The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-06-01
A Loss of Three Torpedo
Boats.
CONTINUED from Page One.)


from the fleet in the early stage of the
battle, which began in the Korean
Straits Saturday and headed in obed-
ienCe to orders. with full speed TO
Vladivostock. Up to four o'clock this
afternoon no other vessels of the Bal
tic fleet had yet arrived and the sig
nal stations at Askold and Rimsky-
korsakoff Islands reported none in
sight.
officers of the Almaz and Grozny say
that both fleets had already sustained
terrible losses when the Almaz and
Grozny broke through the hostile line.
OF the Japanese, two battleships
had gone down before their eyes and
two cruisers, their sterns high out OF
the water seemed ready to plunge
foremost to the bottom of the sea.
The Russian feet, they say, was
even in a sadder plight. RoJest-
venskys flagship, the Kniaz Souvarof
and her sister ship, the Borodino ana
the cruisers Osliabia and Ural were
utterly destroyed, and when the fog
closed down and hid the scene of bat
tie from sight, of the speeding ships
4 third great Russian battleship, the
Alexander III. seemed i'm sore distress
but limping northward putting up a
gallant fight against thrOngs of tor
pedo boats and still throwing her at
tackS on the cruisers of the Island
Empire. Torpedo boats were also
clinging round the other ships of the
feet like angered wasps, separate
hotillas darling in again and again to
launch their weapons.
The Almaz, which arrived at her
anchorage here Monday evening
bears scars of the battle. Her miz-
& jE shot " NJ of her
smoke stacks is pierced by cannon
shot. But the Grozny, though en-
gagged for several hours i'm a running
fght at short range with large Jap
1nese destroyer, shows no signs of the
fray. After her commander. Captain
AndriffSki had been wounded and an
officer and three men had been killed,
the Grozny succeeded i'm sinking her
opponent with lucky placed shot and
reached Vladivostock without further
adventure at II o'clock this morning.
Greeted With Huzzas.
As the Almaz dropped anchor ex-
citemcnt beyond description seized
thronging spectators. who with frantic
'huzzas" tossed high their caps. Cit
liens embraced each other and danced
jubilantly upon the pier. while the
crews of the ships in the harbor joined
in wild cheering
In a trice the boats were dropped
from the davits and in a moment the
officers of the cruisers and torpedo
boats in the harbor and the military
officials from the fortress were swarm
ing on board the Almaz to learn news
of the fight
The story was short. According to
the officers of the Almaz the fleet
under ROjestvensky met the Japanese
in 1,o Of Iu
land. and the opposing fleets immedi-
ately closed in. Being lightly armored,
the AlmaZ as had been ordered, by
Admiral Rojestvensky before the bat
tie, separated itself from the main fleet
at the first opportunity and headed
for Vladivostock soon after the COM
mencement of the action. but not too
soon to observe that the losses on both
sides in the Titanic combat were great.
Sinking of the Flagship.
Early in the battle an officer of the
Almaz, while watching Rojestvensky'
flagship, the battleship Kniaz Sow
aroff for a signal, saw the flagship
shudder from stem to stern as if under
a blow from a gigantic hammer and
hesitate in her course, while the waves
rose high from her armored sides,
Then she commenced to list and sink.
The officers believe that the debut
of the submarine boat as an effective
agent in naval warfare, or perhaps
larEe mine caused the disaster to the
Kniaz Souvaroff. The damage, how
ever, was so extensive that the flagship
soon went down, leaving the deck Off
GERS and many of the crew struggling
in the waves.
One of the Russian torpedo boats,
either the destroyer Bunny or the
Bravi, ran in and picked up a number
of the swimmers. one of whom was
recognized through glass as Admiral
RojestVensky.
Others go Down.
Under a gruelling attack from the
Japanese warships aided by torpedo
boats, mines and submarines, the Boro-
dino, Osliabia and Ural were placed
out of action and followed the flagship
to the bottom.
The fog which had raised and low
cred intermittently during the morning
began to settle down again and the
distance of the Almaz, which had now
succeeded in disengaging herself in the
combat from the struggling ships,
made it difficult for her to see clearly,
but the officers are positive that they
saw two Japanese battleships disap
pear beneath the sea before their eyes,
and that two Japanese cruisers APP
peared on the point of sinking.
The arrival of the Grozny at II
O'Clock today was marked by the same
scenes of excitement as those which
characterized the advent of the Almaz.
The correspondent of The Associated
Press visited the wounded commander
of the destroyer, Captain Andriffski,
at the hospital, and the captain con-
firmed the details given by the officers
of the Almaz He described his COM