

AN INTERVIEW WITH GORSHIN (Part 6)


By KATZMAREK(C)


"Nebogatov didn't arrive till late April, 1905," Admiral Gorshin explained. "Besides his original 4 ships, we discovered that he'd found another, the Ushakov. It was a 'flatiron' like the Senyavin and Apraxin. Its engines had been in a poor state and it had taken them some time to get her ready. Like the others her guns were short-barreled, old-fashioned things that barely made 10,000 metres with a swift wind behind."


"What was Rhozdventsky's reaction to their arrival?" asked the Ensign.


"He ignored them. We crews clapped and cheered them, of course. Although they didn't round the Cape as we had done, nevertheless it was a top effort to get those ancient things all that way."


"They brought another Destroyer with them, Commander Georgy Kern's Gromky. When we'd left, it had been laid up after hitting a sand bar. That brought us up to 10 Destroyers, 8 Cruisers, 4 Coast-Defence Ships, the Oslyabya with 260mm main guns was really a large armoured cruiser, 2 second rate Battleships and 4 first raters. Together with his warships, Nebogatov brought 4 transports and 11 colliers. A few days later the Hospital Ship Ural arrived. The anchorage was crowded with shipping."


"Little did we know at the time, but it wasn't Nebogatov who proved our undoing, but that Hospital Ship, as I shall explain later."


---------------------------------------------


Nebogatov sailed into Cam Ranh Bay with his antiques smothered in signal flags. Their crews, looking smart in dress whites, lined the rails and saluted.


Nebogatov was an uninspiring but studious senior Officer who spent a great deal of time on the problems of his squadron and the Navy generally. His crews had trained continuously since they'd set out from the Baltic. He'd tried to instil pride in his little fleet by insisting they dressed and comported themselves properly. Up to 40% of his crews had never been to sea before and he'd done a superb job with them.


Rhozdventsky treated him very badly. He hadn't even informed him he was now second in command after the death of Felkersam. The Commander in Chief consulted his second in charge rarely. Instead he issued orders to him as if he was a lowly subaltern.


That Nebogatov kept his feelings to himself is all to his credit in a fleet where this was rarely the case. Enkvist, for example, had no qualms about criticizing Rhozdventsky to his Captains.


The entire fleet was in need of reprovisioning and coaling. For this final leg the ships again would take on as much coal as they could manage.


With the arrival of the reinforcements the Commander in chief re-organised the fleet. The Nakhimov joined the 2nd Division and the Monomakh sent to bolster Enkvist. The Nakhimov had been given a set of modern 210mm guns and it was thought they would stiffen the Division.


The fast Cruisers Zhemchug and Izumrud were detached from Enkvist's command and sent to co-operate with the Battleship Divisions. Enkvist's ego was soothed by the Almaz, sent back to the Scouting Division. The Rear Admiral himself shifted flag to the Oleg, for reasons lost in the mists of time. Probably he'd had a fight with the Aurora's Captain.


The Destroyers were split into two half-flotillas. Grozny was to take its place behind Bravy, as usual, with Bezuprechny, Buiny and Bedovy behind. Their place was to be ahead of the fleet, while the Gromky's group was to take station between Nebogatov and the Scouting Division. 


Enkvist was given the task of protecting the transports, a role he never forgave Rhozdventsky for. 'The Scouting Division's proper place,' he later said, 'was leading the fleet.' By then, however, no-one was listening to him any more.


The 3rd Pacific Squadron was renamed the 3rd Battleship Division. Rhozdventsky was having no independent commands in his fleet.


This then was the Russian Fleet: 1st Battle Division; the 305mm gunned Kniaz Suvurov, Alexander III, Borodino and Orel. 2nd, the 260mm gunned Oslyabya, with Sissoi Veliky and Navarin of mixed calibre guns and Nakhimov. The 3rd consisted of the Imperator Nikolai I with three 260s of different calibres, and the 'flatirons', Apraxin, Senyavin and Ushakov with two short-barrelled 305s each.


The Armoured Cruiser Oleg led the Scouting Division, followed by Aurora and the Svetlana, all 210mm gunned vessels of modern design. Almaz followed with her 155mm weapons, then came the old girls of the fleet, the Dimitri Donskoi and the Monomakh with their mixed armaments.


The fast 155mm gunned Izumrud was attached to the 1st Division, the similar Zhemchug to the 2nd.


To attend to the fleet's needs were four transports, two tugs and 2 Hospital ships.


A comprehensive set of orders was circulated around the fleet, only the second time such orders were issued by the Admiral. 'I intend,' it read, 'to enter the Tsushima Straits at night and be well past Japanese Naval bases by dawnbreak.'


'If Togo is sighted, the 1st and 2nd Divisions will form a second line to starboard of the fleet. With the Grace of God we may catch the enemy between two fires. At my signal those divisions will turn 8 points to starboard (ie. 90 degrees).'


It ended with the exhortation, 'all ships are to continue on to Vladivostok regardless of losses. I have in mind to preserve as much of the fleet for future operations as possible.'


The Japanese were also preparing, but they had the benefit of a flood of intelligence about the Russians. Along the China coast they'd set up a covert series of observation stations complete with radios. All manner of vessels were enlisted as patrol ships, their sole mission to report on the Russian fleet.


Togo knew this was the last fleet Russia had to send. He doubted it was a card they knew how to play. He was concerned, though, that the Russians out-gunned him. His Armoured Cruisers had done well in the Battle of the Yellow Sea so he decided to use them to boost his Battle Squadron.


His four Battleships, Mikasa, Shikishima, Asahi and Fuji were all British designed 12 inch gunned vessels of the latest type. His Italian, Ansaldo-built Armoured cruisers Nisshin and Kasuga followed. Next came the excellent pair Idzumo and Iwate with the British-built Yakumo and French, La Seyne-built Adzuma. Lastly the two Armstrong-Elswick Cruisers Asama and Tokiwa brought up the rear. All his armoured cruisers had uniform batteries of 8 inch guns.


Togo's trump card, however, was the use of a new type of explosive for his shells. It was called Shimose, an incendiary-explosive that the Japanese had been working on for some time.


Built into the Russian ships were great quantities of combustable materials. Indeed, most warships of the time hadn't really come to grips with the problem of fire. The decks of the Russian ships were overlaid with planks of Baltic Pine, corked with tar and 'paid' with Linseed oil. Inside, the Officers' accomodations were luxuriously compartmented with mahogany and oak, all coated with thick varnish. Even the oil-based Black and Canary Yellow paints that the crews labouriously caked onto the outside of the ships contained highly volatile solvents.


Paint stores were rarely secured, propellant charges and shells were stacked ready for use inside the turrets and embrasures. The ships were time-bombs waiting for a spark.


The Japanese had seen how hard it was to sink an armoured ship during the war. Therefore they decided to use fire to disable the Russians instead. Instead of putting delayed fuses onto their shells, they chose contact fuses. This meant that they exploded the instant they touched anything, causing a fireball that they hoped would make the Russian ships uninhabitable.


---------------------------------------------


"We left Indo-China on the 14th of May. Except for a period of 48 hours between the 24th and the 26th the Japanese tracked our every move. We knew that they knew, of course. What we didn't know, was where the Hell *they* were."


"Did you see this Nataliya again?" the Ensign asked.


"Oh yes," Gorshin chuckled, "she was a Honey. Little did I know at the time but I left her with a little gift."


"Sir?"


"Nataliya, I found out years later, was called Tranh Na and she had my son. She named him Na Yves Ranh, which I thought was very flattering. Yves was the closest she could get to Yvgeny, it's French of course."


"So how did you find out?"


"He came to Russia in 1942 to train for the Viet Minh, who were fighting the Japanese at the time. While he was there he looked for his Father. I was with the Northern Fleet at Murmansk then. He knew my name and he had a photo I'd given his Mother. The Ministry Of Marine in Leningrad recognised me straight away and got in touch. 'Did I want to meet this man?' they asked. Well of course I did. He was 37 years old and I never knew he existed."


"That must have been... very emotional."


"Damn right it was! Not half as emotional as when I had to explain it all to Katka, though." The Ensign stifled a laugh.


"What is he like?"


"Huh!" Admiral Gorshin smiled, "have you ever seen a 6 foot Vietnamese with brown hair? We keep in touch. He's now on the staff in Hanoi. I'm not sure what he does. They're a secretive lot, the Vietnamese."


---------------------------------------------


The Russian Fleet left Cam Ranh and set out into the South China Sea. They were in three columns, a very rough three. Station keeping had not improved very much.


The fleet was passed by a number of merchant vessels. It was believed that British ships in particular were reporting their position. Gorshin observed a buzz of Radio traffic whenever British ships were in the vicinity. Some of the messages appeared to be in code and were indecypherable.


Izumrud and Zhemchug took on observation duties under the direct command of the Commander in Chief. Not for the first time Enkvist was sidelined. He was in a foul mood at having been cast as a 'nursemaid' to the transports.


A week later they made their way slowly through the Taiwan Strait. After negotiating that busy area of sea they left the coast and ventured far out into the East China Sea to get away from shipping. On the 26th the fleet halted at a point roughly between the island of Cheju (then known as Quelpart) and the Southern Japanese home island of Kyushu. Rhozhdventsky wanted to wait until evening to make a run for the Tsushima Straits. Astonishingly, they were not observed.


The Southern passage into the Sea of Japan is divided into two straits by the island of Tsushima. That between Korea and Tsushima, the Korea Strait, is considered the more hazardous to shipping. The Tsushima Strait lies between the 'dog' islands of Ikishima and Okinoshima and Tsushima. It's the better passage and that is the one Rhozdventsky chose.


It was an anxious time for Togo whose scouts seemed to have fallen down on the job at the last minute. The Korea or Tsushima Strait? To pick the wrong one would allow the Russians to slip past and prolong the war.


And that is precisely what the Japanese couldn't afford to do. It had now become an issue of national survival. Unlike the Russians, the war had bankrupted the Japanese treasury. In 1905 Japan was spending a whopping 70% of her Gross Domestic Production on the war with Russia and now she had simply run out of funds. If the Russian fleet made Vladivostok then it was unlikely that Japan could continue the war for more than a few months. She had to end it now.


The pressure on Admiral Togo, therefore must have been enormous.


Togo Heichiro was the son of a Samurai from the Satsuman town of Kagoshima. As a boy he'd witnessed the destruction of his home town by the Royal Navy in revenge for the killing of an Englishman by the Samurai of the Daiwa of Satsuma. He noted how the antiquated shore artillery of Kagoshima was totally ineffectual against the British warships and pledged never again to see Japan so defenceless.


He was among the first intake of recruits to be sent to Britain to train at the Devonport Naval College. This was following the Emperor Meiji's restoration and the overthrowing of the Shogunate.


Togo was noted as a hard-working and thorough scholar, although no genius. He graduated in the middle of his class. His hero was Admiral Lord Nelson and he kept a portrait of the Victory on his cabin wall.


Togo's promotion was swift in the fledgling Japanese Navy. He served on Japan's first British built warship, the Steam Frigate Hiei. He commanded the Japanese squadron against the Chinese at the Battle of the Yalu River, 1894, using Nelson's tactics at Trafalgar as a model. He was assisted on that occasion by the mystifyingly bad performance of the Chinese Fleet.


Among the Admiral's strengths was his ability to lead by example. His normal place in battle was on the wing bridge of his ship, totally exposed. It was unthinkable for him to seek shelter. His other great strength was his utter, ruthless  determination.


The Russians were going to learn why he was considered the greatest Admiral of his time.


----------------------------------------------


"Togo needed the information about us. He had with him about 50 Torpedo Boats and Destroyers and if he'd sailed too early they would be running out of coal. To have sailed too late, of course, meant we would get away. His scouts had crapped themselves at the last moment. Luckily for them we gave them a helping hand."


"How?"


"By obeying International Law. The fleet was becoming obsessed with doing everything correctly lest we annoy the British. Fuck! We had sown mines in International waters, coaled and repaired vessels in Neutral ports, used their flag under false pretences and then we'd fired on their fishing boats. You don't know how close we'd come to war with the English. That led us to do something so unbelievably stupid it defies all reason."


"What was that, Admiral Gorshin, sir?"


"Hospital ships must display the red cross and that must be illuminated at night. The law is very specific." The old Admiral shook his head from side to side slowly.


----------------------------------------------


On the evening of the 26th the Russian fleet formed in line ahead and started for the Tsushima Strait at a leisurely 9 knots. The order was passed down to darken ships. All lights were to be extinguished, any orders were to be passed by loud hailer via the Izumrud and Zhemchug. Signal lamps were kept masked or else!


The fleet had barely set out when the Admiral saw a bright glow behind him among the transports. Asking who was showing lights, he was told it was the Hospital ship Ural. Rhozdventsky sent orders back to demand she extinguish lights and was told that it was the law. The Admiral threw his hands up in frustration and allowed them to be left on.


Why did he permit the Ural to show her lights? The other Hospital ship, Don, had doused hers so why was an exception made for the Ural? 


Gorshin had his theory like everyone else. He believed it had to do with the personality of Zinovy Rhozhdventsky, who displayed a habit of ignoring things he didn't want to deal with.


"'Fuck them, fuck everybody!' was the Admiral's motto when things went against him," Gorshin explained afterwards.


No such qualms about darkening ship were demonstrated by the Japanese merchantman Shinano Maru. One of Togo's scouting vessels, she is credited with the first sighting of the Ural, lit up like a Christmas tree. In fact several Japanese scouts spotted the Russian ship and radioed the information to Togo anchored in Queen Caroline Inlet, Mesampo Bay, Korea.


The Japanese had been waiting for days with their boiler fires banked. With the Shinano Maru's message they immediately weighed anchor and set out in an Easterly direction.


The Shinano Maru placed the Russians further East than was actually the case. This mistake was repeated by the 4th Japanese Scouting Division, Chikuma, Chitose and Hiei who took up shadowing the Russian fleet later that night.


Yvgeny could hear the Japanese scouts chatting on the Radio in Morse. He had no doubt they were reporting to Togo, although they were invisible in the dark.


"Sir," he asked Pikalevoi, "why can't we go after them?"


"A night attack against a few old tubs we can't see? There'll be plenty more in the morning, my boy," he replied, shrugging.


Meanwhile the Japanese Navy had sprung to life all around the Sea of Japan. From the ports of Sasebo and Nagasaki came the protected cruisers Atago, Kagero, Takao, Nachi and dozens of others both the old and infirmed. Anything that could carry a gun converged on the Russians' position as hard as they could steam. As the sky lightened in the early morning of the 27th of May 1905 dense smudges of coal smoke could be seen at every point of the compass.


14,000 metres East the dawn revealed the three old cruisers of the 4th Japanese Scouting Division sedately keeping pace with the fleet. They seemed like they were on some peacetime pleasure cruise. Crewmen lined the rails curiously studying the Russian fleet. Their guns were unmanned, being well out of range.


At Seven the Russians had breakfast followed by a Mass and Absolution. On most ships the Captains then made a speech to their crews reminding them of their duty to Tsar, Church and Empire. On the Suvurov there began a cheer that was gradually taken up by the rest of the fleet down the line.


"Ourah pobieda!" (Hail Victory)


That cry has taken Russians into battle since the time of Tsar Peter the Great.


It seemed to galvanise the Russian Fleet as if raw patriotism and emotion could overcome their obvious shortcomings. Men scurried around the decks of the Battleships. Hoses were run out and laid across the decks. The main guns were manned and the turrets swung around. Shells and charges were prepared. Secondary and Tertiary guns were unshipped, turrets or embrasure doors opened. Even the little 3 pounders mounted in the fighting tops of the Suvurov Class were prepared. In the prow of the Oslyabya, the little 'bow-chaser' 3 pounder was run out through its hatchway. Some crewmen expressed sorrow at what they were about to do to the Japanese.


At every masthead the giant battleflags of Imperial Russia were run up and unfurled. They featured a blue St Andrews Cross on a white field, the same flag designed by the founder of the Russian Navy, Peter the Great. Unless the Japanese had any doubt, the Russians had arrived.


Then the men waited... and waited.


------------------------------------------


"The tension was indescribable," explained Admiral Gorshin. "All around us we could see the funnel smoke of the Japanese who were lying just below the horizon. Where was Togo? Was he behind or in front, port or starboard? We scanned every smudge to see if one was more dense than the other. Was that one the Battlefleet or another group of his scouts? All morning we just plowed on and on knowing this tempest was gathering around us. Beside us were these impudent little scouting cruisers just out of range and God we wanted to have a go at them!"


"Behind us we could see the turret crew of the Suvurov just standing and staring beside their guns. Then a hatch opened and this little 3 pounder gun poked out of the prow. We thought it was very funny."


-----------------------------------------


Just after noon the shadowing Japanese cruisers had moved to within 10,000 metres. This was too much for the Orel and with an enormous crash she fired a full broadside from her 305mm's. As the smoke drifted behind the Orel, Nebogatov of the 3rd Division, who had drifted to starboard of the line, ordered his ships to open fire. The Nikolai and her 'flatirons' released an earsplitting broadside at the Japanese, instantly smothering the rear of the column in gunsmoke.


The Orel's shells whizzed over the top of the Japanese, however, Nebogatov's neatly straddled the cruisers and deluged their decks with water and splinters. 


Gorshin watched amused as the startled Japanese crews ran for cover.


With a stacato roar another flight of high explosives howled over towards the hastily retreating cruisers. The Suvurov promptly ran up flags on her signal mast. [Cease fire] they angrily read. All the crews were then sent to dinner.


---------------------------------------------


"The Grozny's tiny Officers' Mess rang with toasts, hilarity and the clinking of glasses. We thought the battle won already and we'd chased the Japs back to Tokyo. Nebogatov's shooting had astounded us. The oldest guns in the fleet had plastered them with their first shots. We were very happy."


"Toasts, sir? You mean to say you drank vodka before a battle?"


"We were the 'Smirnoffs,' Ensign," the Admiral chuckled, "there were few occasions that couldn't be oiled with a little liquid relief. But if you're implying that we were drunk? No, the times were much too serious."


---------------------------------------------


After dinner the distant smoke had resolved itself into three distinct groups. Rhozdventsky and his senior staff had to decide which one was the main Japanese fleet.


Actually Togo was in a similar state of confusion at this stage. Misled by his scouts about the Russian fleet's position he couldn't find them where he expected them to be. The scouts seemed not to have corrected their initial error in their enthusiasm. Each scouting cruiser probably assumed someone else had provided the information to the Commander in Chief.


Just before the Chikuma squadron scuttled away under fire from Nebogatov, he detached two of his cruisers, Tokiwa and Asama, to look for the Russians. Spotting Nebogatov's muzzle flashes both groups converged, the Tokiwa group from the North West and Togo from the North East.


The third cloud of brown smoke Rhozdventsky's lookouts spotted was the Nagasaki and Sasebo cruisers hurrying up from the South East.


Around 1230 hours Rhozdventsky seemed to have made up his mind and sent up the signal for the planned 8 point turn. He probably assumed that the South East Cruisers was Togo's battleline and intended to place his 1st and 2nd Divisions across the front of them. However, before the 2nd Division had begun their turn, he changed his mind and ordered the 1st Div back onto the original course. This placed the Suvurovs in a column to starboard of the rest of the fleet. Apparently he now mistook the Tokiwa and Asama for Togo.


The sudden maneuvering threw the lead Destroyer flotilla into confusion. Having turned to starboard in conformity with the 1st Division, Grozny and Bravy now found themselves well to starboard of both columns. Behind them, the rest of the flotilla scurried after the Division on their new heading. With the blanket of funnel smoke behind them, the two lead Destroyers missed the second turn.


Commander Vladimir Ber Captained the lead ship of the 2nd Division, the Oslyabya. He was the de facto Admiral of his division following Felkersam's death. Rhozdventsky seemed not to have signaled his change of mind to him. He was left to figure out for himself what the Admiral intended. As the 1st Division came back on to their original course, he therefore cancelled his intended turn and remained on the original bearing and speed. This meant, though, that it placed his ship parallel to the last of Rhozdventsky's ships, the Orel, masking her port guns.


At about 1300 both Togo's and Rhozdventsky's lookouts finally spotted each other's fleets. Togo was well to the East and ordered a South West turn across the front of the oncoming Russians. The Tokiwa group rejoined the end of his battleline as he worked up to a speed of 15 knots, nearly twice that of the Russians. On board Mikasa a fluttering of signal flags ran up the mast, [The fate of the Empire depends on you. Let every man do his duty] Its nod towards Admiral Lord Nelson's famous signal at Trafalgar was unmistakeable. Togo's personal 'war pennant,' the 'Z' flag, then replaced the signal. It was to remain there throughout the battle to demonstrate that the Admiral was still in charge. The Z flag was flown again--by Nagumo on the morning of 7 December 1941.


Meanwhile Nebogatov had drifted further to the West with Enkvist tagging along behind. This meant that the Russian fleet was now in three distinct columns, almost in echelon as the technical term goes.


Bravy and Grozny pounded after the rest of the flotilla well to the West. Just as they rejoined, at approximately 1345, they were again surprised by the 1st Division's sudden maneuvering. The Suvurov began making a turn to port, across a Northerly bearing, until she was on a converging course with the 2nd Div.


"What the fuck!" exclaimed an astonished Pikalevoi, "I give up, what the Hell are they doing?"


Commander Ber of the Oslyabya was aghast. He watched the Borodino and Orel bear down on his vessel. It was clear one or both of them was going to strike his starboard side. In desperation he ordered an emergency 'bear away' to port. Sissoi Veliky behind him was also caught napping and her Captain ordered her engines reversed. The Navarin swung to starboard to avoid colliding with the Sissoi up ahead.


The blundering Oslyabya caused chaos to the 3rd Division. Nebogatov slowed and moved the Nikolai and the 'flatirons' further to port to avoid hitting her.


Rhozdventsky seemed completely unconcerned by the confusion behind him. But what the Hell was he doing?


---------------------------------------------


Togo had handed Rhozdventsky a gift, a free punch that, for sheer virtuosity and daring, has few parallels. Sailing over to the Russians' port side and well out of range, he then ordered his ships to reverse course by turning 'in succession.' This meant that each ship turned at exactly the same point as they reached it one by one. The Russians now had an opportunity to practice their 'fixed point firing' they so assiduously trained for. The Japanese Battleships had no chance of replying until they had completed their turns.


At 1345 Rhozdventsky observed the Mikasa turning around onto the opposite course, followed by the Shikishima behind.


"Crazy!" he told Lieutenant Bogdanovich, the Suvurov's 1st Officer. He then ordered a sharp turn to port, thereby allowing the Division's broadside guns to bear on the target point. (Known in Naval lingo as 'opening 'A' arcs')


The 1st Division bullied their way across in front of the 2nd in their haste to take the offered opportunity. At 1408 the Suvurov opened fire to be followed by the rest of the Division. Those of the 2nd Div that could bear followed suit.


The Destroyers to starboard foamed their propellers and swung away East. This was no place for the little ships to be.


The Mikasa was instantly straddled by heavy shells. A shell from the Oslyabya slammed into the Shikishima's forward turret as she was turning. The Russian observers distinctly saw it shatter into fragments across the Battleship's forecastle. It was a dud.


The Mikasa popped a single ranging shot from its fore turret; it fell short. The Russian Battleships' gunners were excelling themselves with the accuracy and speed of their firing. Rhozdventsky was delighted and sent Kursel around the Suvurov to tell them to keep it up.


Then at approximately 1413 the Suvurov landed a hit fair and square behind the forward superstructure of the Mikasa. The Russians cheered as they saw the flash and smoke cloud erupt.


On the Japanese flagship splinters sprayed over the deck. Many of the exposed Secondary gun crews were scythed down, the survivors heaving their bodies out of the way and carrying on. On the wing bridge, a fragment of shell whipped Togo's leg, opening a vicious gash across his thigh. His horrified staff watched him look briefly down before putting his binoculars back to his face. He seemed not to notice the medics who bound up his leg while he concentrated on the battle.


The 1st Russian Division began a slow turn to starboard to keep bearing on the Japanese Battleships. The 'point of turn' was left up to Nebogatov. It was now his and Enkvist's turn to pound the rear of Togo's fleet. 


------------------------------------------------


"We did not see very much at all of that," recalled Admiral Gorshin, "we were well out of the way skulking to starboard. Occasionally one of the Japanese ranging shells would splash into the water not far off. Strange, clearly Togo was within range but he held his fire. We didn't know what he was waiting for."


-------------------------------------------------


Enkvist's cruisers had closed the range by sweeping in a curve towards the Japanese fleet. About 1416 hours both he and Nebogatov opened fire with all guns.


As the Armoured Cruisers Nisshin and Kasuga made their turn they were swamped by Russian shells. The Nikolai the 1st dropped two 260mm rounds right on top of the Nisshin, one hit amidships and the other at the base of her after turret. There was a tremendous explosion and the turret was seen to lift completely into the air and go over the side. The rear of the ship, from the fore-funnel back, disappeared in a dense cloud of black smoke.


Next behind, the Kasuga was roughly handled by the Aurora, Oleg, Ushakov and the Senyavin. A 305mm shell blew off her stern and three 210mm rounds demolished her after funnel. Both ships reeled out of line and staggered away from the action to put out their fires.


The next to go was the Asama, hit by a 305mm round from the Apraxin as she was making her turn. The shell penetrated below the command bridge and blew up her Captain and his entire staff. She too bore off to starboard while control was regained by using the duplicate after-bridge facilities.


Lastly the Tokiwa was hit repeatedly by Aurora and Oleg, however she continued on with her boat deck on fire.


When Togo saw the last of his ships complete their turns he ordered his fleet to open fire.


ŠKATZMAREK
