The Wreck of the HMS Birkenhead: The History of the British Royal Navy's Most Notorious 19th Century Shipwreck
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The Wreck of the HMS Birkenhead: The History of the British Royal Navy's Most Notorious 19th Century Shipwreck
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Narrated by:
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Phillip J. Mather
About this listen
"In memory of Lieut.-Colonel Alexander Seton, Ensign Alex. C. Russell, and forty-eight N.C.O.s and men of the 74th Highlanders who were drowned at the wreck of HMS Birkenhead on the 26th February 1852, off Point Danger, Cape of Good Hope, after all the women and children on board had been safely landed in the ship's boats." (The inscription on a memorial in St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland)
"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" (Rudyard Kipling, "Soldier an' Sailor Too")
In an emergency it is a common practice to attempt to evacuate women and children first, not simply because they're the most vulnerable but because it's an established code of honor that has been passed down through generations. This is especially the case in situations where there aren't enough resources to rescue everyone, and this concept has been made famous by disasters such as the sinking of the Titanic, which didn't have enough lifeboats onboard for everyone.
Although the "women and children first" rule might seem like a common practice that has been observed for centuries, it was actually popularized by the 1852 shipwreck of the Royal Navy troopship HMS Birkenhead.
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
In one of the most spellbinding accounts of men who go down to the sea in ships, the modern listener is given a seat in the whale boat of Owen Chase as he and his fellow crew and their captain make way in three boats after the wreckage of the Whaleship Essex. The account of how the Essex was wrecked inspired the infamous book Moby Dick and countless movies, including In the Heart of the Sea.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent telling of the true story
- By Vicki Goodwin on 03-03-16
By: Owen Chase, and others
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Simple Courage
- The True Story of Peril on the Sea
- By: Frank Delaney
- Narrated by: Frank Delaney
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 329
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 211
Drawing on historical documents and contemporary accounts and on exclusive interviews with Carlsen's family, Delaney opens a window into the world of the merchant marine. With deep affection, and respect, for the weather and all that goes with it, he places us in the heart of the storm, a "biblical tempest" of unimaginable power. He illuminates the bravery and ingenuity of Carlsen and the extraordinary courage that the 37-year-old captain inspired in his stalwart crew.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Well written and read
- By AMS on 03-03-08
By: Frank Delaney
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Sea of Glory
- America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 626
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 467
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 471
America's first frontier was not the West; it was the sea, and no one writes more eloquently about that watery wilderness than Nathaniel Philbrick. In his best-selling In the Heart of the Sea, Philbrick probed the nightmarish dangers of the vast Pacific. Now, in an epic sea adventure, he writes about one of the most ambitious voyages of discovery the Western world has ever seen - the US Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A good solid voyage of discovery
- By Ken Sundermeyer on 06-18-05
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In the Heart of the Sea
- The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
- By: Nathaniel Philbrick
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,486
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,799
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,795
The ordeal of the whaleship Essex was an event as mythic in the nineteenth century as the sinking of the Titanic was in the twentieth. In 1819 the Essex left Nantucket for the South Pacific with 20 crew members aboard. In the middle of the South Pacific the ship was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale. The crew drifted for more than 90 days in three tiny whaleboats, succumbing to weather, hunger, and disease and ultimately turning to drastic measures in the fight for survival.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Audio must have been fixed
- By Amazon Customer on 02-11-18
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In the Wake of Madness
- The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon
- By: Joan Druett
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 169
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 127
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Story4 out of 5 stars 125
Commanded by Captain Howes Norris, the Sharon headed for the whaling grounds of the northwestern Pacific. At Pohnpei Island, 12 men from the Sharon deserted the ship, leaving her critically shorthanded. After steering for New Zealand to recruit more crew, the men on lookout raised a school of sperm whales. Two boats gave chase, each with a crew of six. Five men were left on board the Sharon: Norris, three pacific Islanders, and a Portuguese boy named Manuel.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Love this author.
- By David H. on 07-15-17
By: Joan Druett
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The Finest Hours
- The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue
- By: Michael J. Tougias, Casey Sherman
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,780
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,511
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,514
In the winter of 1952, New England was battered by the most brutal nor’easter in years. As the weather wreaked havoc on land, the freezing Atlantic became a wind-whipped zone of peril, setting the stage for one of the most heroic rescue stories ever lived. On February 18, while the storm raged, two oil tankers, the Pendleton and the Fort Mercer, were in the same horrifying predicament. Built with “dirty steel,” and not prepared to withstand such ferocious seas, both tankers split in two, leaving the dozens of men on board utterly at the Atlantic’s mercy.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Two Times Terrific!
- By Carole T. on 01-31-16
By: Michael J. Tougias, and others
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Other Side of the Night
- The Carpathia, the Californian and the Night the Titanic Was Lost
- By: Daniel Allen Butler
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 610
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 555
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 559
A few minutes before midnight on April 14, 1912, the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage to New York, struck an iceberg. Less than three hours later she lay at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. While the world has remained fascinated by the tragedy, the most amazing drama of those fateful hours was not played out aboard the doomed liner. It took place on the decks of two other ships, one 58 miles distant from the sinking Titanic, the other barely 10 miles away.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Other Side of the Night
- By Amazon Customer on 04-19-15
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Dead Wake
- The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 14,018
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 12,450
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12,427
On May 1, 1915, with WWI entering its tenth month, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants. The passengers were surprisingly at ease, even though Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone. For months, German U-boats had brought terror to the North Atlantic.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Naivety VS Barbarians Of War
- By Sara on 03-05-16
By: Erik Larson
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Sailing Alone Around the World
- By: Joshua Slocum
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 204
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 110
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 113
Joshua Slocum was believed to be the first man to sail single-handed around the world. After a distinguished career, where he worked his way up from cabin boy to captain, Joshua Slocum wrecked his ship off the coast of Brazil. Turning this catastrophe to his advantage, he built a sailing canoe from the wreckage and sailed back to New York. Moreover, he wrote Voyage of the Liberdad, a chronicle of his trip, and earned some literary success.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A REMARKABLE MAN
- By Rod on 05-03-06
By: Joshua Slocum
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Collision Course
- The Classic Story of the Collision of the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm
- By: Alvin Moscow
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 76
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
One of the largest, fastest, and most beautiful ships in the world, the Andrea Doria was en route to New York from Italy. Departing from the United States was the much smaller Stockholm. On the foggy night of July 25, 1956, 53 miles southeast of Nantucket, the Stockholm sliced through the Doria's steel hull. Within minutes, the sea was pouring into the Italian liner. Eleven hours later, she capsized and sank into the ocean.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thorough Account of the Tragedy
- By Admiralu on 10-22-21
By: Alvin Moscow
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Last Flag Down
- The Epic Journey of the Last Confederate Warship
- By: John Baldwin, Ron Powers
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
As the Confederacy felt itself slipping beneath the Union juggernaut in late 1864, the South launched a desperate counteroffensive to force a standoff. Its secret weapon? A state-of-the-art raiding ship whose mission was to sink the U.S. merchant fleet. The raider's name was Shenandoah, and her executive officer was Conway Whittle, a 24-year-old warrior.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Good all around
- By Rob on 01-19-08
By: John Baldwin, and others
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Graveyard of the Lakes
- Great Lakes Books Series
- By: Mark L. Thompson
- Narrated by: Scott MacDonald
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
In Graveyard of the Lakes, Thompson suggests that most of the accidents and deaths on the lakes have been the result of human error, ranging from simple mistakes to gross incompetence. In addition to his compelling analysis of the causes of shipwrecks, Thompson includes factual accounts of more than 100 wrecks. Graveyard of the Lakes will forever change the listener's perspective on shipwrecks.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Graveyard of the Lakes
- By Bernard Slicker on 02-11-18
By: Mark L. Thompson
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Captain James Cook
- By: Rob Mundle
- Narrated by: Paul English
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 142
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 124
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
Captain James Cook is one of the greatest maritime explorers of all time. Over three remarkable voyages of discovery into the Pacific in the latter part of the 18th century, Cook unravelled the oldest mystery surrounding the existence of Terra Australis Incognita - the Great South Land. He became the first explorer to circumnavigate New Zealand and establish that it was two main islands; discover the Hawaiian Islands for the British Empire; and left an enduring legacy.
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3 out of 5 stars
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High school history text?
- By peter on 08-31-22
By: Rob Mundle
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The Lion of St. Mark
- By: G.A. Henty
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 180
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 132
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 131
Of The Lion of St. Mark, G.A. Henty wrote: "I have laid my story in the time not of the triumphs of Venice but of her hardest struggle for existence, when she defended herself successfully against the coalition of Hungary, Padua, and Genoa, for never at any time were the virtues of Venice, her steadfastness, her patriotism, and her willingness to make all sacrifice for her independence more brilliantly shown.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Great Listen
- By Jef on 04-04-05
By: G.A. Henty
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So Close to Home
- A True Story of an American Family’s Fight for Survival During World War II
- By: Michael J. Tougias, Alison O’Leary
- Narrated by: Elijah Alexander
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 206
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 184
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 184
On May 19, 1942, a U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico stalked its prey 50 miles away from New Orleans. Captained by 29-year-old Iron Cross recipient Erich Würdemann, the submarine set its sights on the freighter Heredia with 59 souls onboard. Most of the crew were merchant seamen, but there were also a handful of civilians, including the Downs family, consisting of the parents, Ray Sr. and Ina; along with their two children, eight-year-old Ray Jr., nicknamed "Sonny", and 11-year-old Lucille.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Couldn't Stop Listening
- By Reader7347 on 03-08-18
By: Michael J. Tougias, and others
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Batavia
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Richard Aspel
- Length: 17 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 551
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 484
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 483
The story begins in 1629, when the pride of the Dutch East India Company, the Batavia, is on its maiden voyage en route from Amsterdam to the Dutch East Indies, laden down with the greatest treasure to leave Holland. The magnificent ship is already boiling over with a mutinous plot that is just about to break into the open when, just off the coast of Western Australia, it strikes an unseen reef in the middle of the night.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Disaster, Mutiny, Murder, Survival
- By Todd on 02-07-13
By: Peter FitzSimons
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A Voyage for Madmen
- By: Peter Nichols
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 313
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 276
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 273
In 1968, nine sailors set off on the most daring race ever held: to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe nonstop. It was a feat that had never been accomplished and one that would forever change the face of sailing. Ten months later, only one of the nine men would cross the finish line and earn fame, wealth, and glory. For the others, the reward was madness, failure, and death. In this extraordinary book, Peter Nichols chronicles a contest of the individual against the sea, waged at a time before cell phones and electronic positioning systems.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not Awesome
- By Shaun G. on 04-23-19
By: Peter Nichols
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Mutiny on the Bounty
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Michael Carman
- Length: 22 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 928
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 809
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Story5 out of 5 stars 805
The mutiny on HMS Bounty, in the South Pacific on 28 April 1789, is one of history's truly great stories - a tale of human drama, intrigue and adventure of the highest order - and in the hands of Peter FitzSimons it comes to life as never before. Commissioned by the Royal Navy to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti and take them to the West Indies, the Bounty's crew found themselves in a tropical paradise. Five months later, they did not want to leave.
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5 out of 5 stars
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You don't know the whole story.
- By Justin Sluyter on 05-01-19
By: Peter FitzSimons
What listeners say about The Wreck of the HMS Birkenhead: The History of the British Royal Navy's Most Notorious 19th Century Shipwreck
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Phillip J Mather
- 04-27-15
Women and Children First!
This volume explains the origin of the phrase, Women and children first and exemplifies the British knack of turning a disaster into a celebration. Goof information, well narrated
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A. Kessel
- 04-25-15
Interesting History
Another interesting bit of world history. The narrator once again brings what could be dry material to vivid life!
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