Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-05-30

not Oe TOO alSaIy praised, ne gathered
his fleet at one point which was the
destination of his enemy. He did not
waste any of his armored strength as
was feared here yesterday, in scouting
or in attempting to cut off auxiliaries
of the Russian force when those aux
iliaries had no fighting value.
He had under his command at the
scene of action the entire navy of
Japan. He distributed his ships
across that portion of the Straits of
Corea, lying between Japan and the
Tsushima Islands and there he waited.
Lands His Knockout Blow.
When the opportune moment came
he struck hard and successfully.
The exact force which Togo had and
the disposition he made of it are not
known, as sufficient details have not
yet reached Washington It is be-
lieved he had four battleships, eight
armored cruisers. thirty torpedo boat
destroyers and about 100 torpedo
| boats. submarines, besides some pro-
| Itected cruisers.
! All told, 1t was estimated, In q dis
patch received here, that he had IT'S
vessels with which to give battle to
Rojestvensky.
The day was perfect for torpedo
boat operations, the. sea being compar-
atively smooth, the only disadvantage
being that the boats had to operate in
daylight. -
Battle Began Saturday at Noon..
About noon Saturday, far eastern
time, which Is twelve hours ahead Of
American time, Togo gave the order to
attack.
The maneuver he. observed was de-
scribed as that of melee. His tor
pedo craft is thought to have dashed
like cloud of hornets at the Russian
battle line. 1t was here that Rojest-
vensky is believed to have suffered the
loss of his battleships and cruisers.
i BattIeships First Victims.
The Borodino, one of the finest of
his first class battleships, and the Sis
sol Velky, a second class battleship of
5000 tons, were the first victims. The
4 Porodino was under the command of
Capt. Serebrynikoff, an officer who
commanded the armored cruiser Rurik
which was sunk by the squadron OF
Admiral Kamimura last August in the
sea of Japan.
The Veliky is supposed to have had
aboard either Rear Admiral Foelker
sham or Rear Admiral Nebogatoff, sc
that this must have been a. serious
blow to the second Russian division
and probably disorganized it.
/ The cruisers which were sunk were
the Dmitri Donskoi, Admiral Nakhim
off, and Vladimir Monomakh, all the
armored vessels of this type in the
, fleet. 1t is possible that other cruisers
were sunk and this point will not be
cleared up until further news is re
ceived from Japan.
, Rojestvensky appears to have at
| tempted to continue upon his way, his
object probably being to pass through
the straits of Corea and get into the
| sea of Japan, where the armored cruis
ers and torpedo boats from Vladivos
tok were waiting.
To accomplish this maneuver he hac
to run the gauntlet not only of the
guns, the torpedoes fired by surface
craft and submarines, but of the rams
of some of the coast defense ships O
his adversary.
From a good source it is learned h,
} succeeded in accomplishing this tasl
with remnant of his squadron, an,
: it is thought he entered the sea O
Japan about nightfall
Torpedo Attacks Come With Niaht.
' Once more the torpedo craft wa
! capable of doing effective work. an,
it is believed that Admiral Togo sen
his destroyers against the Russians
! just as he did during the night follow
, ing the battle of August 10 off Por
Arthur
Whether they have done more ei
I fective work than they did on that oe
casion remains to be seen, but wit
\ such a tremendous issue at stake i
J. is believed that they have done ey
e erything that was humanity possible.
J Sundays Battle.
e London. Eng, May 20. - The SEE
i ond naval battle between Japanes
q and Russian fleets began late Sunda
afternoon, according to dispatche
from Tsingtau.
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