Let's think about this logically. You are a captain who just gave the order to scuttle your ship to avoid it's capture. Congratulations! You most likely have a mutiny on your hands. Tell me will the enemy captain take your crew on to his boat which is now severely over crowded and he could possibly lose to an uprising, use his limited rations to feed them and transport them to the nearest port where he can leave them? Or would he turn his ship around and go find an actual prize?
In game you can surrender which is enough. When you surrender I think that only enemy ships should be able to scuttle the ship. After all, what allied ship would have the time to scuttle a ship while they are running for their lives?