The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1852-04-30

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b Hundred ana Fifigsfnur LIVES Wea-l
derfuI Discipline Of the British
Troops. q
From the London Times, April 7th.
An0ther terribledis has happened at sea.
| Az 2 O'Clock, III the morning of the 26th Feb
Iruayy. Her Maiesty's steamer. the Birkenhead,
| was wrecked between two and three miles from
The shore Of Southern Africa. The exact spot
| at which the calamity happened was Point Dam
ger. OF this point she struck upon q reef OF
sunken rocks. The snip was steaming eight
and a half knots OF the time. The water was
smooth, and the sky serene, but the speed at
(which the vessel was passing ..thfough. the wa
ter proyed her destruction. The rock kpenetra.
/ ted through her bottom just oft the foremast,
land in twenty minutes time there were "a few
4 floating spars, few miserable creaturescling-
i ing to then. and this was all that nfained Of
1.-THE Birkenhead.a or 638 persons who had left
lSim0n's Bay in the gallant ship but a few hours
tbefore, only 1874 remain to tell the tale. No
less than 454 Englishmen have come 70 50 la
lmentable an end.
1 Captain Salmond, the officer in command
anxious to shorten the run to Algoa Bay as
much as possible, and more than was prudent,
Ihugged the shore too closely. -Four hundred
land fifty persons have lost their lives In conse-
luuence of his temerity. As soon as the vessel
lstruck upon the rocks the rush OF water was so
great that the men on the lower troopedeck
were drowned in their hammocks. Theirs was
the happiest fate at least they were spared
1.-THE terrible agony of the ut txttwenty minutes.
IAtleast the manner OF death was less painful
THAN with others who were first crushed beneath
the falling spars and funnel, and then swept
AWAY to be devoured by the sharks, who were
Iprowling around the wreck
From the moment the ship struck, all appears
to have teen done that human courage or cool
i ness could effect. The soldiers were mustered
1 on the after deck. 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 paddlebox boats. Captain
Wright, Of the ninety first regiment, who sur
wives to relate the dreadful scene, tells us:
Every man did as he was directed, and there
was not cry or murmer 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 embark
alton conducted with so little noise or conlu-
sion.
1t is gratifying to find that the women and
children were all saved. They had been quiet
ly collected under the poop awning, and were
! as quietly got over the ships side, and passed
intot lie cutter. The boat stood off about 150
yards from the i'll starred Birkenhead, and all
were saved. There is not the name of single
woman or child upon the list of persons who
persisted. The other boats, as is usual in such
cases, were not forthcoming in the hour OF
need. One gig and two cutters were all that
could be rendered available. In one account
we find that when the men were ordered to get
the paddle-box boats out, the pin OF the dayts
was rnsted in, and could not be got out. OF
the 1874 persons who were saved, ll6 made their
escape in the three boats which succeeded in
getting clear Of the wreck.
Never was destruction more sndden or more
complete. Within Is minutes alter the vessel
struck, the bow broke short off. Five minutes
more elapsed, and the hull OF the vessel wentin
two, cross wise, just abaft the engine-room, -
The stern part OF the vessel Immediately surged,
filled, and went down, The only hope Of the
survivors lay in the main topmast and main top.
sail yard, which still showed above water
There were some fragments Of the forecastle
deck still floating about; there were few spars
and drift-wood. About As people clung TO the
yard, and, after remaining there until O'Clock
the following afternoon, were picked of by the
Loness, schooner which was providentiall,
at hand. ~ ~
Capt. Wright asserts, that Of the 900 persons
more or less, who were clinging to the drift
, wood when he got away, nearly every mar
y might have been saved had one oil the ship
boats done her duty. Into this boat the assist
8 ant surgeon had got witheghtmen. They i'm
mediately pulledaway, and landed about fteel
Dliles from the vessel. The fact appears to hav,
been that the poor creatures who were clingint
to the driftwood had been carried by the swell
in the direction of Point Danger. There the,
: got entangled among the seaweed, which at th
"a point Of the coast is thick and of immens,
lengths. E...s..a
m Capt. Wright's opinion is, that had not thu
osSistant-surgeon carried off the boat, or ever
!. had the boat pulled back TO the scene Of thu
disaster, after landing the medical gentleman il
safety, the majority of these persons might hav,
r. been picked off the seaweed. II only remain
for us to mention here that Captain Salmond
10 who appears to have done his duty after tn
u vessel struck, has not survived the calamity
When last seen alive, he was swimming lron
n the stern post OF the ship. which had Just gon
NJ down, to aportion ofthe forecastle. deck, whic
'" was floating about 70 yards from the main bod
DC Of the wreck; something struck him on th
n back of the head, and he never rose again.
"