Women and children last.

• Position: High Seas - Brief article

As the titanic (above) began to sink on April 15, 1912, the captain ordered women and children first to the lifeboats--a command long considered an unwritten law of the sea. But according to a new review of historical records, "every man for himself" seems to be the more common practice. Swedish researchers analyzed 18 ship accidents from 1852 to 2011 involving more than 15,000 passengers and crew. Discounting two outliers--including the titanic--overall about 18 percent of women survived the wrecks, compared with 35 percent of men. (On the titanic, 20 percent of men and 70 percent of women and children survived.) Crew members were 19...