- Number of lives lost: 495
- Number of survivors: 193
- Number of minutes between striking the rock and the ship sinking: 20
- Rumored payroll carried by the Birkenhead: £240,000 in gold coins (about 3 tons)
- Distance from shoreline: 2 miles
- Number one cause of death among would be survivors not in a life boat: great white sharks
- Date of shipwreck: 26 February 1852
- Time of shipwreck: 2:00 am (Note: bad things often happen in the middle of the night, frequently resulting from judgment errors, e.g. Exxon Valdez 12:04 am, Chernobyl 1:23 am, Three Mile Island 4:00 am)
- Number of sailors drowned instantly after hitting the rock: 100
30 May 2006
The Birkenhead, by the numbers
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