The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-13
IN IGNORANCE OF HIS PLANS
 --s---- R0jeStvenSky Did Not Con- fide in Officers. CAUSED DEMORALIZATI0N Interviews Develop Sensa-
 ti0nal Story. ships of Defeated Fleet Were short q Ammunition, Out of Training
 and Gould Net Work
 in Harmeny.
CAUSED DEMORALIZATI0N

yladivostok, June 12.--A series of i1- teryiews which the correspondent of the Associated Press has had with naval officers who survived the battle of the Sea of Japan has developed most sen- sational story of the causes of the kus- sian disaster, first of all the completo iemoralization which followed tho sinking of the flagship Kniaz Souvaron and the wounding of Admiral Ho5est- vensky. It is explained that not sif<~ gle officer of the fleet knew the com- mander in chiefs plans. The admirala than the sub-lieutenants and had to rely entirely upon the signals of the flarships, Admiral Nebogatom. upon whom the command developed had seen Rojestvensky only once after the 5unc- ture of their squadrons and then only for fifteen minutes.
 practice in Madagascar, it seems, werg false. During the entire voyage thera practically was no training In gunnery worthy of the name and the big gun practice was confined to three shots per vessel. Ugly stories are told Of ths happenings at Madagascar. Some o8 the crews certainly were nntrained ia gunnery and exhausted by the eight months voyage under trying moral and physical conditions, were no match for the veteran Japanese. whose marks manship was wonderful. The Japanese concentrated their fire on one ship until she was placed out of action and then on another, thus successively sinking the Oslabya, Alexander III. and Kniaz Souvaroff. Some ships developed de- plorable structural defects.
 The Onimbya's Defeeta.
 The oslabya sank without having a single hole below the water line Heavy seas entered the vessel above the water line and the watertight corn- partments. which were changed several times during the voyage, did not stand the strain they had been canculated to stand and burst, flooding and heeling the vessel over until she turned tnrt1e
 Lack of homogenity among the ships made it impossible to maneuvre in harmony. The Vladimir. Monamaeh. Admiral OushakoR and Admiral Sem iavin had to lag behind on this ac~ count, becoming only victims.
 Finally the ammunition was exhaust ed after the first day's fight. Even the very morning of the battle, while tha buzzfng of the wireless instruments on the Russian warships showed that the Japanese scouts were communicating their dispositions to Admiral Togo, Ad- miral Rojestvensky continued his care- less manoeuvreing. and when the Jap anese actually appeared the Russians were caught in an impossible forma- tion and were attacked on three fronts. Rojestvensky's position was cramped and his transports were badly placed and caused confusion. While the Jap anese were firing projectiles, even from machine guns. on the Russian ships, the latter were huddIed together, blank eting each others fire Only the lead- CTS of the columns could bring their gums to bear and even those the un- trained gunners fired wildly. To render matters worse the mines and floating torpedoes sown in the paths of the Rus sian divisions aded to the confusion. The Borodino. Admiral Nakhimoff and Navarin fell victims to these obstruc- tions.
 It is a heartrending narrative that Russia and the world should know. The sailors and officers were not altogeth- CT to blame. The main fault lies eise- where. There were many heroes among the Russians. Captain Berlh. of the Oslabya, committed suicide on her bridge as the ship sank rather than save himself. There were thousands of other heroes whose names the world will never know.