A story of deeper pathos than the loss of the
Birkenhead troop- steamer, on the coast of our South African colony, has rarely been published. The strict preservation of discipline to the last, the quiet heroism with which the gallant men went down, was sublime. The conduct of the officers, too, after the vessel struck—whatever of previous remissness or rash daring may be laid to their charge— was irreproachable. There must of course be a searching investi- gation of the causes of the fatality. The coast is well known to be dangerous, and it is equally well known that a strong current sets in upon it. It would appear that, from overweening confidence in the facility with which a steamer can at any time be " backed " or "turned," or from someotherfatal reliance, thevessel had been kept too close to the shore. Within the last few years several other Go- vernment vessels have been wrecked on the South African coast, from similar negligence or presumption. This looks like lax dis- cipline in the Navy. It is strange that the Birkenhead should have gone down so suddenly. It was an iron vessel ; and vessels of that kind, it has been understood, have water-tight compart- ments, so that buoyancy can be preserved even though one of them is penetrated. It has been suggested that the rivets of the Birkenhead had been strained, and the joinings of her plates loosened, by placing too heavy an armament in her, and exposing .her to concussion from the discharge of her guns, before she was converted into a troop-ship, having been found unfit for war.
/Minh§
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