a good look.
* Happens in the finale of ''[[Power Rangers Lost Galaxy]]''. Unlike most other examples, a sizable amount of the ship remains, even after the [[Final Battle]] takes place in it. Unfortunately, the [[Big Bad]] had already set it for a [[Colony Drop]] - it's possible there was enough left after impact to be turned into a galactic settlers' colony as intended, but we never get a good look.
** Way back in the [[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|first season]], Goldar says this in his "[[This Cannot Be]]" declaration as [[Humongous Mecha|Cyclopsis]]' system crashes with [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|Ultrazord]] bearing down on it. Smart move.
** Way back in the [[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|first season]], Goldar says this in his "[[This Cannot Be!]]" declaration as [[Humongous Mecha|Cyclopsis]]' system crashes with [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|Ultrazord]] bearing down on it. Smart move.
* Happens regularly in ''[[Red Dwarf (TV)|Red Dwarf]]''.
* Happens regularly in ''[[Red Dwarf]]''.
** In the episode 'Marooned' the crew are forced to abandon ship because 5 black holes are approaching, it turns out to be grit on the scanner scope.
** In the episode 'Marooned' the crew are forced to abandon ship because 5 black holes are approaching, it turns out to be grit on the scanner scope.
** In the episode 'Polymorph' they decide to abandon ship when a chameleonic life form attempts to suck out their emotions.
** In the episode 'Polymorph' they decide to abandon ship when a chameleonic life form attempts to suck out their emotions.
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== Video Games ==
== Video Games ==
* The first ''[[Halo]]'' [[Video Game|game]] begins with this, with the Marines and crew of the ''Pillar Of Autumn'' fighting their way to the hangar deck or the life pods so that they might try and escape the ship's imminent destruction. Naturally, the [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Covenant]] forces proceed to try to [[Sink the Life Boats|destroy as many of the escape pods and drop ships as possible.]] {{spoiler|Unexpectedly, the ''Pillar Of Autumn'' survives and lands intact on Alpha Halo's surface, where it waits until the [[Remixed Level]] finale.}}
* The first ''[[Halo]]'' [[Video Game|game]] begins with this, with the Marines and crew of the ''Pillar Of Autumn'' fighting their way to the hangar deck or the life pods so that they might try and escape the ship's imminent destruction. Naturally, the [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Covenant]] forces proceed to try to [[Sink the Life Boats|destroy as many of the escape pods and drop ships as possible.]] {{spoiler|Unexpectedly, the ''Pillar Of Autumn'' survives and lands intact on Alpha Halo's surface, where it waits until the [[Remixed Level]] finale.}}
* ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Knights of the Old Republic (Video Game)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'' begins this way as well. Given how the first [[Film]] started, this seems to be a theme.
* ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'' begins this way as well. Given how the first [[Film]] started, this seems to be a theme.
* In ''[[Star Wars]] [[The Force Unleashed]] 2'' Kota delivers this very line with extreme Narm.
* In ''[[Star Wars]] [[The Force Unleashed]] 2'' Kota delivers this very line with extreme Narm.
* Pretty much the entire point of ''[[Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors (Visual Novel)|Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors]]''. Well, that, and all the [[Mind Screw]].
* Pretty much the entire point of ''[[Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors|Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors]]''. Well, that, and all the [[Mind Screw]].
* Happens in the ''[[Battleship Raid|Revenge of Meta Knight]]'' game mode of ''[[Kirby]] [[Kirby Super Star (Video Game)|Super Star]]''.
* Happens in the ''[[Battleship Raid|Revenge of Meta Knight]]'' game mode of ''[[Kirby]] [[Kirby Super Star|Super Star]]''.
* The level "Crew Expendable" in ''[[Modern Warfare]] 1'' takes place on a cargo ship. Naturally, by the end of the level you're frantically running for your chopper before the ship sinks.
* The level "Crew Expendable" in ''[[Modern Warfare]] 1'' takes place on a cargo ship. Naturally, by the end of the level you're frantically running for your chopper before the ship sinks.
* ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' begins with the heroes being forced to abandon {{spoiler|The ''Normandy''}} before her destruction. {{spoiler|Joker}} insists that he is [[Going Down With the Ship]], but is convinced to leave by Shepherd at the last minute. {{spoiler|He makes it out, but Shepherd dies.}}
* ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' begins with the heroes being forced to abandon {{spoiler|The ''Normandy''}} before her destruction. {{spoiler|Joker}} insists that he is [[Going Down with the Ship]], but is convinced to leave by Shepherd at the last minute. {{spoiler|He makes it out, but Shepherd dies.}}
** To add insult to injury, the very next mission has Shepherd having to abandon ship ''again'', this time from a space station that is under attack. Worth noting, ''[[Mass Effect (Video Game)|Mass Effect]]'' is produced by [[Bio Ware]], the same company that produced ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (Video Game)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'', and this mission feels a bit like an homage to that game's first mission.
** To add insult to injury, the very next mission has Shepherd having to abandon ship ''again'', this time from a space station that is under attack. Worth noting, ''[[Mass Effect]]'' is produced by [[BioWare]], the same company that produced ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'', and this mission feels a bit like an homage to that game's first mission.
** ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', in a bit of [[Sequel Escalation]], begins with the heroes being forced to abandon {{spoiler|Earth}} in the face of an overwhelming attack.
** ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', in a bit of [[Sequel Escalation]], begins with the heroes being forced to abandon {{spoiler|Earth}} in the face of an overwhelming attack.


== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' had crew of several killed [[Battle Star|battleplates]] partially evacuated via terapods. Space navies capable of threatening battleplates suppress teraport with overlapping systems, so probably would just catch the pods, but when losing a fight to Pa'anuri it's a life saver: if one gets too close, the battleplate's gravitics is no match for a surprisingly agile entity with the mass of a planet, so the vessel is doomed, but pods can still be launched, and small vessels don't provoke immediate aggressive response while something big is left un-crunched, so at least some avoid flailing gravitic anomalies without accident, then make it far enough to 'port away.
** The crew of [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2018-06-23 Graveplough] performed evacuation with appropriate haste (and [[Oh Crap|expression]] on the Captain), once they noticed that their missiles just armed themselves without being launched first.




== Western Animation ==
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Exo Squad (Animation)|Exo Squad]]'': The loss of {{spoiler|The Exo Carrier Resolute}}, and with it, {{spoiler|[[Going Down With the Ship|Captain Marcus]].}}
* ''[[Exo Squad]]'': The loss of {{spoiler|The Exo Carrier Resolute}}, and with it, {{spoiler|[[Going Down with the Ship|Captain Marcus]].}}
* The Titanic episode of ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'' naturally used this [[Trope]].
* The Titanic episode of ''[[Futurama]]'' naturally used this [[Trope]].
** Bender attempts to get everyone to do this in "Parasites Lost", uttering the phrase a few times and having to be restrained. Also, the miniature ship does wind up abandoned after the end of the journey.
** Bender attempts to get everyone to do this in "Parasites Lost", uttering the phrase a few times and having to be restrained. Also, the miniature ship does wind up abandoned after the end of the journey.


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[[Category:Seaborne and Submersible Vehicles]]
[[Category:Seaborne and Submersible Vehicles]]
[[Category:Abandon Ship]]
[[Category:Abandon Ship]]
[[Category:Trope]]

Latest revision as of 18:08, 27 April 2024

Unsinkable my ass!


Essentially, you have a ship of some sort, be it an oceangoing vessel or a Cool Starship. At some point, be it in the prologue of the story, or at the climax near the end, or any point in between, the ship suffers some catastrophe that makes it a very good idea not to remain there, because it is about to explode, fall to the planet below, go careening uncontrollably into the nearest star, or, you know, sink. What are the passengers and crew to do? Why, they must Abandon Ship! Bonus points if the trope's actual name, which is a Stock Phrase nearly omnipresent in all movies dealing with naval action, wet or otherwise, is used.

If much of the story has taken place on the ship, then her death (and it will often be played as a death rather than a destruction, complete with strangely mournful sounding metallic groans and dramatic music) will be rather dramatic and played out. If our hero gets to the lifeboat only to realize that a friend or loved one has not similarly done so for some reason, a miniature quest may ensue as they make their way through the chaotic process of the ship breaking up and sinking. Some reference might be made to the Captain Going Down with the Ship.

On a military airplane, the crew might be expected to make use of Ejection Seats to escape the plane. Otherwise, they'll probably have to get out the old fashioned way: Strapping on a parachute and getting to an exit before the plane crashes.

Not to Be Confused With Abandon Shipping, which occurs when a Shipping community suddenly abandons a given pairing (and was formerly known as Abandon Ship).

Examples of Abandon Ship include:

Anime and Manga

  • In Mobile Suit Gundam, the crew of the White Base is forced to Abandon Ship after getting shot down during the Final Battle.
  • In Gundam Seed, where the crew of the Dominion (along with Flay), who abandon ship when Natarle turns on her commander and the Archangel sinks the ship. Too bad the pod drifts straight into Rau le Creuset, who's more than happy to finish the job.
  • After War Gundam X: the crew of the Freeden escape from their ship (in jeeps; remember that they're on Earth) after ramming an enemy battleship to clear the path for Garrod's launch into space.
  • One Piece, when the Going Merry went down.


Comic Books

  • Almost inevitably happens whenever Groo the Wanderer gets on board a boat.
  • In The Red Sea Sharks, Tintin and Haddock's kidnappers abandon ship after the engine breaks down, only for Haddock to fix it later and take over the now-repaired ship.


Film

  • Battle of Britain, being a war film about a months-long aerial battle, includes numerous scenes of airmen bailing out of bombers and fighters. Or at least trying to.
  • Spaceballs plays it for comedy, evacuating everyone (including the orchestra and the zoo), but leaving behind Colonel Sandurz, President Skroob, and Dark Helmet.
  • Starship Troopers. When the Roger Young is seriously damaged by Bug plasma the crew tries to get to the lifeboat deck to escape.
  • Titanic: Half the reason for watching the movie.
    • And about the only reason to watch Titanic II is to see The Asylum subvert the hell out of Titanic.
  • Happens in several Star Trek movies:
    • The Search for Spock features the destruction of the Enterprise, though there weren't exactly a lot of crew members to evacuate.
    • Star Trek Generations has the Trope implied when the Enterprise-B, under the command of Captain Harriman, arrives to rescue the passengers and crew of two El-Aurian refugee ships trapped in a Negative Space Wedgie. Later in the same Film, the Trope is played straight with the loss of the Enterprise-D
    • Star Trek First Contact features a scene where the crew of the Enterprise-E evacuates the ship so as to self-destruct and kill the Borg on board. Subverted when the Borg Queen deactivates the selfdestruct sequence and gets killed shortly afterward, so the ship is saved.
    • Star Trek: The prologue features the crew of the USS Kelvin abandoning ship, with the shuttles launching from the shuttle bay making for a nice visual metaphor for James T. Kirk's birth just before the Kelvin is destroyed, with Kirk's father, George Kirk, staying aboard to make sure the shuttles escape.
  • Invoked in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, where Lando orders Cloud City abandoned after the Empire seizes control, then played straight in Return of the Jedi after the Emperor dies and the Super Star Destroyer crashes into the Death Star.
  • The Last Jedi runs with this by having the crews of the smaller ships in the Resistance's fleet evacuate to their flagship, which is eventually vacated so that it can used as a battering ram against the pursuing First Order.
  • The Filipino film Temptation Island forces its characters to do this, after a fire sinks their yacht.
  • Red Tails depicts an aviation variation on this trope:
    • In the prologue, a formation of American bombers is being attacked by German fighters. The pilot of a badly damaged bomber orders his crew to prepare to bail out. Immediately afterwards, a German fighter attacks the bomber head-on, killing both pilots. Some men can briefly be seen tumbling out and opening chutes.
    • Later on, a fighter pilot's plane is shot up, and he bails out in the most expeditious manner available: He jettisons the canopy, unbuckles his seatbelt, and rolls the plane over so he falls out before opening his chute.
    • Another pilot, badly injured, and his cockpit filling with gasoline from a ruptured fuel tank, tries to bail out, but is too weak to pull the emergency release for his canopy. He crashes on landing, but is pulled from the burning plane and survives.
  • The movie "Abandon Ship!" (1957 starring Tyrone Power) has the survivors from a torpedoed ship in an overloaded lifeboat. The captain tries to keep it afloat by ruthlessly throwing out those who can't survive and keeping those he feels can, making no moral judgements on who is worth saving. Supposedly based on a true story.
  • Also "Lifeboat"
  • In the film Battleship, the destruction of the John Paul Jones via a pair of alien "Shredder" droids sees a good portion of the crew bailing out of the ship as it's taken apart beneath them. Earlier in the film, the Myouko has several bail-outs after getting blown in half by alien det-charges. However, this trope is sadly averted with the loss of the Sampson, the destruction of which is so sudden and cataclysmic that there are no survivors.

Literature

  • Happens reasonably frequently in Honor Harrington with crew abandoning ships that have taken damage in combat. These run the range from small numbers of survivors evacuating in escape pods right before the ship explodes to an orderly evacuation of a ship that is still intact but has taken sufficient damage to its alpha nodes or hyper-generator that it cannot leave the system and has to be scuttled.
  • The crew of the Cerys in Septimus Heap is forced to Abandon Ship after it's overrun with Warrior Jinn. It doesn't work very well at the start.
  • It's not the whole ship that's abandoned, but when an enemy attack breaches the section that Ciaphas Cain [1] and Jurgen are in, they are forced to abandon the ship in order to save their own lives. This being a Ciaphas Cain [2] book, this just drops them into even greater danger.
  • In the novel "When the Ship Sank" a ship is torpedoed and sinks slowly but people cannot escape because the entire engine crew has been killed and no one can turn off the engines. It eventually sinks and the survivors spend a horrific night in the water until they are picked up by another ship. The second ship is taking them back to England, where the first ship came from, but is intercepted by another submarine (or maybe even the first one) which opens fire with its deck guns sinking it in minutes. Most of the people on board, including almost all the survivors from the first ship are killed almost instantly.


Live Action Television

  • An example from the final season of Lost. Many of the remaining characters are on board a submarine, and soon find that the Big Bad has smuggled a bomb on board. It detonates (taking out a major character in a Heroic Sacrifice), and proceeds to cause the sub to sink. The survivors rush to flee the sinking vessel, with the exception of Sun (who is trapped behind debris) and Jin (who chooses to remain on-board to die with his wife).
  • Babylon 5: The first season episode Babylon Squared takes place aboard the space station Babylon Four, which had been lost (as in, physically misplaced, as in, a five mile long space station just disappeared in a instant for no known explanation) years previously. The station reappears, just long enough for the crew of Babylon Five to effect an evacuation. As the station is about to disappear again, the remaining crew members (and the personnel from Babylon Five who came to retrieve them) make a hasty retreat to cram onto the remaining shuttles.[3] trope is discussed and dismissed: Commander Sinclair is most definitely not Babylon Four's commander, and the officer who was in charge of the station had every intention of leaving as soon as the personnel under his command had been evacuated.
    • The same episode includes a Flash Forward where Babylon Five, in flames, is being evacuated as the security personnel frantically attempt to hold off the unseen attackers to give the civilians time to escape. As a matter of fact, the visual of a lone shuttle escaping the station just before it explodes gets used for a long string of Prophecy Twists That visual does finally come true. But not the way anyone expects.
    • In the episode A Voice In The Wilderness, the station is at risk of being destroyed by the planet below blowing itself to pieces. Sinclair asks Garibaldi to make sure that Ivanova makes it onto an escape ship, even if Garibaldi has to knock her out and bodily toss her in.
  • Just as it happens fairly often in the films, this Trope also plays out surprisingly often in the various Star Trek series:
    • In the Star Trek the Next Generation episode Cause And Effect, the Cold Open starts with Picard announcing "All hands abondon ship! All hands abando--" just before the Enterprise explodes. We then go through variations of this same scenario several more times.
    • Star Trek Deep Space Nine actually begins this way. The first scene of the series is a prologue, showing the starship Saratoga serving as part of a Starfleet task force assembled to stop the Borg at Wolf 359. After the Saratoga is knocked out of the fight by a single hit from the Borg Cube, the rest of the scene is the panicked crew (and passengers) abandoning the crippled and burning ship.
      • Near the end, the Defiant itself, along with all but one ship from the allied fleet, gets taken out to demonstrate the Breen as being a credible threat.
  • Happens in the finale of Power Rangers Lost Galaxy. Unlike most other examples, a sizable amount of the ship remains, even after the Final Battle takes place in it. Unfortunately, the Big Bad had already set it for a Colony Drop - it's possible there was enough left after impact to be turned into a galactic settlers' colony as intended, but we never get a good look.
  • Happens regularly in Red Dwarf.
    • In the episode 'Marooned' the crew are forced to abandon ship because 5 black holes are approaching, it turns out to be grit on the scanner scope.
    • In the episode 'Polymorph' they decide to abandon ship when a chameleonic life form attempts to suck out their emotions.
    • In 'Demons and Angels' the ship has a major overload after a problem with a matter replicator, once they've escaped the ship it blows up only to leave two copies in its place, a high version and a low version. Once they work out a way to replicate the original they must then get out of the new "low" Red Dwarf before it disappears.
    • In 'Only the Good...' the entire resurrected crew of Red Dwarf abandon ship when a genetically engineered virus begins eating the ship from the inside out.


Tabletop RPG

  • Traveller adventure Action Aboard - Adventures on the King Richard. If there's a problem aboard the title passenger starship, all of the passengers are put onto lifeboats. The lifeboats are cast off and the passengers wait until either (a) the problem is resolved and they can be retrieved or (b) the problem can't be resolved and they're on their own.


Video Games


Web Comics

  • Schlock Mercenary had crew of several killed battleplates partially evacuated via terapods. Space navies capable of threatening battleplates suppress teraport with overlapping systems, so probably would just catch the pods, but when losing a fight to Pa'anuri it's a life saver: if one gets too close, the battleplate's gravitics is no match for a surprisingly agile entity with the mass of a planet, so the vessel is doomed, but pods can still be launched, and small vessels don't provoke immediate aggressive response while something big is left un-crunched, so at least some avoid flailing gravitic anomalies without accident, then make it far enough to 'port away.
    • The crew of Graveplough performed evacuation with appropriate haste (and expression on the Captain), once they noticed that their missiles just armed themselves without being launched first.


Western Animation

  • Exo Squad: The loss of The Exo Carrier Resolute, and with it, Captain Marcus.
  • The Titanic episode of Futurama naturally used this Trope.
    • Bender attempts to get everyone to do this in "Parasites Lost", uttering the phrase a few times and having to be restrained. Also, the miniature ship does wind up abandoned after the end of the journey.
  1. HERO OF THE IMPERIUM
  2. HERO OF THE IMPERIUM
  3. Incidentally, the Going Down with the Ship