This is an IHeart podcast.

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 stories. Send them to Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people.

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Our next story comes to us from a man who's simply known as the History Guy.

His videos are watched by hundreds of 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.

Hopefully you've never been in a shipwreck before, but if you did, you know, the first rule of loading the lifeboats, women and 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 in the Birkenhead

disaster of 1852.

The Birkenhead was an iron-hulled, steam-driven, paddle-wheeled troop ship of the British Army.

Launched in 1845, 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 10 knots, able to make the trip from Britain to the Cape in just

37 days.

She was safe, too. Her iron hole included 12 airtight

compartments separated by strong bulkheads. Two hundred ten feet long with a 37-foot beam,

she had a crew complement of 125 and room for more than 500 passengers. In January of 1852, the Birkenhead left Portsmouth with troops from 10 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,

...