Washington telegraph., 1852-05-12
Wreck Of the British Steam
Frigate Birkenhead.


LOSS OF FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FoUR
LEvEs-woNDERFUL DISCIPLINE OF THE
BRITISH TROOPS.
Another terrible disaster has happened
at sea- At 2 o'clock in the morning of the
26th February, her majesty's steamer, the
Rirkenhead, was wrecked between two and
three mikes from the shore of Southern At
RIGA. The exact spot at which the calamity
happened was at Point Danger. Off this
point she struck upon reef of sunken
rocks The ship was steaming eight and a
half knots at the time. The water was
smooth and the sky serene, but the speed
at which the vessel was speeding through
the. water proved her destruction. The
rock penetrated through her bottom just aft
the foremast, and In twenty minutes time
there were a few floating spars and few
miserable creatures clinging to them, and
this was all that remained of the Birken-
head. Of 63S persons who had left Simon S
Bay in the ship but few hours before,
only lo4 remain to tell the tale. No less
than 454 Englishmen have come to SO Ia
mentable an end
From the moment the ship struck, all ap-
pears to have been done that human cour-
age or GOODNESS could effect The soldiers
were mustered on the afterdeck The in
stinct of discipline was stronger than the in
stinct of life. The men fell into place as
coolly as on the parade ground. They were
told-off into reliefs, and sent--some to the
chain-pumps, some to the paddle-b box boats.
Capt Wright of the ninety first regiment,
who survives to relate the dreadful scene,
tells us =
Every man did as he was directed, and
there was not a cry or murmur among
them until the vessel made her final plunge
could not name any individual officer who
did more than another. All received their
orders, and had them carried out as if the
men were embarking instead of going to the
bottom; there was only this difference
that never saw any embarkation conduct
ed with so little noise and confusion.
Poor fellows! Had they died in battle
field, and in their countrys cause, their fate
would have excited less poignant regret
but their is something expressibly touching
in the quiet unhinching resolution of SC
many brave hearts, struggling malfully tC
the last against an inevitable disaster. Il
is gratifying, also, to find that the women
and children were all saved They had
been quietly collected under the poop aw-
ing, and were as quietly got over the ships
side, and passed into the cutter The boat
stood OFF about $50 yards from the ill-starr
ed Birkenhead, and all were saved There
is not the name of single woman or child
upon the list of persons who perished.--
The other boats, as usual in such cases
were not forthcoming in the hour of need
One gig and two cutters were all that coulC
be rendered available. In one account W.
find that when the men were ordered to ge
the paddle-box boats out, the pin of the da
Wits was rusted in, and could not be got out
Captain Wright on the other hand, tells u
that when the funnel went over the side it car
ried away the starboard paddle-box and boat
and that the other paddlc-box boat capsize,
as it was being lowered. OF 1S4 person
who were saved, 116 made their escape il
the three boats which succeeded in getting
clear of the wreck London Times