1-156-969 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Loss of the troopship 'Birkenhead', South Africa, 1852 (1887). Women and children being helped into the ship's lifeboats. HMS 'Birkenhead', an iron paddle-steamer troopship sailed from Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland, for the Cape of Good Hope on 7 January 1852. She foundered off Simon's Bay, South Africa on 26 February. The troops' commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Seton, gave the order Women and children first and the troops stood in line on deck as if on parade and awaited their fate. Of the 638 people on board, only 193 were saved.