Information on HMS Birkenhead

mwroman

mwroman

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Hello,
My youngest son asked me years ago to do a painting for him of the HMS Birkenhead, after hitting the submerged rocks off Danger Point in 1852. He wrote a ballad about that disaster (
) and wanted a painting. So I am been trying to do some research on the ship, and am also considering building a model of it to paint from. I realize it will have to be scratch built.. I'm thinking 1:96 scale, (1/8" = 1'), 210 foot overall length giving me a length of 26.25", and roughly 4.7" wide. I found a number of paintings and drawings and even a computer generated video on Youtube of the sinking, which showed some ship features.

Given the paucity of information or drawings of this ship I was wondering if anyone might know of some resources..

I did find this drawing in a video on Youtube, but I have no idea where it may have come from.

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks,
Mark

HMS Vulcxan_Birkenhead.jpg
 
mwroman said:
Hello,
My youngest son asked me years ago to do a painting for him of the HMS Birkenhead, after hitting the submerged rocks off Danger Point in 1852. He wrote a ballad about that disaster (
) and wanted a painting. So I am been trying to do some research on the ship, and am also considering building a model of it to paint from. I realize it will have to be scratch built.. I'm thinking 1:96 scale, (1/8" = 1'), 210 foot overall length giving me a length of 26.25", and roughly 4.7" wide. I found a number of paintings and drawings and even a computer generated video on Youtube of the sinking, which showed some ship features.

Given the paucity of information or drawings of this ship I was wondering if anyone might know of some resources..

I did find this drawing in a video on Youtube, but I have no idea where it may have come from.

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

Thanks,
Mark
Click to expand...
Lyrics:
Lyrics: The Gallant Birkenhead by Andrew R. There was nary the clap of a sailor's tread
On the decks of the gallant Birkenhead
Save our wake there was scarce a sound in the dead
Of the night that summer's eve;
All was peace and calm upon sea
As our sturdy troopship made her way
On the passage to Algoa Bay
Where our load we would relieve.
Well at two in the morn I was on the bow,
And I heard our proud ship smoothly plow Through the rippling waters down below,
When the calm all swiftly fled;
For a shudder tore through the shiv'ring hull
And it felt just like a sword in my soul,
To hear that sound like thunder roll
The knell of the Birkenhead!
Some perished when she struck that rock,
But who survived the early shock,
All hurried on the heaving deck
To see what they might do,
And what a sight would meet their eye
The ship in perfect disarray,
You could hear her grind and groan away,
And you knew that she was through.
Old Seton, a man of gallant worth
Was commander of the Seventy-fourth
He a stout and sturdy son of the North,
Drew his shining Highland sword.
And he told the men to fall in line
While the lifeboats fell on the ocean brine
Then he turned his head, and with a sign
Bade the wives and children board.
As they swiftly bade their last farewell
The ship began to fiercely roll,
And she broke upon the rocky shoals As the lifeboats made away.
While there in rank we sternly stood
Upon us came the rising flood,
And many a man kept with his blood,
The law of chivalry.
Some swam to reach the hopeful shore,
Some perished first in crimson gore,
And some will ne'er be heard of more
When History's page is read;
Though how they died, God only knows,
Yet still their honor brightly glows,
While in death's embrace they sleep below,
With the gallant Birkenhead.
(c) 2012 Cross and Resurrection Music
 
some paintings at the NMM



was it before this Vulcan?

l0762.jpg
Scale: 1:48. A model of the starboard side of HMS Vulcan (1849), a transport made entirely in wood and painted in realistic colours. The hull below the waterline is painted light brown and black above the waterline. There is a broad white stripe running horizontally along the gundeck and the single deck is painted a uniform cream. The starboard quarter and stern galleries are shown. Fittings include 13 gunports, fore, main and mizzen masts, a funnel, a stump bowsprit, and a figurehead depicting a male figure holding a hammer. The model is displayed on a pale blue backboard with a stained wood frame. The backboard is inscribed: 'HMS "Vulcan" Dimensions Length - 220' 0" Breadth 41' 0" Draught 17' 9" Displacement 2820 tons Engines Horsepower 793 Steam Pressure 10lbs per square inch, Speed 9.605 knots. Commenced at these works in 1846 as a steam frigate but owing to a trial of a target representing her side proving to the experts of those days, that iron vessels were unsuitable for war purposes, she was completed as a transport.'. These inscriptions are handwritten in gold paint with black shading.

HMS Vulcan (1849); Service vessel; Transport | Royal Museums Greenwich

collections.rmg.co.uk collections.rmg.co.uk
 
That is a great find!

This was probably the ship built just after the Birkenhead.. The Birkenhead did start out as the Vulcan, but the name was changed before launch. I read somewhere that Laird built another Vulcan as an iron hull steamer, but they changed the design from side paddle wheel to screw, so this was probably that ship..

Regardless, this should be good enough to build and paint from.

Given the other drawings and paintings out there I should be able to come up with something believable, and that is what I am really after.

From Wikipedia:
According to her designer, John Laird:
The designs I submitted, and which were finally approved, were of a vessel 210 feet (64 m) long (being about 20 feet (6.1 m) longer than any vessel of her class had been built), and 37 feet 6 inches (11.43 m) beam with a displacement of 1,918 long tons (1,949 t) on the load water-line of 15 feet 9 inches (4.80 m).

She had a round stern and a bow that ended in a large figurehead of Vulcan, holding a hammer in one hand, and some of "the bolts of Jove" that he had just forged in the other.
 
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When it says a length of 210'/220', how is that measured? Does overall length include the bowsprit?
 
I was just thinking that since the Birkenhead had an Iron hull, maybe I should build the hull out of plastruct or evergreen sheet styrene.. Thoughts?
 
Admin, I think this thread is going to turn into a build log.. Is it possible to move it to the build logs area?

Thanks,

Mark
 
mwroman said:
Admin, I think this thread is going to turn into a build log.. Is it possible to move it to the build logs area?

Thanks,

Mark
Click to expand...
I would like to keep this posts here - and best would be you start a real building log - are you planning to build her as a model - or a painting?
 
Uwek said:
I would like to keep this posts here - and best would be you start a real building log - are you planning to build her as a model - or a painting?
Click to expand...
Both, actually. The model will be built and then used to paint and draw from. I will start a build log in that section, then.
 
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