October 20, 2025 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, when the HMS Birkenhead struck rocks off the coast of South Africa in 1852, chaos should have followed. Instead, what happened that night became one of history’s clearest displays of courage and order in the face of disaster. With lifeboats too few for the hundreds aboard, British soldiers stood their ground so that women and children could be saved. Their calm obedience became known as the Birkenhead Drill: a model of discipline that would inspire generations and set the standard for what it means to put others first. The History Guy shares the story.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people,
and we love your story. Send them to Ouramerican Stories
dot com. There's some of our favorites. Our next story
comes to us from a man who's simply known as
the History Guy. His videos are watched by hundreds of
(00:30):
thousands of people of all ages on YouTube. The History
Guy is also a regular contributor for us here at
Our American Stories. Today, the History Guy remembers the Birkenhead
disaster and explains where the protocol women and children First
was first used.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Hopefully you've never been in a shipwreck before, but if
you did, you know the first rule of loading the
lifeboats children first. But did you ever wonder where this
protocol came from? Well, that's a great question for the
History Guy, and so today we're going to talk about
an extraordinary story of bravery in the face of horrible circumstances,
(01:13):
in the Birkenhead Disaster of eighteen fifty two. The Birkenhead
was an iron hulled, steam driven, paddle wheeled troopship of
the British Army, launched in eighteen forty five. She was
a modern vessel, larger, more comfortable, and faster than the
typical wooden sail powered troop ships of her time. She
had a top speed of ten knots, able to make
(01:35):
the trip from Britain to the Cape in just thirty
seven days. She was safe too. Her iron hull included
twelve air tight compartment separated by strong bulkheads, two hundred
ten feet long with a thirty seven foot beam. She
had a crew complement of one hundred and twenty five
and room for more than five hundred passengers. In January
(01:56):
of eighteen fifty two, the Birkenhead left Portsmouth with troops
from ten different regiments on board, headed for South Africa,
where the troops were desperately needed as reinforcements in one
of the many South Africa border wars. She had several
women and children on board, families of the officers. On
the trip, three babies were born. She sailed through a
strong Atlantic wind storm, and yet her passage was the
(02:18):
fastest of any troop ship to date the urgency of
getting reinforcements to the frontier. On February twenty third, she
left Simonstown at about six pm, headed for Algora Bay
and Port Elizabeth around the cape. She had some six
hundred and forty three men, women and children on board.
She was in a hurry, so she hugged the coast
(02:38):
and steamed at full speed in calm seas and clear skies.
She was making eight and a half knots. Shortly before
two am, the Birkenhead struck a submerged rock oft aptly
named danger Point near Gansbay, South Africa. Ironically, the barely
submerged rock was easily visible in rough seas, but not
readily apparent in calm conditions. Ensign Ga Lucas of the
(03:02):
seventy fourth Foot, just twenty years old at the time,
later wrote, I was awakened by three distinct shocks. I
stood up immediately. It struck me that we were stuck
on a rock. There was a gash in the hole.
Seawater rushed in. At least one hundred soldiers were immediately drowned,
trapped sleeping in their bunks. Ship Captain Robert Salmon rushed
(03:23):
on deck, shouting orders in a clear and firm voice.
He ordered the lifeboats on the quarter deck lowered. The
women and children were placed in the ship's cutter. A
small boat. The stress rockets were fired, but there were
no vessels nearby to sea. Sixty men were detailed to
go below and operate the chain pumps to pump water
out of the hole, and sixty more were meant to
(03:43):
man the tackle on the two large lifeboats, each able
to carry one hundred and fifty people, But when they
pulled on the tackle to lift the lifeboats, the ropes broke.
The equipment hadn't been maintained, the ropes were rotten, and
the one hundred and fifty person boats were so heavy
they could not be lifted on their own because because
of the tilt, Several other lightboats couldn't be lowered, and
the Birkenhead only had three operable lifeboats, the cut Her
(04:05):
and two other small boats, not nearly enough for everyone
on board. The ranking officer on board, Lieutenant Colonel Seaton
of the seventy fourth Foot, arranged the remaining soldiers to
stand in ranks on the poop deck, using their weight
to lift the bow of the ship. In the pitch
black emergency, the men maintained their discipline. Captain Salmon ordered
the engines in reverse, thinking he could pull off the rocks.
(04:27):
It was a mistake. She struck again on the stern
and tore another gash. It flooded the engine room and
killed the boilers. The men sent below to man the
pumps were instantly drowned. As the ship broke in half,
Salmon ordered the horses thrown overboard in the hopes that
they could swim for shore. Eight of the nine made it.
Then Salmon gave a final order. All the men who
could swim should jump off and swim for the lifeboats.
(04:50):
But that's where the story takes its extraordinary turn. Colonel
Seaton realized that all the men swimming were way too
much for the small lifeboats at sea, and so he
shouted to his men the cutter with the women and children,
it will be swamped. I implore you not to do
this thing. I ask that you stand fast, and so
(05:13):
they did. They stood bravely at attention as the ship
broke up around them in what became known as the
Birkenhead Drill. One of the few officers to survive the disaster,
Captain Edward Wright of the ninety first Regiment. Vote of
that moment, everyone did is was directed, and there was
not a murmur or cry among them. All received their
(05:34):
orders and carried them out as if they were embarking
instead of going to the bottom put Rudyard Kipling immortalized
the moment in his poem Soldier and Sailor iiO. But
to stand and hold still to the Birkenhead drill is
a damned tough bullet to chew. But they did it
the Jolly's, her Majesty's Jolly's Soldier and Sailor too. The
(05:58):
Birkenhead sunk within twenty five minutes of striking the first rock.
Many were sucked down with the ship, and many more
were horribly taken by the great white charts, which are
prolific off of danger point. The next day, the schooner
Lioness discovered the cutter with the women and children and
rescued everyone who had been in the lifeboats. They returned
to the scene of the wreck and found forty more
(06:19):
survivors still clinging to the wreckage. About another one hundred
had managed to make it to shore. Out of six
hundred and thirty eight on the Birkinghead, one hundred and
ninety three survived, including all of the women and children.
The conduct of the soldiers aboard the Birkenhead became known
as a model for discipline and self sacrifice. It so
(06:41):
impressed the Emperor of Prussia, Frederick William the fourth, that
he had an account of the conduct aboard the Birkenhead
read out to every regiment in his army. There are
several monuments to the victims of the Birkenhead, both in
England and in South Africa, and the people of gans By,
South Africa still hold a memorial every year, a memorial
(07:02):
to remember people who deserve to be remembered because of
their sacrifice for others.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
And a terrific job as always by our own Greg
Hangler on the production and editing, and a special thanks
as always to the History Guy. The story of where
the Protocol Women and Children First was first used here
on our American Stories. Lee Habib here and I'm inviting
(07:31):
you to help our American Stories celebrate this country's two
hundred and fiftieth birthday coming soon. If you want to
help inspire countless others to love America like we do,
and want to help us bring the inspiring and important
stories told here about a good and beautiful country, please
consider making a tax deductible donation to our American Stories.
Go to Ouramericanstories dot com and click the donate button.
(07:55):
Any amount helps go to Ouramerican Stories dot com and
give
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people,
and we love your story. Send them to Ouramerican Stories
dot com. There's some of our favorites. Our next story
comes to us from a man who's simply known as
the History Guy. His videos are watched by hundreds of
(00:30):
thousands of people of all ages on YouTube. The History
Guy is also a regular contributor for us here at
Our American Stories. Today, the History Guy remembers the Birkenhead
disaster and explains where the protocol women and children First
was first used.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Hopefully you've never been in a shipwreck before, but if
you did, you know the first rule of loading the
lifeboats children first. But did you ever wonder where this
protocol came from? Well, that's a great question for the
History Guy, and so today we're going to talk about
an extraordinary story of bravery in the face of horrible circumstances,
(01:13):
in the Birkenhead Disaster of eighteen fifty two. The Birkenhead
was an iron hulled, steam driven, paddle wheeled troopship of
the British Army, launched in eighteen forty five. She was
a modern vessel, larger, more comfortable, and faster than the
typical wooden sail powered troop ships of her time. She
had a top speed of ten knots, able to make
(01:35):
the trip from Britain to the Cape in just thirty
seven days. She was safe too. Her iron hull included
twelve air tight compartment separated by strong bulkheads, two hundred
ten feet long with a thirty seven foot beam. She
had a crew complement of one hundred and twenty five
and room for more than five hundred passengers. In January
(01:56):
of eighteen fifty two, the Birkenhead left Portsmouth with troops
from ten different regiments on board, headed for South Africa,
where the troops were desperately needed as reinforcements in one
of the many South Africa border wars. She had several
women and children on board, families of the officers. On
the trip, three babies were born. She sailed through a
strong Atlantic wind storm, and yet her passage was the
(02:18):
fastest of any troop ship to date the urgency of
getting reinforcements to the frontier. On February twenty third, she
left Simonstown at about six pm, headed for Algora Bay
and Port Elizabeth around the cape. She had some six
hundred and forty three men, women and children on board.
She was in a hurry, so she hugged the coast
(02:38):
and steamed at full speed in calm seas and clear skies.
She was making eight and a half knots. Shortly before
two am, the Birkenhead struck a submerged rock oft aptly
named danger Point near Gansbay, South Africa. Ironically, the barely
submerged rock was easily visible in rough seas, but not
readily apparent in calm conditions. Ensign Ga Lucas of the
(03:02):
seventy fourth Foot, just twenty years old at the time,
later wrote, I was awakened by three distinct shocks. I
stood up immediately. It struck me that we were stuck
on a rock. There was a gash in the hole.
Seawater rushed in. At least one hundred soldiers were immediately drowned,
trapped sleeping in their bunks. Ship Captain Robert Salmon rushed
(03:23):
on deck, shouting orders in a clear and firm voice.
He ordered the lifeboats on the quarter deck lowered. The
women and children were placed in the ship's cutter. A
small boat. The stress rockets were fired, but there were
no vessels nearby to sea. Sixty men were detailed to
go below and operate the chain pumps to pump water
out of the hole, and sixty more were meant to
(03:43):
man the tackle on the two large lifeboats, each able
to carry one hundred and fifty people, But when they
pulled on the tackle to lift the lifeboats, the ropes broke.
The equipment hadn't been maintained, the ropes were rotten, and
the one hundred and fifty person boats were so heavy
they could not be lifted on their own because because
of the tilt, Several other lightboats couldn't be lowered, and
the Birkenhead only had three operable lifeboats, the cut Her
(04:05):
and two other small boats, not nearly enough for everyone
on board. The ranking officer on board, Lieutenant Colonel Seaton
of the seventy fourth Foot, arranged the remaining soldiers to
stand in ranks on the poop deck, using their weight
to lift the bow of the ship. In the pitch
black emergency, the men maintained their discipline. Captain Salmon ordered
the engines in reverse, thinking he could pull off the rocks.
(04:27):
It was a mistake. She struck again on the stern
and tore another gash. It flooded the engine room and
killed the boilers. The men sent below to man the
pumps were instantly drowned. As the ship broke in half,
Salmon ordered the horses thrown overboard in the hopes that
they could swim for shore. Eight of the nine made it.
Then Salmon gave a final order. All the men who
could swim should jump off and swim for the lifeboats.
(04:50):
But that's where the story takes its extraordinary turn. Colonel
Seaton realized that all the men swimming were way too
much for the small lifeboats at sea, and so he
shouted to his men the cutter with the women and children,
it will be swamped. I implore you not to do
this thing. I ask that you stand fast, and so
(05:13):
they did. They stood bravely at attention as the ship
broke up around them in what became known as the
Birkenhead Drill. One of the few officers to survive the disaster,
Captain Edward Wright of the ninety first Regiment. Vote of
that moment, everyone did is was directed, and there was
not a murmur or cry among them. All received their
(05:34):
orders and carried them out as if they were embarking
instead of going to the bottom put Rudyard Kipling immortalized
the moment in his poem Soldier and Sailor iiO. But
to stand and hold still to the Birkenhead drill is
a damned tough bullet to chew. But they did it
the Jolly's, her Majesty's Jolly's Soldier and Sailor too. The
(05:58):
Birkenhead sunk within twenty five minutes of striking the first rock.
Many were sucked down with the ship, and many more
were horribly taken by the great white charts, which are
prolific off of danger point. The next day, the schooner
Lioness discovered the cutter with the women and children and
rescued everyone who had been in the lifeboats. They returned
to the scene of the wreck and found forty more
(06:19):
survivors still clinging to the wreckage. About another one hundred
had managed to make it to shore. Out of six
hundred and thirty eight on the Birkinghead, one hundred and
ninety three survived, including all of the women and children.
The conduct of the soldiers aboard the Birkenhead became known
as a model for discipline and self sacrifice. It so
(06:41):
impressed the Emperor of Prussia, Frederick William the fourth, that
he had an account of the conduct aboard the Birkenhead
read out to every regiment in his army. There are
several monuments to the victims of the Birkenhead, both in
England and in South Africa, and the people of gans By,
South Africa still hold a memorial every year, a memorial
(07:02):
to remember people who deserve to be remembered because of
their sacrifice for others.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
And a terrific job as always by our own Greg
Hangler on the production and editing, and a special thanks
as always to the History Guy. The story of where
the Protocol Women and Children First was first used here
on our American Stories. Lee Habib here and I'm inviting
(07:31):
you to help our American Stories celebrate this country's two
hundred and fiftieth birthday coming soon. If you want to
help inspire countless others to love America like we do,
and want to help us bring the inspiring and important
stories told here about a good and beautiful country, please
consider making a tax deductible donation to our American Stories.
Go to Ouramericanstories dot com and click the donate button.
(07:55):
Any amount helps go to Ouramerican Stories dot com and
give
Host
Lee Habeeb
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