Transportation Gallery

Loss of the HMS Birkenhead

"Vintage engraving from 1878 showing the loss of the Birkenhead. The Birkenhead was an iron paddle steamer of 1400 tons, and was launched in December 1845. On 26 February 1852, while transporting troops to Algoa Bay, she was wrecked at Danger Point near Gansbaai on the outskirts of 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."

© duncan1890

Wreak of HMS Wager - Cacique fires off the gun

Vintage engraving showing a scene from Wreak of HMS Wager. The wreck of the Wager became famous for the subsequent adventures of the survivors who found themselves marooned on a desolate island in the middle of a Patagonian winter, and in particular because of the Wager Mutiny that followed

© duncan1890

18th Century Style, 511782722, Native American Ethnicity, Sailing Ship, Wreck

HMS Sovereign of the Seas

"Vintage engraving of HMS Sovereign of the Seas a 90-gun First Rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, but at launch was armed with 102 bronze guns, at the insistence of the King Charles. She was later renamed Sovereign, and then Royal Sovereign. The ship was launched on 13 October 1637 and served from 1638 until 1697, when a fire burned the ship to the waterline at Chatham. Took part in the Battle of Kentish Knock, Battle of Beachy Head (1690) and Battle of La Hogue."

© duncan1890