The sinking of a ship named after a town in Merseyside hundreds of years ago was a historic first thanks to the courage of the soldiers onboard.
On Thursday, February 26 1852, the HMS Birkenhead, named after the town in which it was built, was carrying civilians and soldiers to South Africa's Algoa Bay from one of the country's current capital cities, Cape Town, when it was shipwrecked just miles off the coast.
It was a tragedy that saw hundreds drown, many in their sleep and many trapped within its iron hull, though the extent of human life lost could've been far worse if not for the bravery of the soldiers on board, whose courage has not been forgotten for hundreds of years since.
