abandon ship
verb- However, an 8-inch shell takes out what's left of Hoels engines, and the ship is rapidly overwhelmed by incoming fire. The order to abandon ship' is given ten minutes later after trading fire with a Tone-class cruiser, and, fifteen minutes after that, the ship rolls over and sinks, Hoel clearly not showing quite the same level of luck as Johnston.2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 28:44 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2022:
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Broadly To leave a person or organization when things become difficult.
- Related terms
- like rats from a sinking ship, jump ship