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The article claims it was three miles to shore, not less than one:

> This course kept the Birkenhead within approximately three miles of the coast, maintaining a speed of approximately 8 knots.

> One young officer did manage the three mile swim to the shore where he emerged to find his own horse standing waiting for him.

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The article is wrong. The coordinates of the wreck can be found in the diving guide https://wikitravel.org/en/Diving_in_South_Africa/HMS_Birkenh...

The Wreckage location can be different than where the ship went under, due to the currents.

> The large sandstone reef to the south east of the wreckage with a pinnacle at the blinder known as Birkenhead Rock slopes down to about 27 m at the edge of the sand, which runs roughly east–west magnetic. The slope of this reef is quite steep to the east, but flattens out a bit where the engines of the wreck lie stacked at the edge of the sand.

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