The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-01-24
ECHO OF SIEGE
OF PORT ARTHUR
Russian Admiral Declares
Stoessel Was Incompetent.
wARSHIPS NEARLY USELESS
KoNDRATENKo THE REAL HERO
OF THE DEFENSE.


Associated Press an extended state
ment covering the defense and surren-
der or the fortress. He characterizes
the surrender before the garrison had
reached its extremity as disgrace.
bitterly criticises General Stoessel and
lauds Major General Kondratenko
commander Of the Seventh East Sibe-
rian rifle brigade, as the true hero of
the defense at Port Arthur.
Inactivity of Makaroff.
The admiral says that Vice Admiral
Makaroff, who commanded the Russian
squadron at Port Arthur, and who
went down with the battleship Petro-
pavlovsk on April Is, dictated the pol
icy of inactivity on the part of the
squadron taking the ground that il
would be hopeless. owing to the infe-
r1ority of the Russian naval strength,
TO engage the fleet of Vice Admiral To-
go, and that ii would be unwise to di-
vide the force defending Port Arthur
| by running the ships TO VladivOstOk or
to neutral ports The admiral admits
that bitter friction existed between the
army and navy. and intimates that
there IS a possibility of inquiry into
| this matter by Court-Inartial. He in
SlSts that the Russians destroyed their
Warships at Port Arthur beyond any
possibility of salvage by the Japanese.
The statement is as follows:
First Attack a Surprise
The first japanese naval attack on
Port Arthur was an absolute surprise
| to both the Russian army and navy
admired the manner in which the ia
panese handled their ships and the re-
! markable way in which they concealed
their movements, but they erred on the
side of caution. If in this first attack
they had launched all their torpedo
J boat hOtiilaS against the Russian ships
| which were in a condition of unpre-
paredness. instead of sending in only
few vessels. they could have executed
a disastrous coup de main by destroy
ing practically every ship in the har-
| Dor. Had a similarly bold policy been
carried out, the Japanese could have
landed a force to the west of the fOrti-
fed lines and captured the fortress
practically without opposition The
forts had not then been completed. and
the majority of~the guns had not been
mounted. The garrison manning the
/ entire line of over ten miles numbered
barely 5000 men.
Army and Navy Friction.
There was friction between the ar
my and the navy as the result of or,
/ ders received from st. Petersburg
/ These orders came 70 General StOessel
and intimated that the navy should
! emerge and fight the japanese.
I 1T would have been useless to
/ emerge without q definite object IN
/ view. We knew that we must fight
/ Immediately after we left the harbOr,
! for TogO's fleet awaited us. Then, aft
! er fighting, our badly damaged vessels
/ would have been forced to run to neu-
/ trail harbOTS and there diSaTm. while
( our vessels escaping damage or receiv-
( ing only slight damage would have
! been compelled to run the long distance
! to VladivostOk after fighting a second
/ engagement with Vice Admiral kami-
mura's squadron in Tsu straits.
Disobeyed Orders.
! The meaning of this was obvious.
| Some of our ships, perhaps majority
( Of them. might have been able to reach
: NladiVostOk in more or less damaged
condition, but what could they have
done theTe2 Therefore the heads Of our
: naval force at Port Arthur. nOtWith-
! standing the orders from St. Peters
burg. deemed il prudent not to divide
( the defending force, which action
/ would relieve Togo of the necessity of
| keeping the majority of his fleet of
/ Port Arthur in order to protect the ia
panese transport service
Russian Fleet Inferior.
! 1T may be argued that it was al
! ways possible for us to give Togo sue
/ cessful battle but in that we know our
I own inferiority- The cause of that in
/ feriority dates beyond the present war
The ships of the Russian squadron at
/ Port Arthur were the results of endless
/ experiments with all kinds of naval
!
/ was no attempt at uniformity The
! squadron was composed OF all builds.
! equipments and speeds We were ter
ribly handicapped i'm the matter Of
/ speed. for the maximum speed of the
! squadron was that of its slOwest unit
( which was under thirteen knots. In
| every case the Japanese naval guns
Attempt Hopeless.
These facts show practically that it
would have been a hopeless attempt to
( strengthen Vladivostok with some OF our
undermanned ships SO that the NladivO-
I commerce, and to hold the rest of the
squadron at Port Arthur for the purpose
/ ross as well as to keep Togo's fleet from
| engaging in other enterprises
Naval Guns Used.
'The gun equipment of the fortress was
completed by the removal from the YES
positions of our now useless naval guns
This policy was decided upon by the la
mented Makaroff, our best admiral, with
the approval OF all his officers.
General Stoessel who was in absolute
| command of the fortress, vigorously op-
posed the naval policy. He maintained
| that despite the unpreparedneSs of the
fortress. Port Arthur could easily be de-
Tended by troops armed only with rifles
He opposed the idea that artillery was
necessary. but this resulted in causing
! friction between him and the command
ers OF the fortress artillery
Stoessel Incapable.
! Il am sorry to say that from the first
| General StoesSel proved to be incapable.
/ Though IL fun command, he never Wis
| tied the fighting positions during the life
time o. General kondratenko. Kondra-
tenko was not only the life of the defense,
but he possessed in a large measure the
quality of peacemak er. He interviewed in
all cases of trouble and always eloquently
| pleaded the cause of the emperor and
the necessity for defense. and these ne
placed above private differences. His
4 ceaseiess energy. patience and cOurage
| won the confidence of the higher officers
OF both the army and navy and likewise
won the confidence OF the common sol
diers. Fortunately for the defense. he
| WAS able in large measure to direct its
| policy. Stoessel left much to him, and
the officers of the navy recognized in
him the one man capable of fusing the
discordant elements. By day and by
night General kondratenkO visited every
portion of the position and constantly
risked his life. He was our inspiration
No Russian need be ashamed of the de-
Tense made by the garrison while kon-
| drateniSo lived.
Harbor Death Trap.
sThe harbor OF Port Arthur. which has
been described as wonderful. is death
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