The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1905-08-16
RUSSIAN STORY OF CRAFT AND MUT|NY
Rojestvensky Says His Ships Were useless Oroe'S
and Appeals to His Sailors Were IN VAIN ana
Lives of officers Were Threatened

! TWo-thIrds or The crews, says the adj
miral, were men incapable of perform
| ing what was required of them. The
gunners did not know the elementary
| laws Of firing, and in spite of the prac-
tice they had received it was certain
that the squadron was sailing to de-
feat. Admiral Nebogatoffs crews es,
peciaIly left much to be desired.
| At Madagascar a mutiny broke out,
and fourteen sailors were executed.
The guns Of Admiral Rojestvensky $
ships had to be trained on the Admiral
Seniavin and the General Admiral
| Apraksin in order to restore order
among the mutineers. Then-this was
discovered too late-the crews decided
to revolt and to give themselves up to
| the enemy.
Near Formosa another mutiny broke
out in Admiral NebOgatof's squadron,
and it was only thanks to Admiral Ro-
jestvensky's energy that the mutineers
did not succeed in making themselves
masters Of the ships and taking pos
session of the bulk of the squadron.
From the very beginning of the bat
tie of the sea of Japan Rojestvensky
saw that Nebogatoffs vessels, especial
ly the Admiral Seniavin and the Cen
eral Admiral Apraksin, were taking
no part in the battle and were not car
rying out his orders. He sent torpedo
boats to tell the mutineerS that If they
did not execute the maneuvers as or
dered he would sink them. Only then
did they open fire. Had ROjestvensky
not been wounded at the beginning Of
the battle the issue might have been
very different; but, being unfortunately
wounded, he had to be transferred to a
torpedo boat destroyer. Almost at the
same moment Rear Admiral Enquist
disappeared with his squadron OF
cruisers and Rear Admiral Voelker-
sam was killed.
Admiral Nebogatoff, who had never
been popular with the sailors. had to
take command Then the rout began.
Weakened by Admiral Enquist'3 de-
parture, the squadron was thrown into
confusion, Admiral Nebogatoff's orders
NCIO llOJ NalL l1CO OulJ anu II w 90 CNSAJ
man for himself. The ships were seat
tered, enabling the Japanese to pursue
and sink the Russian vessels one after
the other One division, executing Adj
miral NebogatOff's orders, was able to
rally together. 1t consisted of the
Seniavin, General Admiral Apraksin,
Admiral Nakhimoff and others. But
then the mutineers on board the Ad-
miral Seniavin and the General Adj
miral Apraksin refused to follow the
admiral 1t was in vain that Admiral
Nebogatoff ordered them, begged them.
The japanese vessels drew near, form
ing a great circle.
Seeing that all was lost, the Admiral
NakhimOff endeavored to escape but
was sunk in the attempt. In the other
ships the men threatened the lives of
their officers if they refused to sur
render and hoisted the red flag After
ward the ammunition Of the Admiral
Seniavin and the General Admiral
Apraksin was found practically I'M
touched
The ImperatOr Nikolai l. and the
Orel had fought valiantly and had lost
half their crews Each had been
struck by about fifty shells, but at the
last moment the men were carried
away by the example Of the mutlneers.
On the way to Sasebo group of en-
gineers and young officers resolved to
blow up the Orel. They were in the
act Of applying a light to the powder
magazine when they were surprised
by the Japanese. A struggle resulted,
and had the other sailors of the Orel
supported the cOnspiratOrs they would
have succeeded in blowing up the YES
sci, but no one stirred a hand, and the
wretched men were shot before the
eyes of their comrades.
Rojestvensky attributes the defeat
to the bad state of the vessels, above
all those Of Admiral Nebogatoff, which
had a very mediocre speed, further re-
duced by the layers of shells and
weeds covering their bulls and by the
state of the boilers; to the poor shoot
ing Of the crews, and to the fact that
the Russians were shooting with the
sun in their faces, which further af-
fected the accuracy of their fire. The
admiral adds that when the Russians
were in the middle of Tsu Shima
strait they were struck by a heavy
storm, which prevented accurate fire
and exposed the unprotected parts Of
the vessels to the japanese. The
white painted portions of the Russian
vessels offered an excellent target to
the japanese gunners, while the Japa-
nese vessels, painted a greenish gray,
were almost invisible against the back
ground Of sea and cloud.
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