The Washington times., 1904-02-28

I
going to happen when the Japan
Il csc and Russian fleets meet on
an equal footing as to numbers of men.
vessels and guns. Naval experts them
selves are In doubt. though they are
/ inclined to favor the japanese. Just
what the fleets are likely to do can only
be foretold in a degree in judging from
/ battles Of the past. AS to these battles
Russia has had none of Importance in
/ a quarter of a century while Japan won
laurels in crushing the Chinese fleets IN
the fight off the YaIu nearly ten years
ago. The latter indicates something OF
Japanese prOwess. and is interesting.
The best account OF the fight was writ
ten by a former officer of the United
States navy. Commander Philo N
McGiffin. who was IN charge Of the
Chinese armored cruiser, the Chen
Yuen- In his account Commander Nc
Gihin says:
The opposing forces consisted Of
twelve ships on the japanese side-one
a small gunbOat and another & converted
merchantman-and of twelve ships on
the Chinese side-two ironclads. two
armorcd cruisers. two protected cruis-
ers, two torpedo cruisers. two Arm
strong cruisers, coast defense ship.
and a corvette.
| Monday. the memorable seventeenth
| Of September. was a beautiful day;
light breeze gently rufffed the surface Of
! the water. The forenoon passed
I as usual. At 2:15 o'clock each
ship went to general quarters. clear
/ ed for action and for an hour exer-
cised the crews at the guns. no one
| dreaming that the results Of our train
| ing were so soon to be tested. All boats
had been left behind. save one six
cared gig for each vessel. In case Of
disaster. quarter was not expected, nor
was surrender contemplated.
The fate Of the ships was 10 be the
fate Of the crew. The heavy steel gun
shields. one inch thick. and over thirty
| feet in diameter. which covered the two
pairs of 20.5-centimeter Q2z-inch)
Krupps on the ironelads, had been re-
moved. All unnecessary woodwork. rig
ging. etc. had been taken away; the
side wings Of the bridge cut OF; all
handrails and ladders removed. and
| rope or wire life lines and Jacobs lad
I ders' substituted where possible The
| ships had been painted an invisible
/ gray HammOcks were placed as a
small protection to the men at the quick
I firing guns. and within the superstruc-
ture sand bags were piled along the
sides. about three feet deep and four
/ feet high. Living inside OF these. On
deck. were kept some dozens of 100
pound shot and shell for the 6-inch guns
to promote quick service. Coal in bags
was also utilized for protection when
| possible.
When the bugles sounded action but
little remained TO be done save to lower
70 the deck the ventilators or wind
sails. TO close the scuttles. water-tighr
doors, etc. and 20 to stations. The
Chen Yuen's foreT o)n routine had been
carried out and the cooks were prepar-
ing the midday meal when the smoke
from the enemy's ships was sighted by
the lookout men at the masthead; and
before even a signal could be made
from the flagship the tugles throughout
the fleet were counding merrily the Of
ficers' call and action
In far less time than II takes to read
these lines signals had been made from
the Ting Yuen TO weigh Immediately.
and never were cables shorted in and
anchors weighed more speedily. The
old Chao Yung and Yang Wei, being
always longer I'm weighing anchor, were
left asteTn- As the two fleets ap-
preached each other officers and men
magnificent fleet OF their country's
hereditary foe. and on all sides there
were animation and confidence
The japanese formed into two SQUAD
rons. a flying squadron OF four ships
and a principal squadron of six ships.
with a gunboat and a converted mer-
chairman inside.
THE twenty-four ships, trim and
fresh in their paint and their bright
new bunting. and gay with flutterinG
signal flags. presented such a holiday
aspect that one found difficulty in real
izing that they were not there simply
FOR friendly meeting. on the Chen
YUen. dark-skinned men, with queues
tightly coiled around their heads and
with arms barred to the elbow. clustered
along the decks in groups at the guns.
waiting impauently. Sand was sprinkled
on the decks. and more was kept handy
against the time when they might be-
come slippery. Here and there a man
lay fat on deck with charge OF powder
in his arm, awaiting to spring up and
pass it on when II would be wanted
The crisis was rapidly approaching
Every mans nerves were in a state of
tension, which was greatly relieved as
q huge cloud of white smoke belching
from the Ting Yuens starboard bar
bette opened the ball
Just as the prOtectiIe threw up a
column OF white water a little short of
the 6oshino. u roar from the Chen
ICcn's battery seconded the hagship's
motion. 1t was exactly 1920 p. m and