![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Wreck_of_the_Birkenhead.jpg/640px-Wreck_of_the_Birkenhead.jpg&w=640&q=50)
HMS Birkenhead
1845 steam troopship / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The HMS Birkenhead was a British troopship that sank on 25 February 1852 near Cape Town, South Africa. It was one of the first iron-hulled ships built for the Royal Navy.[1] She was designed as a steam-powered frigate, but was converted to a troopship before being commissioned.[2]
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Wreck_of_the_Birkenhead.jpg/320px-Wreck_of_the_Birkenhead.jpg)
Many of the lifeboats could not be lowered because of poor maintenance and a thick layer of paint that kept the mechanisms from working.[3] The soldiers famously stood aside and allowed the women and children to get into the working lifeboats safely.[3] Only 193 of the 643 people on board survived. The chivalry shown by the soldiers gave rise to the "women and children first" protocol when abandoning ship.[3] The "Birkenhead drill" is memorialized in Rudyard Kipling's poem Soldier an' Sailor too:
"‘To stand and be still
- to the Birken’ead Drill
- is a damn tough bullet to chew".[3]
- to the Birken’ead Drill