The explanation of the Russian cruisers' pertinacity was soon made plain
to Admiral Dewa by a wireless message which he picked up, addressed to
the captain of the _Novik_, which, decoded, ran thus: "Keep in touch
with enemy but do not attack until I join you. Two battleships and
_Askold_ following to support you. Signed Makarov."
Of course I did not know anything about this until afterward, the
_Koryu_ not being fitted with a wireless installation; but Dewa at once
made a code signal to me instructing me to continue my present tactics;
and while this was being done his wireless operators were busily engaged
in transmitting a code message to Admiral Togo, who was at that moment
lurking, enveloped in mist, some thirty miles away, near the Miao-tao
Islands, with his whole battle squadron and the new cruisers _Nisshin_
and _Kasuga_.
Makarov, however, was evidently ignorant of that fact; the atmosphere in
the neighbourhood of Port Arthur was now quite clear, and to the
lookouts on the highest points about the fortress no Japanese ships were
visible, save the cruiser squadron, which was undoubtedly in full
retreat from the pursuing Russian ships, which it was perfectly evident
they were afraid of. It was the moment and the opportunity for which
the Russian Admiral had long been pining, the moment when a weak
Japanese force, entirely unsupported, lay at his mercy, and now he would
smash them!
Accordingly, he hurried aboard the _Petrofiavlosk_ and signalled the
_Poltava_ and _Askold_--both of which, like the flagship, had steam up--
to weigh at once and proceed to sea. This was done, with marvellous
smartness, considering that the craft were Russian, and presently out
they came, their funnels belching immense volumes of black smoke and the
water leaping and foaming about their bows as they pounded after us at
their utmost speed, which, after all, was only about fourteen knots.
Meanwhile, Dewa, who was bringing up the rear in the _Asama_,--by the
speed of which ship the rest of the squadron regulated theirs,--was very
cleverly allowing the Russians to slowly overtake him, while the
Russians were straining every nerve to do so, stoking up furiously and
wasting their coal in the most reckless manner.
Then came an order from the Admiral to me to increase speed and pass
ahead of the squadron, out of harm's way, as he was about to open fire
upon the Russians. Of course there was nothing for it but to obey,
which I did forthwith; but when I had got about a mile ahead, I
gradually slowed down again; if there was any fun toward, I was not
going to miss it. Besides, it was just possible that I might be of use,
for, following the Russian battleships and cruisers, there was now
coming up, hand over hand, a crowd of destroyers, against which the
_Koryu's_ Hotchkisses might be brought into play.
Admiral Dewa only allowed me just bare time to get ahead of his
squadron, when he made the signal to open fire upon the pursuers with
our cruisers' 8-inch turret guns; and the signal, which had been awaited
with the utmost impatience, was promptly responded to with a steady and
deadly deliberate fire upon the _Bayan_, which was leading the Russian
line. Before her officers had time to realise what was happening,
shells were hurtling all about her and raining against her bows and upon
her deck, punishing her so severely that they had to stop her engines
and allow the rest of the fleet to pass ahead. The Russian fleet, which
had thus far been coming on in line ahead, now hurriedly formed line
abreast, the two battleships opening fire upon our cruisers with their
12-inch guns. Luckily for us, although the water was smooth the Russian
aim was bad, and their shells flew over and on either side of us, but
none hit us. Then Dewa, who was far too good a tactician to pit his
cruisers against battleships, gave the order to increase speed, and we
ran out of range, undamaged.
But only just out of range; for we wanted to draw the Russian ships so
far away from Port Arthur that Admiral Togo might have a chance to come
up, slip in between them and the fortress, cut off their retreat, and
force them to fight. And without a doubt we should have been
successful, had not the capricious weather played us a scurvy trick at a
critical moment when the Russians were some eighteen miles off the land
in a south-easterly direction from Port Arthur. For it was at this
moment that the fog, which had hitherto hidden Togo's approaching fleet,
suddenly cleared, revealing to the Russian lookouts on the Liau-ti-shan
heights, the Japanese warships, racing up from the south-west.
The approach of the Japanese was instantly frantically signalled to the
wireless station, which in turn wirelessed the alarming intelligence to
the Russian Admiral. A few moments' study of the chart revealed to
Makarov the precariousness of his situation. If he turned and retreated
at once, he might possibly escape by the skin of his teeth and get back
into harbour before Togo's ships could get up to cut him off, and he did
not hesitate a moment. Up went the signal to retire, over went the
Russians' helms, and away they scuttled back toward their lair, even
faster than they came out, while our cruisers, keenly on the watch for
some such movement, also wheeled sharply in pursuit, keeping up a steady
fire upon the _Bayan_ and the _Novik_, the rearmost ships in the Russian
line. Naturally, the _Koryu_ turned when our cruisers did, following
them up at full speed until we were close in their rear, while Dewa was
far too busy attending to the pursuit to spare any attention to me and
my doings.
It was at this juncture that the Russian destroyers made a gallant
effort to check our pursuit by distracting our attention from their big
craft to themselves. Believing that they held an important advantage
over us in point of speed, they boldly slowed down, dropped astern, and,
in two divisions, made a determined demonstration on our two flanks,
repeatedly threatening to make a dash, close in, and use the torpedo.
There was one exceptionally audacious craft, the pertinacity of which
caused me to take particular notice of her, and keep a specially
watchful eye upon her, because I speedily came to the conclusion that
she was doing more than merely demonstrate, she was bent upon mischief.
She was making a dead set at the _Asama_, our most valuable ship,
getting right to windward of her, and pouring dense volumes of black
smoke from her four funnels, so forming a screen for herself, under
cover of which she was evidently trying to edge in to within effective
torpedo range. Of course the _Asama_ and one or two of the other
cruisers opened fire upon her with their light guns, but we, who had
crept up to windward, saw that the smoke screen was serving its purpose
admirably, and that although the projectiles were falling all round her,
she was not being hit. It occurred to me that now was the time when we
in the _Koryu_ might be able to render a little useful service, our own
destroyers having been unfortunately ordered to return to their
rendezvous, some time before, and were now out of sight. Accordingly I
gave orders for the gunners to stand by their Hotchkisses, and rang for
full speed, also calling down to the engineer for the very last ounce of
steam he could get out of his boilers.
Like an arrow shot from a bow, the _Koryu_ started forward and, edging
well out to windward of the destroyer, opened a brisk fire upon her with
our Hotchkisses, aiming at her deck tubes, round which I had seen some
men busily clustering. And it was well that I did so, for the Russians
were in the very act of launching a torpedo at the moment; indeed they
actually _did_ launch it, but by one of those extraordinary flukes that
sometimes happen, and are so difficult to describe convincingly, one of
our shots struck the weapon at the instant that it issued from the tube,
wrecking its propeller and rudder and sending it to the bottom.
Evidently the destroyer's crew had been so completely absorbed in their
attempt upon the _Asama_ that they had been oblivious to our approach;
but now, seeing us bearing menacingly down upon her, her skipper
suddenly shifted his helm and would fain have beaten a retreat. As it
happened, however, we had by this time drawn up abreast and were between
him and his friends, so he evidently came to the conclusion that there
was nothing for it but to fight his way out; accordingly he made a dash
to cut out across our bows, at the same time turning his whole battery
of guns upon us. I instantly ordered my men to leave their guns and get
away aft, out of the way of the shot, dismissing the quartermaster also,
and taking the wheel in his stead.
At such short range, his shots could not possibly miss, and in less than
a minute our bows and fore deck showed a very pretty "general average,"
a 6-pound shell blowing a hole through our plating and wrecking the
topgallant forecastle, while several 4-pound projectiles pierced our
funnel, blew away our fore topmast, and knocked one corner of the
wheelhouse to smithereens. But I did not care; the purpose which I had
in mind was fully worth all the damage and more, and I knew now that
unless I personally was hit and disabled, I should be able to accomplish
it. For I meant to give that impudent destroyer the stem, to run her
down and sink her, knowing that our stout bows would shear through her
thin plating as though it were paper. And the _Koryu_ had the speed to
do it, the destroyer having lost much of her speed by the barnacles and
weed on her bottom, which she exposed at every roll.
Evidently the Russian did not realise my purpose until it was too late;
he seemed to think I was a fool who was giving him a chance to inflict a
deadly raking upon me as he crossed my bows; and it was not until I
suddenly shifted my helm, rendering a collision inevitable, that what
was going to happen dawned upon him. Then there arose a sudden outcry
as the crew forsook their guns and made a mad dash at the two small
boats slung to the davits, there was a frantic jangling of bells down in
the destroyer's engine-room, an officer on her bridge snatched a
revolver from his belt and snapped off five shots at me in as many
seconds--none of which took effect--and then we were upon her. With
scarcely any perceptible shock we struck her fair and square amidships,
right in the wake of where I judged her boiler-room would be; there was
a horrible crackling and rending of wood and iron as our stem sheared
into and through her deck, a clamour of yells from the crew as they
fought with each other in their mad haste to lower the boats, and the
destroyer heeled over until she was almost on her beam-ends, a volleying
succession of deep, heavy _booms_, accompanied by a tremendous outburst
of steam, proclaimed that her boilers had burst, and at the same instant
she seemed to crumple up and break completely in two, her bow-half
sweeping along our port side, while her stern-half drove past to
starboard, the crew, unable to get the boats afloat, leaping desperately
overboard. A moment before striking the craft, I had rung down an order
to the engine-room to stop the engines, and shouted for my crew to stand
by with ropes' ends; and now several of these were hove, by means of
which we managed to drag three Russians up on to our deck; and then we
backed astern and fished up eight more, all of whom we marched below and
locked up securely. The other poor fellows, including the captain of
the boat, must have gone down with her, for we saw nothing more of them.
But we had taught the destroyers a lesson, for thenceforth they kept
their distance.
Examining into our own condition, we discovered that our injuries
arising out of the collision amounted to about as much paint scraped off
as might be replaced by the contents of a 10-pound tin, while all other
damage was so high above the waterline as to make it of no practical
account. And we had not a man injured; so I considered that we had
emerged from the encounter very cheaply.
It was just half-past nine o'clock, by my watch, when, bursting through
the curtains of haze, our battle fleet hove in sight in the south-west
quarter, with flags flying, the water leaping and foaming about their
cutwaters, and a fine "white feather" of steam playing on the top of
their waste-pipes, indicating that the stokers were maintaining a full
head of steam in the boilers. But--Japanese luck again--they were just
too late; for at that moment the Russian fleet entered the protective
zone of their shore batteries and, with a very poor attempt at bravado,
slowed down to a speed of about six knots, while the _Sevastopol,
Pobieda_, and _Peresviet_ came steaming out to meet them. They had
managed to escape by the skin of their teeth; and now, in accordance
with the instructions given to the Admiral not to risk his ships by
pitting them against the shore batteries, we also were obliged to slow
up, and finally to stop our engines. As a matter of fact, the time had
come for us to retire; but evidently everybody was curious to see what
would be the result of my mine-laying operations of the preceding night,
and by common consent we all lay-to.
We had not long to wait. We saw some signalling going on between the
flagship and the three craft that had come out to meet the fleet; saw
the trio fall into line in rear of the retreating fleet; and then, while
our glasses were glued to our eyes as we watched the procession of great
ships sweeping majestically toward the harbour's mouth--from which they
were then little more than a mile distant--we suddenly beheld a
tremendous flash of fire envelop the bows of the _Petropavlosk_, the
flagship, which was leading the way into the harbour. The flash was
accompanied by the upheaval of a gigantic cone of water and an outburst
of thick yellow smoke which at once told us that one of our mines had
got in its deadly work. Instantly a great exultant roar of "Banzai
Nippon!" burst forth from the throats of the eagerly watching Japanese,
but it was as instantly checked when they began to realise the full
magnitude of the disaster that had befallen their enemy. For even
before the sound of the shattering explosion reached our ears we saw her
fore topmast fall, saw long tongues of flame leap up from her decks, saw
her-two funnels whirl over and fall, one after the other, while her
bridge, pilot-house, and foremast soared high into the air; and so
tremendous was the force of the explosion that actually one of her
6-inch gun turrets was torn bodily from its strong fastenings and hurled
some twenty feet aloft, to crash downward again upon the hapless ship's
deck, while a great burst of flame, probably due to the explosion of her
boilers, shot up where her two funnels had stood a moment before. A
series of heavy explosions followed, seeming to indicate the explosion
of her magazines, and then the doomed ship became enveloped in a thick
haze of green smoke, in the midst of which played great streams of fire.
Through that terrible green haze we were just able to see that she had
taken a heavy list to starboard; then her bows dipped, her stern rose
until her two propellers were lifted out of the water, a great
mushroom-shaped pillar of smoke shot up from her, and--she was gone!
And all this had happened in the short space of two minutes, during
which shells from our battleships were falling thick and fast about the
Russian ships, which had stopped their engines when the explosion
occurred, while some of them lowered boats, in the hope of being able to
render assistance to the unfortunate flagship.
With the disappearance of the flagship, the Russian fleet resumed its
way toward the harbour, the _Pobieda_ now being at the head of the line.
But scarcely had she started her engines when an enormous pillar of
flame, water, and smoke enveloped her amidships. She, too, had come
into contact with one of our mines, but, fortunately for her, with much
less disastrous results than those attending the destruction of the
_Petropavlosk_. She instantly listed, showing that she was severely
damaged, but beyond that nothing further happened, so far as we could
see, except that the second explosion appeared to have created a perfect
panic among the Russians, who immediately opened a terrific fire with
every gun, big or small, apparently at random, for we could see the
shots throwing up great jets of foam in the water all round them.
Later, we learned that when the second explosion occurred, some one
aboard one of the ships yelled that the fleet was surrounded by Japanese
submarines, discharging torpedoes; hence the frantic firing at the
water. Of course the assertion was groundless, since, as a matter of
fact, the Japanese had no submarines; but it is not very surprising
that, with two disasters, one following so closely upon the heels of the
other, the Russians should jump to the conclusion that they had been
attacked by submarines; for it must be remembered that we had carefully
educated them into the belief that our mines were quite harmless.
The loss of the _Petropavlosk_ was a terrible misfortune for the
Russians, for she was one of their most formidable ships; being armed
with four 12-inch guns of the most recent design, mounted in pairs in
her two big turrets; with, as a secondary battery, twelve 6-inch
quick-fire guns, eight of which were mounted in pairs in four small
turrets placed, two on either beam, behind 5-inch steel armour, while
the other four were in casemates similarly protected. She had six
torpedo tubes, and we conjectured that she probably had a torpedo in
each tube which exploded at the time of the disaster.
As for the _Pobieda_, our spies were able to ascertain that the mine
which damaged her had breached three of her big compartments and some
smaller ones, so that it was only with the utmost difficulty she was got
into harbour and beached in time to save her. Also one set of her
Belleville boilers was so severely damaged as to be rendered useless.
Consequently she, too, was put out of action for a considerable period.
Thus, at one fell swoop, the Russian fleet was reduced in strength by
two battleships. But their worst loss was their Admiral; for it is
indisputable that Makarov was the most able, energetic, and enterprising
naval leader they possessed.
Two days later, more mines were laid in Port Arthur roadstead, and
another attempt was made to entice the Russian fleet to come out and
fight us; but the attempt was a failure. As a matter of fact, it
afterwards transpired that, upon receipt of the report announcing the
loss of the _Petropavlosk_ and the damage to the _Pobieda_, the
authorities at Petersburg had telegraphed orders to the effect that the
Port Arthur fleet was on no account whatever to leave the harbour until
the arrival of Admiral Skrydloff, Makarov's successor.
Failing in this, Admiral Togo dispatched the cruisers _Nisshin_ and
_Kasuga_ to Pigeon Bay, to make a high-angle fire attack upon the
fortress and the ships in the harbour. I was not engaged in either of
these attempts, the Admiral considering that I had well earned and was
deserving of a few days' rest. Besides, he very properly wished to give
some of his other officers a chance to distinguish themselves. But I
understood that, with the exception of silencing a new battery which the
Russians had built commanding the bay, the bombardment was not attended
with any very important results.
On the following day our little Admiral, whom some have named the
Japanese Nelson, dispatched a squadron of ten cruisers, accompanied by a
torpedo flotilla, to attempt to bring the Vladivostock squadron to
battle. This squadron was accompanied by a cargo steamer named the
_Kinshiu Maru_, loaded with coal and spare stores for the use of the
squadron while away from its base; and the expedition was placed under
the command of Vice-Admiral Kamimura, with the cruiser _Idzumi_ as his
flagship. I had now had a little rest, and as there seemed to be no
immediate prospect of serious fighting at Port Arthur, I volunteered for
the expedition, and was temporarily attached to the _Idzumi_ as a
supernumerary.
We left our base among the Elliot Islands on the 16th of April; and
after an uneventful cruise of a week's duration arrived at the port of
Gensan, on the eastern coast of Korea, about two-thirds of the distance
from the Elliots to Vladivostock.
There was a Japanese consul at this place, and upon our arrival off the
port he and the Commandant came off in a steam launch and, boarding the
_Idzumi_, requested an interview with the Admiral, which was at once
granted, and the pair were conducted to Kamimura's cabin, where they
remained for the best part of an hour. At the close of the interview
the visitors entered their steam launch and returned to the shore. Some
ten minutes later, Kamimura sent for me; and when I entered the cabin I
found him poring over a chart of the east coast of Korea. He welcomed
me with the usual elaborate courtesy of the Japanese in their
intercourse with each other as well as with strangers, and invited me to
approach the table.
"I am particularly glad that it is my good fortune to have the pleasure
of your honourable company, Captain Swinburne," he began; "for an
occasion has just arisen upon which I think your services may prove of
the utmost value. You see this little place--Iwon--on the chart. The
two honourable gentlemen who have just visited me--the Commandant of
Gensan and our Japanese consul stationed here--inform me that rumours
have reached their ears of certain suspicious occurrences at Iwon which
seem to point to the possibility that the Russian Government may be
contemplating the dispatch of a large body of troops to Vladivostock by
rail, their embarkation there for Iwon, at which spot they may land,
march across Korea, and take our troops at Port Arthur in the rear. To
tell you the truth, I have not much faith in the idea, the only point in
its favour being that such a movement would be wholly unanticipated by
us. But in view of the information which I have just received, it is my
bounden duty to investigate the matter; and I therefore propose to
dispatch the _Kinshiu Maru_ on a reconnoitring expedition to Iwon, to
ascertain what foundation, if any, there may be for the suspicion. As
of course you are aware, she carries a small detachment of troops, who
may be very useful, should any opposition be met with. These troops
will, of course, be commanded by their own officers, while Captain Yago
will continue to command the ship. But, being a merchant seaman, he has
had no experience of landing troops; and that is where your services
will prove of value, especially should any resistance be offered. I
therefore want you to change over temporarily to the _Kinshiu_, still as
a supernumerary, but with my authority for you to take charge of and
superintend the landing and subsequent embarkation arrangements. I am
afraid this will mean a certain amount of disappointment for you, since
as soon as you have started I shall proceed in search of the
Vladivostock fleet. But you must endeavour to console yourself with the
reflection that I may not find them, or be able to entice them to come
out and fight me."
It was true, I certainly did feel a bit disappointed, for I most
earnestly desired to see what it was like to be engaged in a regular
pitched battle, even though it were only between a couple of hostile
squadrons; but I was where I was, to lend a hand where required, not to
pick and choose what I would or would not do; in any case I was not
going to make occasion for it to be said that an Englishman had
unwillingly accepted any duty offered to him; therefore with as much
cheerfulness as I could muster, I expressed my perfect readiness to do
my best; whereupon Kamimura gave me my written instructions and
dismissed me to pack up such few of my belongings as I thought I might
need. However, as I had only brought a very limited kit aboard the
_Idzumi_, I decided to take everything, since it would all go into a
small portmanteau.
Meanwhile, the skipper of the _Kinshiu_ had been signalled to have a
cabin prepared for me, and for him and Captain Honda, the officer in
command of the troops, to repair on board the _Idzumi_ to receive their
instructions. They of course came at once, had a short interview with
the Admiral, and we all left together, Honda doing the honours of the
ship, welcoming me on board the transport, and introducing his
fellow-officers, all of whom seemed very jolly fellows, with but one
desire, namely, to get to grips with the Russians.
We left Gensan that afternoon, escorted by the 11th torpedo-boat
flotilla under the command of Commander Takebe; the cruisers weighing at
the same time and heading east, in the hope of seeing or hearing
something of the Russians.
Unfortunately for us, we had not been under way a couple of hours before
we ran into a dense fog which delayed our progress to such an extent
that we did not reach Iwon until the morning of the 25th. We found
there a long, roughly constructed wooden jetty running far enough out
from the shore to give a depth of about six feet alongside its head, at
low water, which greatly facilitated our landing; and, ashore, we
discovered certain artfully concealed field-works of such a character
that, armed with a few heavy guns, they might have pretty effectually
covered a landing, unless interfered with by a very powerful force. But
our visit was evidently quite unexpected, for we only found a small body
of Russian troops--about a hundred or so, with a squadron of Cossacks--
in possession; and a few shells from our torpedo-boats sent them to the
right-about in double-quick time. We destroyed the earthworks, and the
jetty, as a precautionary measure, and, having reconnoitred the country
for several miles in every direction without discovering anything very
alarming, returned to the ship the same night, without casualties of any
kind.
It was now about six o'clock in the evening. During the greater part of
the day the weather had been beautifully fine; but toward three o'clock
in the afternoon a heavy bank of dark, slate-coloured cloud had gathered
in the eastern quarter of the sky, so quickly rising and spreading that,
by five o'clock, the entire firmament had become obscured, the wind
dropped to a dead calm, the light dwindled to a murky, unnatural kind of
twilight, there were a few flickerings of sheet lightning, low down on
the horizon, occasionally accompanied by a low muttering of distant
thunder, and the mercury was dropping with rather ominous rapidity.
I confess that, for my own part, I felt a bit puzzled; I did not quite
know what to make of the weather indications. It might be that nothing
worse than a violent thunderstorm was brewing; but against this theory
there was to be set the sudden and ominous decline of the barometric
pressure. We had fulfilled our task, and were preparing to get under
way, when Takebe, who was in command of the torpedo flotilla, came
aboard to consult with our skipper as to the advisability of going to
sea, in the face of such threatening conditions.
Unfortunately, our escort was composed entirely of torpedo-boats; and
although they were staunch enough little craft of their kind, they were
nothing like such good sea boats as our destroyers. The latter were,
under able management, capable of riding out practically any weather,
but with the torpedo-boats it was rather a different story. Some of
those that we had with us were small and rather ancient, their engines
were not to be too implicitly relied upon, and their boilers were nearly
worn-out; indeed, they would never have been detailed for the service,
had it been thought that there would be any likelihood of real righting.
If by any chance they should happen to be caught at sea in anything
like a heavy gale, and anything should go wrong with either their
engines or their boilers, the probability was that they would founder,
taking all hands with them.
It was these considerations that were weighing upon Commander Takebe's
mind when he came aboard the _Kinshiu_ to consult with Captain Yagi; and
it was evident from his first words that he was all in favour of
adopting the prudent course, and staying where we were until it could be
seen how matters were going to turn out. But Yagi and he looked at
things with different eyes. In the first place, Yagi did not believe
that the portents indicated anything more serious than, at worst, a
sharp thunderstorm, while at the same time his instructions from
Kamimura were that the reconnaissance was to be executed with the utmost
dispatch, and that, this done, he was to immediately return to Gensan,
so that he might be on the spot in the event of the cruisers needing to
re-bunker. And in any case, should it come on to blow, as Commander
Takebe seemed to fear, he had no apprehensions concerning the _Kinshiu_;
she was a good sturdy little ship, and would weather out the worst that
was at all likely to happen.
The two discussed the matter together for quite half an hour,
occasionally referring to me for my opinion; but both of them were
considerably older than I, and had had a much more varied experience
than myself of the somewhat peculiar weather conditions of the Sea of
Japan; I therefore said as little as possible, and did not attempt to
offer a word of advice to either of them. Finally, the matter ended by
each of them having his own way--that is to say, Yagi decided to leave
for Gensan forthwith, unescorted, taking such trifling risk as there
might be--which, they both agreed, amounted practically to none at all--
while Takebe determined to study the safety of his command by remaining
where he was and awaiting developments. Accordingly, as soon as the
Commander had gone, the order was given to get the anchor; and about
seven o'clock we steamed out to sea.