Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-05-09
ADMIRAL ToGo's REPORT
On the vaIor Of the Japs in Port Artiu,
Actions.

Toxic, May IA r. M.-Vice Admiral
Togo's official report Of the latest en-
gagement off Port Arthur, which was
received here today, shows that the
Japanese have blocked the entrance TO
the harbOr.
| On Tuesday morning. after the block
aiding flotilla had been scattered by a
gale and the commander Of the flotiIla
| ha'i siGnallej in vain that the attempt
be abandoned, pending the moderation
of the storm, the crews of the separate
ships, in nowise daunted by the wealth
cr which isolated them from their COM
paniOns, proceeded to the work on their
own desperate initiative.
| They forced their way in the face OF
the Russian fire, which was more dead
iy than ever before, as result of the
| improved Russian dC:ences, over the
field of mines.
| Many of these exploded, yet five out
of the Japanese blockading ships we're
jammed into the inner channel and now
prevent egress from the harbOr TO all
craft excepting small boats.
| This attack exceeded all its predeces-
sors in desperation and the courage dis-
L
| to tlrNt shown in any event in the war
history of the world.
| Although Vice Admiral Togo again
avoided damage to q single one of his
vessels, the attack proved to be expen-
sive i'll lives. =
| The blockading Hotilla consisted Of
! eight stone-laden merchantmen. They
were escorted by the gunboats Akagi,
| n,
Commander Iwamura; the second tor
pedo boat destroyer flotilla. under com
mand Of Commander Shida; the third
torpedo destroyer fiotilla, Commander
| Tsuchiya; the fourth flotilla, Command
er Nagai; the fifth tlotilla, Commander
| Vano; the ninth torpedo boat fiotilla,
Commander Yashima; the 10th torpedo
boat notilla, Commander Otaki, and the
I 18th torpedo boat flotilla, Commander
! Salzurai.
The blockading vessels and their es-
cOrt left the main squadron for Port
| Arthur Monday evening.
They encountered Il southwesterly
gale and by II o'clock at night the seas
We're mountainous and it was found i'm
possible to keep the steamers together.
Commander Hayashi, who was in
command of the expedition, observed
the imposslbility of keeping the flotilla
intact and sgnalled it to abandon the
attack. al
These signals were repeated until 2.
o'clock in the morning but they failed
to reach the vessels of the expedition
which were swept apart by the tenn
pcstuous seas and proceeded separately
to the mouth of the harbor
Upon arriving there the Mikawa
Maru. one Of the merchantmen, saw
that the enemy was firing upon the 14th
torpedo boat flotilla.
The men Oh board the Mikawa Maru
thought the other steamers had reach
"a the harhor mouth. The Mikaw.L
Maru steamed boldly in. She was fol-
lowed closely by another of the mer-
chantlncn, believed to be the Sakura
Maru.
The Russians had fires burning at the
mouth Of the harbor and they used also
many powerful searchlights on the in
vadinS Japanese vessels.
They poured an ircessant fire into the
channel. Lieut.. Sosa, who was in COM
mand of the Mikawa Maru, unhesi-
tatingly forced his ship into the cham
mel, rammed his way through the
bOomS and reached the center of the
inner entrance. Here he anchored his
vessel and then blew her up. She sank
Immediately.
Another steamer, supposed to be the
Sdkuva Maru, then came to anchor
near projecting rock at the mouth of
the harbor and sank. Following the
SakIiNa Maru came the Totmaia. Tchi- |
far S,,r mt
Maru ard Alkoku Maru and the Asa
gau Maru.
These six steamers advanced to the |
mouth of the harbor The Russian fire |
now became highly effective. while Il |
number of sunken mines which We're |
struck by the steamers, began to ex-
plode. These explosions caused heavy |
casualties among the Japanese OH |
board the blockadirE vessels.
The Toni Maru collided with BOOM |
This turned her stem to the eastward |
and she sank athwart the passage,
blocking nearly half Of the entrance |
to the harbor
When the Ycdo Maru reached the |
mouth Of the passage and was lowering |
her anchor, her captain. Commander |
Takayangi. was shot through the stom- |
ach and killed. Sub-Leut Nagata sue |
ceeded to the command. He anchored |
the Ycdo Maru and sank her. Two |
othe. stone laden steamers, believed 10 |
be the Otaru Maru and the SaSami |
Maru, then entered the mouth of the |
harbor and sank.
The Aikoku Maru then struck a mine |
five cable lengths from the mouth of |
the passage, which exploded and caused |
her to sink. The lieutenant of this YES |
sci. Uchida, chief engineer Aoki and |
eight men are missing.
A steamer, thought to be the AS |
agawo Maru, which appeared to have |
had her rudder broken, blew herself up |
at the foot of Golden Hill and sunk |
there.
Vice Admiral Togo, in his report, says: |
This undertaking compared with the /
last two, resulted in greater casualties to !!
our side. Owing to the inclemency of the !!
weather and the increased preparations |
for defence completed by the enemy, we
could save none of the officers of the /
crews of the Chotaru Maru, the Sagami |
Marus, the Sakura Maru or the Asagawo |