Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-04
DEWEY ON THE FIGHT
Submits His Views Oh the
Recent Naval Battle.
JAPANESE VICTORY
RoJEsTvENsKY's GREAT AND
FATAL BLUNDER SHOWN.
Togo Had His Ships Well in Hand
and Plan of Attack Per-
fectly Executed.
JAPANESE VICTORY
Special Dispatch to The Star.

ICINh, june "a SpSSidl u thS
World from Washington says:
No American naval officer has studied the
battle of the Korean straits with such "a
broad understanding of it's difficulties and
perplexfties as has Admiral Dewey, nor
with deeper interest. With the more com
plete accounts of the engagement which
have followed the first terse bulletins, Ao-
miral Dewey has become convinced that the
chief factor in the overwhelming Japanese
victory was the incompetence Of Vice Ad-
miral Rojestvensky, rather than the STRAIT
egy of Admiral Togo.
Admiral Dewey is averse to expressing
his opinions OF the battle in a formal in
terview, involving as they do severe criti-
cism of the navy of friendly nation, out
the World is able to state his views cor
rectly.
Discarding entirely the apparent unpre-
paredncss of the Russian fleet, which may
have been due, in part, atleast to conditions
which its commander could not control,
Admiral Dewey believes that the first serl-
Gus mistake of Admiral Rojestvensky was
in failing to inform himself through his
the opposing fleet.
Togo evidently was we'll hidden, but this
is not accepted as valid excuse for the
of the feet scout ships to develop the pres
ence of the enemy. no matter where he
may be concealed, as It is the business of
the slower going battleships to stand up
and fight.
Rojestvensky's Fatal Blunder.
But Rojestvensky made his great and
fatal blunder when he continued on his
course in double line after the Japanese
a 10 \
between his battleships and the enemy.
According to modern tactics the cruiser
should have been well behind, leaving the
battleships to bear the brunt of the attack
In single line. with the cruisers held in
readiness to take active part in the bat
tie when the opportunity was presented to
use them to the best advantage
Had Rojestvensky dropped his cruisers
behind when Togo was sighted, which he
had plenty of time to do, he might still have
been surrounded, but he would have been
able to give back shot for shot The Rus
sian ships then would have used all Of their
guns, while the Japanese could only have
used half of theirs. and the result might
have been quite different.
Then, too, Rojestvensky would have been
in position where, If he saw his shots were
telling, he could have ordered up his ar
mored cruisers on the opposite side of the
Japanese line and fired on it from both
sides. The theory advanced from ST. Pet
ersburg that Rojestvensky held to his dou-
BILE line formation and kept his ships closely
together in the idea that he would be able
to cut his way through the Japanese fleet
in the fog and wanted to get all his ships
through as quickly as possible Is accepted
only on the basis that poor excuse is bet
ter than none.
Knew Togo Was Waiting for Him.
Rojestvensky knew that Togo was wait
Ing for him and meant to give battle When
the Japanese fleet was sighted the fog was
not thick enough to prevent pitched bat
tie. Therefore what ROjestvensky should
have done was to change his formation to
a single line. with the lighter ships trailing
the heavy ones
Admiral Togo had his ships well in hand
at all times, and his attack was perfectly
carried out. After the Russians had been
thrown into confusion the Japanese torpedo
boats and destroyers which had been un-
der the lee of the battleships, where they
belonged, darted out In swarms and launch
ed their torpedoes at close range. which
they were able to reach through the panic
on some of the Russian ships. The dam
age effected by the torpedo beats Is one
point on which Admiral Dewey. like all Of
the other naval strategists. is very anxious
Ito receive further information, but 1t is evil
dent that they were handled in exact ac-
cordance with American ideas and con-
tributed their share to the victory.
Supremacy Of Battieships Established.
Admiral Dewey is convinced that Togo
has firmly established the supremacy OF
the battleship and finally exploded the the
ory, which has been held by the public
rather than by naval experts. that the tor
pedo boats soon would supersede the real
fighting ship. II has been proved. he
thinks. that torpedo boats and destroyers
are valuable adJuncts to navy only when