New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-05-20
-LAPAN,S DISASTER.

Janan has mt last suffered a naval loss WIich
is certainly heavy and may prove 10 De S'"77
ing. Admiral Togo officially reports tne to'dl
loss of one of the best battlcshlps anu one VI
the best protected cruisers III me navy anu
tbaro ora persistent reports from other sources
Of the loss of another such battleshlp ana Oh one
of the giant arrlored cruisers, or else OF thlrd
battIeshin In the first case, the battIesmp
strength of the navy is reduced more than one
sixth. and in the second fully one-half. II the
fulI tale of disaster is confirmed, her cohtroi OF
the sea may he imperilled and the approach OF
the Russian Baltic fleet next summer may mean
its downfall
At the beginning OF the war and down TO last
week the Japanese navy contained SIX pat'Ie-
ships, all built IN England. -Four OF these We're
Of almost exactly the same size and equipment,
hojnc Of 1900 10 1920 tons $1,000 to 10000
horsepower. 1872 10 10 knots speed, and with
four Pinch and fourteen 6-inch guns each
There was little to choose among them. The
Mikasa was called ny the English the best bat
tleship in the world when she was built three
wears ago; but the Hatsuse which has just been
destroyed was half a knot the fastest of them
all and in all other respects was the equal OF
any other that we must consider her 10
have been really the best of them The Shiki-
shima which Russians say was destroyed also.
was another of the four, and the Asahi was the
fourth The other two Japanese battleshpS
were the Yoshino and the Full, somewhat
smaller vessels. but of similar armament and
slightly greater speed Obviously, the loss Of
the Hatsuse alone is a Grievous one. If The
Shkshima and the Full are also gone. that
part of the navy is reduced by 80 per cent.
The cruiser Yoslino is certainly lost. She
was the famous flyer of the fleet in the Chinese
war and down to this year was one Of the swift
est cruisers adoat. making % knots with ease
and being able 10 keep the seas for 1000 knots
without recoaIinc She carried guns larger
than G-inch. ana was not armorod hut her great
speed made her Formidable against anything
hut battleShips Her loss is heavy hut not near
ly so serious as that OF battleShip, since Japan
las plenty more cruisers some of them better
than she was Another story mas il that the
Asama was lost instead Of the Full The
ASama was one OF the six big armored cruisers
built in England, Of about 9IJ0 tons. 10000
horsepower. y to - knots speed. 10000 miles
radius of action, and 4 heavy armament Of =
inch and 6-nch guns In weight of hroadsde
they are actually more powerful than any bat
tleshipS in the Russian navy. and the loss %
one Of the six would he scarcely less, fl indeed
any less. to Japan than that Of n hattleship
It may or may not be n consolation to the Jap
anese 10 know that these We're lost through
accident and not in battle The IIatsuse was
destroyed by a Russian mine. In that the Rus
slams Will feel avenged for the loss Of the Petro-
payovSk. The YoShuO was cut down in "A col
liSion with her conSort the Kasuga, i'm a dense
fog. If the Shkishima and either the Full or
the Asama are lost, they are to be set down to
Russian mines. Altogether. i'm any case it was
a sorry day for Japan. the results of which may
well cause more anxiety at Toxic than has been
felt there since the war began