The Hawaiian gazette., 1905-06-16
MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE
BATTLE OF KOREAN STRAITS

|
japanese cruisers disappeared and the
Russian fleet proceeded through the
strait.
Suddenly at 1:20 o'clock in the after
| noon a gaunt silhouette of japanese
vessels, their greenish- blue paint maxi
ing them scarcely visible in the fog.
loomed up to the westward of the
Russian vessels. These Japanese con-
sisted of four battle-ships and the
armored cruisers Tokiwa, Nisshin.
Kasuga, Iwate and Idzumo. They i'm
mediately opened a heavy fire, which
was especially directed against the
fiagships of the various squadrons of
the Russian fleet.
Admiral Rojestvensky signaled TO the
| transports to place themselves on the
| right of the squadron of light cruisers.
so as to increase their distance from
the fighting portion of the fleet which
was now hotly engaged and. suffering
under the well-aimed fire of the Jap
anese.
Owing to the precision of the Japan
ese gunners and the concentration of
| their fire on the flagship, within an
hour and half the Kniaz Souvaroff
and the Oslabja were reduced to wrecks
| and soon sank.
Almost at the same time as the OPEN
| ing of the engagement between the
battle-ship divisions a column of light
Japanese cruisers appeared from the
eastward and fell upon the retiring
Russian transports and the light cruis-
ers. The cruisers Vladimir Monarch
triT
the left column and sent to their aid
They were repulsed by the japanese
cruisers, but not before the Ural had
been brought to sinking condition
The battle continued until o'clock
without any further noticeable change
in the situation. Soon thereafter the
battle-ship Alexander III. began to list
badly and dropped out of the line, but
| was quickly repaired, resuming her
+, place and reopening fire. The battle-
ship Borodino was then heading the
line. The japanese, noticing the con-
dition of the Alexander Ill, concen-
trated their fire. upon her and she
again dropped out of the line, this time
finally, and disappeared.
Such a heavy fire from the Japanese
twelve-inch guns was then directed
against the Borodino that she was dis
abled and sank. This was at 1880
o'clock in the evening. The battle ship
Sissoi VelilSy was now ablaze, but was
firing every available gun. At this
hour the onslaught of torpedo boats
from the coast of Japan and the clos
ing in of the battle-ships from the left
broke up the Russian fleet, all of which
except four battle ships and the con-
verted cruiser Ural had been holding
together.
During the night the japanese tor
pedo attacks continued, the result of
which was not known here until the
report of the commander of the cruiser
Izumrud was received from Vladimir
bav.
During the pattle a mass of Japan
ese junks is said to have obstructed
movements of the Russian fleet. The
Russian officers assert that these
junks scattered mines in the paths of
their vessels.
! The bodies of Lieutenant Machlis of
the cruiser Almaz and of other officers
and sailors brought here by the Almaz
and the torpedo-boat destroyers, were
buried today. Captain Reiff of the
destroyer Grozny describing the capture
of Admiral Rojestvensky, said that his
| vessel, in company with the destroyer
Bedovi, on which Admiral Rojestven-
sky escaped was steaming northward
when they encountered two Japanese
destroyers The Bedovi signaled the
Grozny, How many knots can you
make?" and on receiving the reply,
Twenty three" ordered full speed for
Vladivostok.
The Grozny, instead of obeying this
signal engaged one of the Japanese
destroyers, but the Bedovii raised the
white flag and the Red Cross flag.
While doing battle with her opponent
the Grozny was unable to go to the
aid of her consort, which was taken
in tow by the other Japanese destroy
ers. The Grozny succeeded in shaking
off her opponent, and later encountered
another japanese destroyer, which she
sank in a running fight.