HMS Birkenhead ( 1845 ) HMS " Birkenhead , also referred to as HM Troopship " Birkenhead or steam frigate Birkenhead , was one of the first iron - hulled ships built for the Royal Navy . She was designed as a frigate , but was converted to a troopship before being commissioned . On 26 February 1852 , while transporting troops to Algoa Bay , she was wrecked at Danger Point near Gansbaai , 140 kilometres from Cape Town , South Africa . There were not enough serviceable lifeboats for all the passengers , and the soldiers famously stood firm , thereby allowing the women and children to board the boats safely . Only 193 of the 643 people on board survived , and the soldiers ' chivalry gave rise to the " women and children first " protocol when abandoning ship , while the " Birkenhead drill " of Rudyard Kipling ' s poem came to describe courage in face of hopeless circumstances . Description and history . The " Birkenhead " was laid down at John Laird ' s shipyard at Birkenhead as the frigate HMS " Vulcan " , but renamed soon after to " Birkenhead " after the town where she was built . She had two steam engines from Forrester & Co that drove a pair of paddle wheels , and two masts rigged as a brig . According to her designer , John Laird : The ship was divided into eight watertight compartments , while the engine room was divided by two longitudinal bulkheads into four compartments , making 12 watertight compartments in total . She had a round stern and a bow that ended in a large figurehead of Vulcan , holding a hammer in one hand , and some of " the bolts of Jove " that he had just forged in the other . Her armament was originally intended to be two 96 - pound pivot gun s , one forward and the other aft , and four 68 - pounder broadside guns . The " Birkenhead " was launched on 30 December 1845 by the Marchioness of Westminster . Her hull then weighed 903 tons and drew , although she was at this time missing approximately 15 tons of cabin fittings . Machinery , stores , and other fittings were expected to add an additional 1 , 000 or so tons , increasing her draught six more feet . She undertook her maiden voyage to Plymouth in 1846 , averaging to for the journey . She remained laid up for some time , before being put to varied use around England , Scotland and Ireland . In November 1846 , Isambard Kingdom Brunel ' s iron ship SS " Great Britain " ran aground on the sands of Dundrum Bay , Ireland . There was doubt as to whether she could be re - floated . Brunel advised that if anyone could rescue the ship then the man to do it was the naval engineer James Bremner . He was engaged and the " Great Britain " was re - floated on 27 August 1847 with the assistance of HMS " Birkenhead " . The " Birkenhead " was never commissioned as a frigate , as two factors came into play while she was still under construction , that resulted in her being converted into a troopship . Firstly , the Royal Navy ' s warship s were switched from paddle wheels to more efficient propeller propulsion , following an experiment organised by the Admiralty in 1845 in which the benefits of the propeller over the paddle wheel were dramatically demonstrated . Secondly , the Admiralty had doubts about the effects of cannon shot against iron hulls — in a number of trials carried out at Royal Arsenal in 1845 , at lower velocities shot made a jagged hole that was hard to plug . As part of her conversion to a troopship in 1851 , a forecastle and poop deck were added to the " Birkenhead " to increase her accommodation , and a third mast added , to change her sail plan to a barquentine . Although she never served as a warship , she was faster and more comfortable than any of the wooden sail - driven troopship s of the time , making the trip from the Cape in 37 days in October 1850 . Final voyage . In January 1852 , under the command of Captain Robert Salmond RN , the " Birkenhead " left Portsmouth conveying troops from ten different regiments , including the 74th Regiment of Foot and Queen ' s Royal Regiment , to the 8th Xhosa War ( then called the " Kaffir War " ) against the Xhosa in South Africa . On 5 January , she picked up more soldiers at Queenstown ( now Cobh ) , Ireland , and conveyed some officers ' wives and families . On 23 February 1852 , " Birkenhead " docked briefly at Simonstown , near Cape Town . Most of the women and children disembarked along with a number of sick soldiers . Nine cavalry horses , several bales of hay and 35 tons of coal were loaded for the last leg of the voyage to Algoa Bay . She sailed from Simon ' s Bay at 06 : 00 on 25 February 1852 with between 630 and 643 men , women and children aboard , the exact number being in some doubt . In order to make the best possible speed , Captain Salmond decided to hug the South African coast , setting a course that was generally within of the shore . Using her paddle wheels , she maintained a steady speed of . The sea was calm and the night was clear as she left False Bay and headed east . Shortly before 02 : 00 on 26 February , while " Birkenhead " was travelling at a speed of , the leadsman made sounding s of . Before he could take another sounding , she struck an uncharted rock at with of water beneath her bows and at her stern . The rock lies near Danger Point ( today near Gansbaai , Western Cape ) . Barely submerged , it is clearly visible in rough seas , but it is not immediately apparent in calmer conditions . Captain Salmond rushed on deck and ordered the anchor to be dropped , the quarter - boats to be lowered , and a turn astern to be given by the engines . However , as the ship backed off the rock , the sea rushed into the large hole made by the collision and the ship struck again , buckling the plates of the forward bilge and ripping open the bulkheads . Shortly , the forward compartments and the engine rooms were flooded , and over 100 soldiers were drowned in their berths . The surviving soldiers mustered and awaited their officers ' orders . Salmond ordered Colonel Seton to send men to the chain pump s ; sixty were directed to this task , sixty more were assigned to the tackles of the lifeboats , and the rest were assembled on the poop deck in order to raise the forward part of the ship . The women and children were placed in the ship ' s cutter , which lay alongside . Two other boats were manned , but one was immediately swamped and the other could not be launched due to poor maintenance and paint on the winches , leaving only three boats available . The two large boats , with capacities of 150 men each , were not among them . The surviving officers and men assembled on deck , where Lieutenant - Colonel Seton of the 74th Foot took charge of all military personnel and stressed the necessity of maintaining order and discipline to his officers . As a survivor later recounted : " Almost everybody kept silent , indeed nothing was heard , but the kicking of the horses and the orders of Salmond , all given in a clear firm voice . " Ten minutes after the first impact , the engines still turning astern , the ship struck again beneath the engine room , tearing open her bottom . She instantly broke in two just aft of the mainmast . The funnel went over the side and the forepart of the ship sank at once . The stern section , now crowded with men , floated for a few minutes before sinking . Just before she sank , Salmond called out that " all those who can swim jump overboard , and make for the boats " . Colonel Seton , however , recognising that rushing the lifeboats would risk swamping them and endangering the women and children , ordered the men to stand fast , and only three men made the attempt . The cavalry horses were freed and driven into the sea in the hope that they might be able to swim ashore . The soldiers did not move , even as the ship broke up barely 20 minutes after striking the rock . Some of the soldiers managed to swim the to shore over the next 12 hours , often hanging on to pieces of the wreck to stay afloat , but most drowned , died of exposure or were taken by sharks . I remained on the wreck until she went down ; the suction took me down some way , and a man got hold of my leg , but I managed to kick him off and came up and struck out for some pieces of wood that were on the water and started for land , about two miles off . I was in the water about five hours , as the shore was so rocky and the surf ran so high that a great many were lost trying to land . Nearly all those that took to the water without their clothes on were taken by sharks ; hundreds of them were all round us , and I saw men taken by them close to me , but as I was dressed ( having on a flannel shirt and trousers ) they preferred the others . I was not in the least hurt , and am happy to say , kept my head clear ; most of the officers lost their lives from losing their presence of mind and trying to take money with them , and from not throwing off their coats . - Letter from Lieutenant J . F . Girardot , 43rd Light Infantry , to his father , 1 March 1852 . The next morning , the schooner " Lioness " discovered one of the cutters , and after saving the occupants of the second boat made her way to the scene of the disaster . Arriving in the afternoon , she found 40 people still clinging to the rigging . It was reported that of the approximately 643 people aboard , only 193 were saved . Captain Edward WC Wright of the 91st Argyllshire Regiment was the most senior army officer to survive ; he was awarded a brevet majority for his actions during the ordeal , dated 26 February 1852 . The number of personnel aboard is in some doubt , but an estimate of 638 was published in " The Times " . It is generally thought that the survivors comprised 113 soldiers ( all ranks ) , 6 Royal Marines , 54 seamen ( all ranks ) , 7 women , 13 children and at least one male civilian , but these numbers cannot be substantiated , as muster roll s and books were lost with the ship . Of the horses , eight made it safely to land , while the ninth had its leg broken while being pushed into the sea . Aftermath . A number of sailors were court martial led as a result of the accident . The court was held on 8 May 1852 on board HMS " Victory " in Portsmouth , and attracted a great deal of interest . However as none of the senior naval officers of the " Birkenhead " survived , no - one was found to be to blame . Captain Edward WC Wright of the 91st Argyllshire Regiment told the court martial : The order and regularity that prevailed on board , from the moment the ship struck till she totally disappeared , far exceeded anything that I had thought could be affected by the best discipline ; and it is the more to be wondered at seeing that most of the soldiers were but a short time in the service . Everyone did as he was directed and there was not a murmur or cry amongst them until the ship made her final plunge – all received their orders and carried them out as if they were embarking instead of going to the bottom – I never saw any embarkation conducted with so little noise or confusion . In 1895 , a lighthouse was erected at Danger Point to warn shipping of the dangerous reef . The lighthouse is about tall and is visible for approximately . In 1936 , a remembrance plate for the Birkenhead was affixed to its base by the Navy League of South Africa . A new Birkenhead memorial was erected nearby in March 1995 . In December 2001 , the plaque was moved closer to the lighthouse . A memorial in St Giles ' Cathedral , Edinburgh , bears the following inscription : Frederick William IV of Prussia recognised the bravery of the soldiers and ordered an account of the incident to be read at the head of every regiment in his army . Queen Victoria ordered the erection of an official Birkenhead monument at the Chelsea Royal Hospital . In 1892 , Thomas M . M . Hemy painted a widely admired maritime depiction of the incident , " The wreck of the Birkenhead " . Prints of this painting were distributed to the public . In 1977 , the South African mint issued a " Heroes of the Birkenhead Medallion " gold coin commemorating the 125 years since the sinking , featuring Hemy ' s painting on one of the faces of the coin . Legacy . " Birkenhead " drill . The sinking of the " Birkenhead " is the earliest maritime disaster evacuation during which the concept of " women and children first " is known to have been applied . " Women and children first " subsequently became a standard meme in relation to the evacuation of sinking ships , both in fiction and in real life . The synonymous " " Birkenhead " drill " became an exemplar of courageous behaviour in hopeless circumstances , and appeared in Rudyard Kipling ' s 1893 tribute to the Royal Marines , " Soldier an ' Sailor Too " : To take your chance in the thick of a rush , with firing all about , Is nothing so bad when you ' ve cover to ' and , an ' leave an ' likin ' to shout ; But to stand an ' be still to the Birken ' ead drill is a damn tough bullet to chew , An ' they done it , the Jollies - - ' Er Majesty ' s Jollies - - soldier an ' sailor too ! Their work was done when it ' adn ' t begun ; they was younger nor me an ' you ; Their choice it was plain between drownin ' in ' eaps an ' bein ' mopped by the screw , So they stood an ' was still to the Birken ' ead drill , soldier an ' sailor too The phrase also appears in Robert A . Heinlein ' s 1956 " Double Star " : I knew I was sunk - but , damn it , if you are caught by the Birkenhead Drill , the least you owe yourself is to stand at attention while the ship goes down . And in David Weber ' s 1991 novel " Mutineers ' Moon " : And if he was caught in the Birkenhead Drill , he could at least try to do his best till the ship went down . " Birkenhead " treasure . There is a persistent rumour that the " Birkenhead " was carrying a military payroll of £240 , 000 in gold coins weighing about three tons , which had been secretly stored in the powder - room before the final voyage . Numerous attempts have been made to salvage the gold . In 1893 , the nephew of Colonel Seton wrote that a certain Mr . Bandmann at the Cape obtained permission from the Cape Government to dive the wreck of the " Birkenhead " in search of the treasure . A June 1958 salvage attempt by a renowned Cape Town diver recovered anchors and some brass fittings , but no gold . In 1986 - 1988 , a combined archaeological and salvage excavation was carried out by Aqua Exploration , Depth Recovery Unit and Pentow Marine Salvage Company . Only a few gold coins were recovered , which appear to have been the personal possessions of the passengers and crew . The rumour of treasure and the shallow depth of the wreck at have resulted in the wreck being considerably disturbed over the years , despite its being a war grave . In 1989 , the British and South African governments entered into an agreement over the salvage of the wreck , sharing any gold recovered . HMS " Birkenhead " as namesake . Three placenames in the Canadian province of British Columbia were conferred in honour of the " Birkenhead " disaster by Hudson ' s Bay Company explorer Alexander Caulfield Anderson , a boyhood friend and cousin of Lt - Col . Seton of the 74th Regiment of Foot , on a traverse of uncharted country between the Fraser Canyon and the coastal Lower Mainland in 1846 . Named after his cousin , Seton Lake cuts west through the Coast Mountains from the Fraser Canyon town of Lillooet , beyond which is its twin Anderson Lake . A few miles southwest from the head of Anderson Lake is Mount Birkenhead , on the north side of the low pass connecting the valley of those lakes to that of the Birkenhead River . The river , the valley area near Mount Birkenhead known as Birken , and Birken Lake at the summit of the pass were in turn named after the mountain , and not directly by Anderson . Other name legacies . According to local tradition , Salmonsdam Nature Reserve in the Overberg is named after Captain Robert Salmond . Locals to this day call Great White Sharks " Tommy Sharks " after the Tommys that were taken by them in water .