Questions Answers (Prose)The Birkenhead Drill
Q.1: What is the Birkenhead?
Ans: It was a troopship of Royal British Navy that was carrying soldiers and their families to South Africa.
Q.2: Why the ship could not reach its destination?
Ans: It was a troopship of Royal British Navy that was carrying soldiers and their families to South Africa. cont
Q.2: Why the ship could not reach its destination?
OR
How did the Birkenhead come to be wrecked? Was any member of her crew to blame?
Ans: The ship was sailing from England to the South Africa. Unfortunately the ship fell prey to devastating collision with a hidden rock which was neither mentioned in any of the ocean map nor discovered. The collision split the ship into two parts. The front half of the ship soon sank into the water. But the rear half kept floating on the surface of the water for sometime, thus, giving a chance to many to survive the terrible disaster. Finally, the rear part also sank costing lives of many brave soldiers. In this way, the ship was completely wrecked.
No member of the crew can be blamed for this destruction because the rock was not shown on any of the ocean-map. Further, it was an accident which can not be foretold.
Q.3: What would probably have happened if there had been a panic on the Birkenhead?
Ans: Unlike the conventional attitude, the soldiers maintained complete discipline. They showed great heroism, courage and sense of duty. Following the order of their commander, they stood in their rank calmly at attention as if they were on their daily drill. They did not run helter-skelter for their lives. They managed the situation with patience and discipline. They did not let panic overcome them or the environment there. If there had been a panic on the ship, not one out of six hundred and thirty passengers would have been saved. The strong men might have pushed others into the sea in their wild efforts to reach the deck of remaining part. Men, women and children might have been trampled under the running feet. Those who have occupied seats in life boats, would have outnumbered the capacity of boats, and would result in sinking the boat.
Q.4: Describe the behaviour of the soldiers, while the women and children sailed away in the boats?
Ans: Unlike the conventional attitude, the young soldiers maintained complete discipline. They showed great heroism, courage and sense of duty. Following the order of their commander, they stood in their rank calmly at attention as if they were on their daily drill. They neither uttered complaining words nor condemned the officer in command. None of them ran helter-skelter for their lives. They managed the situation with patience and discipline. They did not let panic overcome them or the environment there. Obeying the order, the soldiers lowered the life boats and transferred all the women and children safely. They saw the life boats sailed away calmly and patiently. The ship company with their captain stood by the soldiers and went down with them as the broken ship sank into water.
Q.5: When and where did the Birkenhead sink?
Ans: The Birkenhead was sailing from England to South Africa. Unfortunately, the ship fell prey to a devastating collision with a hidden rock under the surface of ocean at 2P.M on February 25, 1851 at a distance of sixty four kilometers from Cape Town.
The collision split the ship into two parts. The front half of the ship soon sank into the water, but the rear half kept floating to a certain duration then it also sank into water.
Q.6: Describe the heroic action that took place after the Birkenhead went down? OR How did the commander of the Birkenhead sacrifice his own life and saved two young soldiers?
Ans: A remarkable example of heroism happened in the tragic incident of Birkenhead when the unfortunate ship sank into ocean completely. The Commander of the troops was hanging on a piece of plank to keep floating on the surface. When he saw two young soldiers floundering about ineffectively in the water, he pushed the plank towards them and all three held on to it. Then the commander realized that if he continued to hang on with the soldiers, the wrecked plank would not bear the weight of all three, so he let go his hold and sank into the sea. Later on, the young soldiers were saved by the rescue ship. In this way, the commander set an example of sacrifice which is praiseworthy and worth practicing.
Q.7: What is the message we get from Birkenhead Drill?
Ans: Birkenhead Drill gives us the message of sacrifice. It demands us to sacrifice for weak, old, women and children in case of any disaster or accident. Bravery, discipline and sense of the duty are the traits that give us the moral courage to sacrifice for others.
BOOK QUESTIONS
Q.1: What was BIRKENHEAD?
Ans: It was a troopship of Royal British Navy that was carrying soldiers and their families to South Africa.
Q.2: What kind of people were being carried as passengers on the Birkenhead?
Ans: It was a troopship of Royal British Navy that was carrying soldiers and their families to South Africa. There were six hundred and thirty passengers. Out of these) one hundred
and seventy were women and children. Soldiers were mostly young and inexperienced. Most of them had recently joined army. There were a few officers.
Q.3: How did the Birkenhead come to be wrecked? Was any member of her crew to blame?
Ans: Birkenhead was almost at the end of her voyage when it struck a hidden rock. Ten minutes later, the ship struck the rock again and spited into two pieces. No member of her crew was to be blamed because this monstrous rock had not been indicated on any map.
Q.4: When and where did Birkenhead sink?
Ans: It was almost at the end of voyage, when Birkenhead faced destruction. It was 25th February 1851; Birkenhead was forty miles away from the coast of Cape Town of South Africa when it unfortunately struck the hidden rock. Ten minutes later, it struck the rock again and spited into two pieces. After some moments, it sank into the depth of sea.
Q.5: Why was there lifeboats for only one eighty people after the collision with the rock?
Ans: As a result of the collision with the rock, most of the lifeboats were badly damaged and there were left only three lifeboats in usable conditions. Each lifeboat could carry sixty passengers. Therefore, only one hundred eighty passengers could find place in the lifeboats.
Q.6: Was there enough room in the lifeboat for all the women and children on the board?
Ans: There were only three lifeboats in usable condition after the collision. Since each lifeboat could carry sixty passengers, only one hundred eighty passengers can be accommodated in these boasts and there was enough room for hundred and seventy women and children on the board.
Q.7: What would probably have happened, if there had been a panic?
Ans: Had there been a panic on the Birkenhead, the situation would surely have been different. There were six hundred and thirty people on the wrecked ship but room in the lifeboats was for only one hundred and eighty passengers. In case of a panic, women and children would have been crushed down under the feet of crowd. They might have pushed one another into the sea.
The boats might have sunk into the sea due to being overloaded. If such a thing had happened on the Birkenhead, not a single out of six hundred and thirty people would have been saved.
Q.8: Were many of the men rescued who remained on the wrecked/sinking ship?
Ans: After the lifeboats had sailed away, four hundred and sixty men left on the ship. The rescue ship could pick up very few of them. Out of 460 men, only twenty-four could be saved and 436 men drowned into the sea forever.
Q.9: Describe one heroic action that took place after the Birkenhead went down? OR Describe how did Commander of the troops sacrificed his life to save the lives of two young soldiers/sailors.
Ans: The Commander of the troops was hanging onto the some part of wrecked ship when he saw two young sailors struggling for their lives. He pushed the wreckage towards them and all three held on to it. Soon, the Commander knew that the wreckage was not strong enough to support all three. He left the board to save the lives of young sailors and sank into the sea.
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