Approximately how many seamen were treated annually at the Royal Hamadryad Hospital in Cardiff?

• A. 5,000
• B. 10,000
• C. 15,000
• D. 20,000

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is the scale of medical care for sailors in a busy port. Cardiff was a major maritime hub, so the Royal Hamadryad Hospital handled a large inflow of seamen needing treatment each year. An annual figure around ten thousand fits what a busy single port hospital serving both Royal Navy and merchant seamen would see, reflecting steady, substantial demand without implying an unrealistically larger facility.

Five thousand would understate the workload for a prominent port hospital, while fifteen thousand or twenty thousand would suggest an even larger operation or multiple facilities, which isn’t implied by the historical context. So, around ten thousand is the best-supported estimate of the hospital’s annual caseload.