CHAPTER TWENTY.
THE BATTLE OF TSUSHIMA.
Meanwhile, what had become of the Japanese navy, after the battle of theYellow Sea?
So far as the _Yakumo_ was concerned, we were in the very thick of thefight when it was at its hottest, and when at length the battle came toan end with the flight of the _Retvisan_ and _Pobieda_, we were one ofthe ships which had been so severely mauled that extensive repairs werenecessary before we could undertake further service. Accordingly, wewere ordered to proceed forthwith to Sasebo to refit; and since we wereby no means alone in our plight, we had to await our turn. Hence it wasthe middle of January 1905 before the _Yakumo_ was again ready for sea;and in the meantime I had ample opportunity to cement my friendship withthe members of the Boyd family, who had acted the part of Good Samaritanto me when I first made acquaintance with Sasebo.
The day before the _Yakumo_ left Sasebo for our rendezvous at the ElliotIslands, news arrived that the long talked-of Baltic Fleet had reachedMadagascar and was at anchor in Passandava Bay, refitting, provisioning,and generally enjoying the hospitality of the French nation. This, ofcourse, was not the first news that we had received of it; we had beenduly apprised of its departure from Libau on 15th October and had alsoheard--with surprise on the part of the Japanese, and with bittermortification and shame on my own part--of its subsequent unprovoked andunpunished attack upon the Gamecock fleet of British trawlers; butnobody was in the least disturbed by the news that this formidable fleetwas at last actually at sea, for as a matter of fact we in Japanregarded its departure as nothing more than a move on the part of theRussian Government intended to encourage the garrison of Port Arthur tocontinue its resistance. For, to speak the plain truth, nobodyseriously believed that the voyage would ever be continued far beyondthe western extremity of the English Channel, for we could not see howit was going to be done. But _now_, when it was apparent that Francewas openly ignoring and outraging all the laws governing neutralnations, in favour of Russia, it behoved Japan to take serious notice ofwhat was happening, and she not only protested vigorously againstFrance's violation of neutrality, but set to work in earnest to preparefor the new menace which was gradually creeping closer to her shores.
For a month after the arrival of the _Yakumo_ at the Elliots, I and halfof my crew formed a portion of that busy multitude who toiled in PortArthur harbour to raise the sunken ships which cumbered it, and to clearthe entrance channel; but on the 10th of February the naval contingentrejoined its ships, and on the 14th the Japanese battle fleetdisappeared from human ken, and for three whole months was no more seen,save by a few who were made clearly to understand the vital necessity toremain absolutely silent.
Not so, however, the Japanese cruisers. It was our mission to generatea feeling of uneasiness and anxiety in the mind of Admiral Rojdestvenskyand those of his officers and men; and with that object squadrons andsingle ships were directed to show themselves suddenly and mysteriously,and as suddenly to disappear again, in those waters through which theRussian fleet would have to pass on its voyage to Vladivostock. And wedid this so effectually and with such excellent judgment that very soonthe various telegraph cables grew hot with the number of messagestransmitted through them, telling the most marvellous stories ofenormous Japanese fleets seen in various parts of the world at the samemoment, and of huge and incredibly strong fortifications erected on theFormosan coast and elsewhere.
"Bluffing" was not confined to our side, however; French newspapers werepermitted to fall into our hands, in which the news was circumstantiallyset forth that, in consequence of the fall of Port Arthur, AdmiralRojdestvensky had been recalled, and that he was taking his entire fleetback to Europe by way of the Suez Canal--with the exception of four ofhis best battleships, which, it was hinted, had foundered at sea. On20th March, however, reliable information reached Japan that the 1st and2nd Divisions of Rojdestvensky's fleet had left Madagascar on the 16thof the month, steering north-east. Two days later, news reached us thatthe Russian fleet had been sighted in the Indian Ocean, still steeringnorth-east; and a week later the first of our scouts--a smart and faststeam yacht, flying German colours--apparently bound westward, passedwithin four miles of the armada, took careful count of it, and reportedby wireless its exact position and the fact that it consisted offorty-three ships, seven of which were battleships, while of the rest,ten were cruisers and seven were destroyers.
From that moment our scouts, under every conceivable guise except thatof warships, never for a moment lost touch with the Russians. We knewthat they passed Singapore on 8th April; we knew that they touched atthe Anamba Islands and coaled there before the Dutch warships couldarrive to prevent them; and we knew that on 14th April the fleet arrivedin Kamranh harbour, in French Indo-China, where, while awaiting thearrival of Admiral Nebogatoff's squadron,--which was coming out via theSuez Canal,--the Russians proceeded to make good defects and generallyprepare for the fight which they knew awaited them.
Of course the Japanese Government vigorously protested against thisflagrant violation of the law regulating the conduct of neutrals, andFrance replied with polite assurances that such violation should not berepeated. This was followed by an order to the Russians to leaveKamranh harbour, which they obeyed at their leisure, moving on first toPort Dayot and then--when ordered from there in response to freshJapanese protests--to Hon-koe Bay. Thus, with the connivance of theFrench authorities, a very pretty game of hide-and-seek was played byRojdestvensky, until 8th May, when Nebogatoff joined with his ninecraft, and the now completed fleet entered Hon-koe Bay and calmlyproceeded to complete the task of refitting, coaling, and provisioningprior to its great attempt to force its way through to Vladivostock. Asfor the Japanese Government, it speedily recognised that France hadquite made up its mind to ignore the laws of neutrality in favour ofRussia, and accordingly ceased to lodge any further useless protests.
A week later--on 14th May, to be exact--the entire Russian fleet leftHon-koe Bay, steering northward; and although the French authoritiessuppressed the news of the departure for two whole days, Togo, who wasnow with his fleet in Chin-hai Bay, on the southern coast of Korea,received the news by wireless the same night. Thenceforward itsprogress was carefully watched and reported daily, so that at any momentTogo could put his finger upon the chart and indicate the position ofthe enemy, within a few miles.
Meanwhile, Togo was busily engaged in the preparation of his plans forthe great battle toward which we had all been looking forward for solong. In this work he was of course hampered by his lack of knowledgeas to the intentions of the Russians. There were two routes by whichthey could reach Vladivostock: one--much the shorter of the two--by wayof Korea Strait and up through the Sea of Japan; and the other, via theeast coast of Japan and La Perouse Strait. Also, should Rojdestvenskychoose the shorter route, he could pass either to the east or to thewest of Tsushima Island. Togo solved the problem by preparing a plan ofbattle for each of the three alternative routes.
On 26th May the Russian fleet was reported as being south-west ofQuelpart Island, off the entrance of Korea Strait, and its positionrendered it practically certain that it was Rojdestvensky's intention totake the shorter route up through the Sea of Japan.
It was shortly before sunset, on 26th May, that the fateful wirelessmessage--"Enemy in sight, fifty miles west of Torishima,"--came in fromone of our scouting cruisers; and two minutes later a signal was flyingfrom the _Mikasa_, summoning the Japanese admirals to a council of war.
The council was a brief one, lasting barely a quarter of an hour; thenthe admirals returned to their respective flagships, and the latter atonce signalled the captains of the several squadrons to meet in thecabin of the admiral of that squadron. The _Yakumo_ formed part of thearmoured cruiser division, under the command of Admiral Kamimura, andaccordingly it was in the cabin of the _Idzumo_ that the six captains ofthat division presently assembled to receive our instructions.
These were concise enough, and of such a character as
to indicate thatTogo had given this long-expected battle a tremendous amount ofconsideration, and had finally settled all the details with almostmathematical precision. In the first place, for good and sufficientreasons, the battle was to be fought in the eastern strait, and, asnearly as possible, off the northern extremity of the island ofTsushima. To ensure this, the old _Chin-yen_, the _Itsukushima,Matsushima_, and _Hashidate_, of the protected cruiser squadron,accompanied by one division of destroyers, were to act the part oflures, approaching the Russian fleet on the following morning, as itneared the Straits, alternately attacking and retiring in the directionof the eastern strait, thus inveigling Rojdestvensky into a pursuit inthat direction. The ships told off for this duty were to proceed to seaat once, as the _Chin-yen_--the slowest craft of the quartette--was onlygood for thirteen knots at best, and it was not desired that any shipshould be pushed to the limit of her powers until the engagement shouldbecome general. The remainder of the protected cruiser division--fourteen in number--were to proceed to sea with the main fleet on thefollowing morning, parting company when all were fairly at sea, and thenfind the enemy's rear, closing in upon it and harassing it as much aspossible, acting according to circumstances, quite independently of themain fleet, and each captain using his own initiative. As for us of thearmoured cruiser division, we were to have the honour of forming part ofthe battle-line. This was sufficiently gratifying intelligence, butthat which followed was even more so: the former tactics of engaging theenemy at extreme range, in order to preserve our precious battleshipsfrom injury, were to be abandoned; this was the battle for which theyhad been so carefully hoarded, and in it they must be made the fullestuse of, their utmost value must be exacted; in a word, they were to befought for all that they were worth, closing with the enemy to withineffective range, and firing slowly and deliberately, so that every shotshould tell.
There was also a general order issued, in the highest degreeillustrative of Japanese thoroughness. It was that every man throughoutthe fleet was to wash himself from head to foot most carefully andthoroughly, and to put on clean clothing, in order to reduce to aminimum the risk of septic poisoning of wounds, also to don woollenouter garments, so that their clothing might not be set on fire bybursting shells.
Nor had the ships themselves been forgotten. In turn each had beendry-docked, repaired, defects made good, down to the tightening of aloose screw, machinery overhauled and parts replaced where thoughtnecessary, bottoms cleared of weed and coated afresh with anti-foulingcomposition, and hulls repainted, until each ship looked as though shehad just been taken out of a glass case. And now there they all lay, inChin-hai harbour, with boilers chipped clean of deposit and filled withfresh water, flues, tubes, and furnaces carefully-cleaned, new fire-barsinserted where needed, fires carefully laid and ready to be lighted at amoment's notice, and every bunker packed with specially selected Welshcoal, purchased for this very purpose, long ago.
Furnace fires were at once lighted and steam raised; and before midnightthe old _Chin-yen_--looking very spruce and fit, despite her age--andher three companion cruisers quietly got their anchors and proceeded tosea, while aboard the ships still in harbour the crews were busilyengaged in making the preparations referred to in the general order,before retiring to what was for some of them to be their last night'ssleep on earth. As for me, I sat in my cabin, far into the night,writing long letters to my friends at home, so that, in the event ofanything untoward happening to me, they might know that loving thoughtsof them were in my heart up to the last.
In Chin-hai harbour the morning of 27th May 1905 dawned bright andclear, and at five o'clock the crews of the Japanese ships partook of asubstantial meal before proceeding to the task of clearing for action.They were still partaking of this meal when a marconi-gram arrived fromthe _Shinano Maru_, one of our scouts, informing us that the Russianfleet was in sight, entering the eastern strait; that it was impossibleas yet to say how many ships were present, as the atmosphere was misty;also that there was a high sea running in which the Russian ships wererolling heavily.
This was the news that Togo had been anxiously awaiting; and now that hehad it, and knew that the enemy was making for the precise spot where ithad been planned to meet him, the little Admiral gave vent to a greatsigh of relief, and ordered the signal to be made for the protectedcruiser squadron to weigh and lead the rest of the fleet out to sea.
This order was at once carried out, quietly and deliberately--for therewas plenty of time on hand, the _Chitose_, Admiral Kotaoka's flagship,and her four consorts leading, followed by the _Kasagi_ and her fourconsorts, under Admiral Dewa; these being followed in turn by the_Akitsushima_ and her three consorts, under Admiral Uriu. These threesquadrons, with that which had proceeded to sea some hours previously,under the leadership of the younger Togo, to draw the Russians into theeastern strait, constituted the protected cruiser division, to which hadbeen assigned the duty of attacking and harassing the enemy's rear.
Following these went the main battle squadron, with the _Mikasa_, flyingTogo's flag, proudly leading, followed by the battleships _Shikishima,Fuji_, and _Asahi_, with the new and powerful cruisers _Kasuga_ and_Nisshin_ bringing up the rear. Then, at a short interval, followed the_Idzumo_, flying Admiral Kamimura's flag, and the _Iwate, Yakumo,Adzuma, Asama_, and _Tokiwa_, in the order named, every ship flauntingtwo big battle-flags in the morning breeze. Once clear of the harbour,we parted company from the protected cruiser division, which headed awaySouth-South-East, to get in the rear of the enemy, while we of thebattle-line steered a trifle to the south of east for the battlegroundwhich Togo had selected. On the port side of the line steamed aflotilla of Japan's fastest destroyers, told off by Togo to act asdispatch boats, in the event of the flagship's wireless apparatus beingput out of action, or her masts shot away.
Once clear of the land, we soon ran into an atmosphere of haze and arising sea which set the long line of ships rolling ponderously; and asthe vessels rolled and plunged, flinging heavy showers of spray overtheir weather bows, each captain stood in his chart-room, with a chartof the strait spread open on the table before him, anxiously awaitingthe next news of the enemy. These charts had been, for convenience'sake, carefully divided up into a series of numbered squares; and aboutnine o'clock the expected message arrived. It ran--"The enemy is in twohundred and three," that being the number of the square on the chartoccupied by the Russian fleet at that moment. No sooner was the messagedecoded and its purport made known than mutual congratulations wereexchanged; for even as the fall of 203 Metre Hill into the hands of oursoldiers had been the prelude to the surrender of Port Arthur, so nowthe fact of the Russian fleet being in square 203 on the chart wasaccepted as an omen of another victory.
The fine weather of the early morning had by this time completelydeserted us; the sky had become overcast, Tsushima's conical summit washidden by a great bank of heavy, louring cloud, the grey, dreary-lookingsea was running in confused, turbulent, foam-flecked surges throughwhich the big ships wallowed heavily, flinging great combers of yeastyfroth from either bow, while the little torpedo craft, smothered inspray, were tossed about like corks. Yet, despite the gloomy aspect ofthe weather, the Japanese fleet presented a magnificent and inspiritingsight as it ploughed steadily through the leaping, mist-flecked sea,each ship keeping station with the most perfect accuracy, with her two--and in some cases three--great battle-flags snapping defiantly in thefreshening breeze.
It was shortly after six bells in the forenoon watch when we at lengthreceived a message which must have removed a load of anxiety from ourlittle Admiral's mind. It came from the _Izumi_--one of the ships whichhad been dispatched on the previous night for the purpose of luring theenemy into the eastern channel--and reported that at length her captainhad succeeded in ascertaining the full force of the enemy's fleet, andthat it consisted of eleven battleships of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rdclasses, nine cruisers, nine auxiliary cruisers, and nine destroyers.These were heavy odds to face with our four battleships, eig
ht armouredcruisers, and eighteen protected cruisers; yet never for a moment did weshrink from the encounter, for we were, one and all, _determined_ toconquer. Moreover, the weather, gloomy as it was, was in our favour,for our ships, having been painted the peculiar grey tint that had beenfound so effective in the atmosphere of the Sea of Japan, were scarcelyvisible at a distance of four miles, while the heavy sea would probablygive our own gunners a great advantage over those of the enemy.
It was about a quarter to two o'clock in the afternoon, and we weresteaming in line ahead, with the _Mikasa_ leading, our course beingabout South-South-West, when, the fog thinning somewhat, we suddenlysaw, away on our port bow, a great cloud of black smoke, underneathwhich we presently discerned several large ships approaching in twolines, their black hulls and yellow funnels showing up with remarkabledistinctness against the light grey background of fog. Instantly everytelescope and pair of binoculars in the Japanese fleet was levelled atthem in an endeavour to identify the craft in sight--for we wereintimately acquainted with the characteristics of every ship in theenemy's fleet--and presently we recognised the big, three-funnelledcraft at the head of the port line as the _Oslabia_, while thetwo-funnelled battleship leading the starboard line was undoubtedly the_Suvaroff_, Admiral Rojdestvensky's flagship. Astern of her followedthe _Alexander Third, Borodino_, and _Orel_; while in the wake of the_Oslabia_ we were able to identify the _Sissoi Veliki, Navarin_, and_Admiral Nakhimoff_, with a long string of other craft at that momenttoo far distant for identification.
While we were still endeavouring to identify some of the more distantships, the _Mikasa_ made the general signal: "The fate of our Empiredepends upon our efforts. Let every man do his utmost!" It was greetedwith a great roar of "Banzai Nippon!" which swept along the line of thefleet like the rumbling of distant thunder. The crews of the ships had,of course, been at quarters, and the officers at fire-control stations,for some time, and now we began to receive from the range-finders therange of the _Oslabia_, the leading Russian ship. "Fifteen thousandyards", "Fourteen thousand", "Twelve thousand," came the reports inrapid succession as the two fleets rushed toward each other.
At a distance of twelve thousand yards the _Mikasa's_ helm was shiftedand the course of the Japanese line altered four points to the eastward,as though our purpose was to pass along the Russian line to port,exchanging broadsides as we passed; and so the enemy evidentlyunderstood, for he came steadily on. But we knew differently. Alreadyevery forward gun in the fleet was bearing steadily upon the _Oslabia_,and when, in obedience to a signal from the flagship, the speed of theJapanese fleet quickened up to fifteen knots, we knew that the greatbattle was about to begin.
It began a few minutes earlier than we anticipated, for ourrange-finders had just given the distance of the head of the Russiancolumn as nine thousand yards, when two bright flashes, followed by agreat cloud of white smoke, broke from the _Oslabia's_ fore-turret, andpresently we saw two great fountains of foam leap into the air somedistance beyond the _Mikasa_. As though this had been a signal, the_Suvaroff, Alexander Third_, and _Sissoi Veliki_ instantly followedsuit, and a second or two later we heard the loud, angry muttering of12-inch shells hurtling toward us. But some flew over, and others fellshort; not one touched us; and as the heavy, rumbling _boom_ of thereports reached our ears, the _Mikasa_ signalled another shift of helm afurther four points east, and before the Russians fully realised what wewere about, the Japanese fleet was "crossing the T,"--that is to say,passing athwart the enemy's course.
Every gun which the Russians could bring to bear upon us was now beingloaded and fired as rapidly as possible, so that in a very short timethe enemy's ships were enveloped in whirling wreaths of powder smoke,yet not a single Japanese gun had thus far spoken.
"Six thousand yards" was presently signalled by the range-finders; andat the same moment three shots roared forth from the turrets of the_Mikasa, Shikishima_, and _Fuji_. We knew at what target they wereaimed, and those of us who happened to have our glasses at our eyes sawa bright flash and a cloud of smoke suddenly burst into view on the_Oslabia's_ conning tower. One of our 12-inch shells had found itsmark, and--as we subsequently learned--instantly killed AdmiralFolkersam! This instant success told us that we might unhesitatinglyrely upon the accuracy of our range-finders, and at once every ship inthe Japanese battle-line opened fire, first upon the _Oslabia_ and thenupon the _Suvaroff_, our manoeuvre of "crossing the T" enabling us tobring every one of our broadside guns upon the enemy, while he, in turn,could only fire a few of his fore-turret guns, the rest being blanketedby the ships leading the line.
The careful, deliberate fire of twelve ships upon two could have but oneresult; the _Oslabia_ and _Suvaroff_ both received a most fearfulpunishing; the unprotected portions of their hulk were blown to ribbons,dense columns of dark smoke poured from the _Oslabia_, and presently itwas seen that she and the _Suvaroff_ were on fire and burning furiously.Both ships, as though instinctively, swerved away to the eastward,anxious not to shorten the distance any farther between themselves andthe Japanese, and presently both the _Oslabia_ and the _Suvaroff_ fellout of their respective lines and dropped to the rear, with both theirown lines between them and the enemy.
Then came the turn of the _Alexander Third_, which was now leading theRussian starboard line; and she got even more severely peppered than herbattered sisters in misfortune, for the range had now dwindled to fourthousand yards, and every shot of ours was telling with terrible effect.It must not be supposed, however, that while the enemy was beingpunished so severely, we were going scatheless. We were not; very farfrom it, although we were giving a good deal better than we received.Shells were by this time falling pretty thickly all around us, whilehits were becoming steadily less infrequent. The first to come aboardthe _Yakumo_ was a 12-inch shell which struck our fore barbette on thestarboard side, glanced upward, striking the conning tower andexploding, the fragments wrecking a couple of ventilators, a boat, andfreely puncturing our fore funnel, while one piece swept my cap off myhead and overboard. The _Asama_, however, next but one astern of the_Yakumo_, suffered very much more severely than we did, three heavyshells hitting her abaft in quick succession, throwing her steering gearout of action, and causing her to leak so badly that she had to drop outof the line and be left astern, executing temporary repairs.
By this time--that is to say, shortly before six bells in the afternoonwatch--the two fleets were heading about East-South-East, running inparallel lines, our own line leading that of the enemy by about a mile,while the _Alexander Third_ was, like the _Oslabia_ and _Suvaroff_, inflames and blazing furiously. A few minutes later it was seen that the_Sissoi Veliki_ was also on fire, she being now the leading ship of theRussian port line of battle, and, in accordance with Togo's tactics, theobject, with the _Navarin_ and _Admiral Nakhimoff_, of the concentratedfire of our battle-line. Meanwhile, our protected cruiser squadrons hadcome upon the scene and were harassing the Russian rear so effectivelythat, aided by the vigorous attack of our battle-line upon the Russianvan, the enemy's line was breaking up in confusion.
Togo now gave the order for us to close in upon the enemy's van, himselfleading the way in the _Mikasa_, with the result that the leadingRussian ships, in order to avoid being crossed and raked, were compelledto continually bear ever more and more away to the southward, untilfinally they swept right round and were all heading north once more,with the _Alexander Third, Suvaroff_, and _Oslabia_ all out of the lineand practically out of action.
It is difficult, nay more it is impossible, for the captain of a shiptaking part in a general action to note and remember every phase anddetail of such action; he is so intensely preoccupied in the task offighting and manoeuvring his own ship that only certain detachedincidents of the engagements impress themselves upon his memory stronglyenough to be permanently remembered; thus I am able to recall that aboutthis period of the battle I came to the definite conclusion that we hadwon, notwithstanding the fact that several of our ships, including th
e_Yakumo_, had suffered severely. The _Asama_, for example, was at leasttemporarily out of action, while the _Kasuga_--one of the two newcruisers purchased from the Argentine just before the outbreak of thewar--had all three of her heavy guns rendered useless.
By this time our protected cruiser division had crept up on thestarboard quarter of the Russian line, and was vigorously attacking inthat direction, while our battle-line, to port of the Russians, was asvigorously pounding the enemy's front, thus bringing the Russian linebetween two fires. It was about this time that one of those briefinterludes of comparative inaction which occur in most battles affordedme an opportunity to look round a bit and obtain my first comprehensiveview of the battle since its commencement.
The wind, which had been blowing fresh during the earlier part of theday, had been gradually dropping, and was now little more than a merebreathing, but the sky still continued overcast and gloomy, its shadow,falling upon the sullenly heaving but no longer breaking seas, causingthe tumbling waters to look almost black where they were not veiled bythe drifting smoke wreaths or slowly moving patches of fog. It was theobscuration caused by this combination of smoke and fog that hadproduced the interval of comparative inaction of which I have spoken,for it rendered accurate firing difficult, and our ships, in accordancewith Togo's determination not to waste ammunition, were only firingoccasional single shots, when the hull of an opponent became distinctlyvisible, although the Russians were blazing away at us as recklessly asever, thus enveloping themselves in an almost continuous veil of smoke,which was renewed as quickly as it drifted away.
It was now that the _Asama_, having effected temporary repairs, came upand resumed her place in our line of battle, which was thus once moreintact, our ships keeping station with the most perfect regularity withthe Russian line, such as it was, some four thousand yards distant abouta point abaft our starboard beam. The roar of the enemy's artillery wasincessant, the continuous crashing _boom_ of the guns reminding one, asmuch as anything, of a tremendous thunderstorm, while the flash of theirguns, seen through the gloom of the louring afternoon, not altogetherinadequately represented the accompanying lightning.
I looked round to see if I could discover either of the silenced Russianbattleships. Yes, there they were, all three of them: the _Oslabia_about three miles away, broad on our starboard quarter; the _Suvaroff_about half a mile astern of her; and the _Alexander Third_ about a mileastern of the _Suvaroff_, all astern of their own line, and all beingvigorously attacked by our protected cruisers. The _Oslabia_ was low inthe water and had a heavy list to port; the _Suvaroff_, still apparentlyon fire, had lost both her funnels and her foremast; and the _AlexanderThird_, from which clouds of smoke, were still rising, also had a heavylist and was steaming ahead very slowly, although she, like her sistersin misfortune, still replied with the utmost gallantry to our fire.
But, so far as the _Oslabia_ was concerned, her race was evidently run,for even as I watched her it became apparent that she was fast settlingin the water, while with every roll her list to port became stronger,until at last I found myself holding my breath in momentary expectationto see her roll right over. The catastrophe was not long delayed.There came a moment when, having rolled heavily to port, she failed tolift again, but heeled steadily more and more until, watching herthrough my powerful glasses, I saw a number of objects go sliding awayoff her decks into the water with a heavy splash; over she went untilher masts and funnels lay along on the water, her two after-turret gunsspoke out defiantly for the last time; and down she went in a greatswirl of foam, while the Russian destroyers closed in upon the spot tosave such of her crew as might contrive to remain afloat.
I now turned my attention to the _Suvaroff_, and was just in time towitness a very plucky attack upon her by a squadron of our destroyers,which, notwithstanding her disabled condition, she beat off in mostgallant fashion.
Next, I turned to have a look at the _Alexander Third_. Her crewappeared to have extinguished the fire aboard her and got her back intosomething like her former trim. She was now heading to rejoin theRussian line--which was re-forming after a fashion, and presently I sawher drop into third place in the line, between the _Orel_ and the_Sissoi Veliki_, which latter also seemed to have extinguished her fire.Meanwhile the mist had thickened into fog, which rapidly became sodense that we presently lost sight of the enemy altogether.
Shrewdly suspecting that the Russians would seize this opportunity toeffect their escape, Togo now led his battle-line round in a sweep fromNorth-East to South-West, and then to south for a distance of some eightmiles, during which we sighted and shelled the enemy's cruiser squadronand some of his auxiliary ships heading to the south-west. At thispoint Togo decided to turn northward again, but before doing so hedetached the six armoured cruisers--of which the _Yakumo_ was one--underAdmiral Kamimura, with orders to pursue and destroy the ships of whichwe had just lost sight.
This was about four o'clock in the afternoon. By this time the wind haddwindled away to a mere nothing, and the sea had so far gone down thatour torpedo craft could keep pace with the larger craft without beingswept by seas from stem to stern; still, the weather continued to bevery dismal and dreary, the sky still lowering and overcast, not asolitary gleam of sunshine, and the fog gathering so thickly that it wasdifficult to see anything beyond a two-mile radius. The heavygun-firing had by this time died down to nothing; but a pretty livelycannonade of lighter weapons down in the south-western quarter told usthat the engagement between our cruisers and those of the enemy wasstill proceeding briskly although nothing could be seen. Accordingly,the _Idzumo_ led her five armoured sisters in that direction, at a speedof fifteen knots.
Suddenly, as we pushed along, guided on our course by the sounds of thefiring, the thunder of heavy guns, easily distinguishable from thesharper report of the lighter weapons, burst forth ahead, to ouramazement, for we fully believed that the whole of the enemy'sbattleships had fled northward. Clearly, however, we were mistaken inso believing, and Kamimura at once recognised that capricious fortunewas unexpectedly holding out to him the opportunity to wipe off some ofthe utterly undeserved opprobrium that had attached to him earlier inthe war, because of his failure to bring the Vladivostock squadron tobook, and which his later success had by no means effaced; accordingly,he signalled the squadron to increase speed to eighteen knots, which wassupposed to be the maximum attainable by the _Asama_ and ourselves,although the others were capable of an extra knot. This inferiority ofspeed on our part had always been rather a sore point with me, and I hadhad many a talk with Carmichael, the _Yakumo's_ Engineer Commander,about it, who had felt the reproach as keenly as I did, and had assuredme that if ever the worse came to the worst, he would undertake to getthe extra knot out of the ship, although it would be at the peril ofwhat he elegantly termed "a general bust-up in the engine-room." So nowI called to him down the voice-tube, begging him to speed her up as faras he dared; and a few minutes later I noticed that we were gaining uponthe _Iwate_, our next ahead, while the _Asama_, our second astern, wasalso stoking up. Thereupon I signalled the flagship that we had speedin hand, if required, and the order was at once given to increase speedby half a knot.
It was not very long afterward that we had ocular demonstration of thevalue that extra spurt of speed might prove to be; for while we werestill plugging along in the direction of the firing, we suddenly sightedtwo craft coming slowly in our direction. They proved to be the_Kasagi_ escorted by the _Chitose_, making for the Japanese coast, theformer being holed below the waterline and making so much water that itwas doubtful whether it would be possible to save her. She signalledthat matters were going badly with the protected cruisers, eleven ofthem being then hotly engaged by twelve of the enemy, one of which was asecond-class battleship, while three others were battleships of thethird class! Admiral Dewa, who was on board, concluded hiscommunication by urging us to hasten to the rescue.
The steadily increasing distinctness with which the sound of the firingreached us,
proved that we were rapidly overhauling the contendingsquadrons, and some twenty minutes later we sighted the rearmost shipson both sides, blazing away at each other "hammer and tongs." Our owncruisers were to the southward of the Russian line, therefore Kamimuraled his force to the northward of the enemy, thus placing the latterbetween two fires, at the same time signalling us to concentrate ourfire upon the four Russian battleships, which we did with a vengeance,and within five minutes we were all enveloped in a roaring tempest offlame, smoke, and bursting shells.
But the precision of our fire was infinitely superior to that of theRussians. They fired at least three times as rapidly as we did, butwhereas every one of our shells reached its mark, the bulk of theirsflew wide. They were rapidly growing demoralised, and when the fighthad been in progress some twenty minutes, their line suddenly broke upinto little groups of twos and threes and made off to the northward attop speed, those of us whose speed permitted, following them and keepingup a brisk fire with our forward guns.
Suddenly, as we pursued, two ships were sighted ahead, evidently indifficulties, and a few minutes later we identified them as the Russianbattleship _Suvaroff_ and the repair ship _Kamschatka_. Immediately,Kamimura signalled, ordering their destruction. Then, while we were inthe very act of training our guns upon them, another battleship wassighted in the distance. She, too, was evidently in a parlous state, somuch so, indeed, that we scarcely had time to identify her as the_Alexander Third_ when she capsized and sank!
Then we opened fire vigorously upon the other two ships, while ourdestroyers closed in upon the _Suvaroff_, now listing so heavily thatshe was almost on her beam-ends. But although she was in such a sorryplight her crew displayed the utmost gallantry, defending themselvesfrom the torpedo craft with the only gun which they could bring to bear.It was a hopeless fight, however; our boats dashed in, time after time,discharging torpedoes at her, and at length two of the missiles gothome, one under her stern, and the other in the wake of her engine-room,blowing a great hole in her side. This last finished her; the waterpoured into her in torrents, and a few minutes later she rolled rightover and disappeared. The _Kamschatka_ followed a few minutes later.
Meanwhile, the ships which we had been pursuing had disappeared in thefog, heading northward, _in which direction we knew our battleships hadpreceded them_. Therefore, since the hour had now arrived when,according to arrangements, our torpedo flotillas were to take up thegame, Kamimura signalled us to reduce speed to ten knots and to shape acourse for our appointed rendezvous near Matsushima Island.
The night which followed was an anxious one for all hands, for we weresteaming through a dark and foggy night, with all lights out. Nothinguntoward happened, however, and with the appearance of dawn on thefollowing morning a little air of wind sprang up and swept the fog away.
It was shortly before three bells in the morning watch (half-past fiveo'clock a.m.) of 28th May, and the six ships of the Japanese armouredcruiser division were steaming northward in line abreast, when the_Tokiwa_, which was the easternmost ship, reported smoke low down on theeastern horizon. At once the course was altered eight points to theeastward, and the ships proceeded in line ahead, closing in upon the_Tokiwa_--the leading ship--as they did so, while Kamimura reported thecircumstance by wireless to Togo, who, with his battle squadron, wassome sixty miles away to the northward of us. Some twenty minuteslater, after a lively bout of signalling by the wireless operatorsaboard the Japanese ships, it became certain that the smoke seen mustproceed from enemy ships, and all our dispositions were made for dealingwith them, the instructions of the armoured division being to closeslowly in upon the enemy from the westward, while the battleships rusheddown at full speed from the north, and the protected cruisers did thesame from the south.
The result was that, a few hours later, four Russian battleships,namely, the _Orel, Apraxin, Nicolai First_, and _Seniavin_ foundthemselves completely hemmed in by our ships, while the light cruiser_Izumrud_, availing herself of her superior speed, just managed toescape by the skin of her teeth.
I will say this for them: outnumbered though they were, and hopeless aswas their situation, with their ammunition running short, and theircrews almost in a state of collapse from nerve strain, those four shipsmade a gallant defence, and it was not until they were reduced to thevery last extremity that Admiral Nebogatoff ordered the white flag to behoisted over his squadron in token of surrender. Prize crews were atonce put aboard the prizes, and they were ordered south to Sasebo underan escort of cruisers, of which the _Yakumo_ was one. The _Orel_ wassuch a wreck that she was incapable of steaming more than eight knots,consequently we did not arrive in harbour until the afternoon of thefollowing day, when, our wireless messages having prepared theinhabitants for our arrival, we received such an ovation as it thrillsme yet to remember.