Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-01
THE IMPENDING FIGHT
Greatest Naval Battle at
Hand Since Trafalgar.
COMPARING THE FORCES
JAPAN'S FLEET FASTER AND HAS
GREATER RANGE.
Rojestvensky Likely to Await the Ar
rival Of Nebogatoff's Squadron,
Giving Him the Superior Force.

Lieut.. Commander Albert Gleaves, in an
interesting review of the naval situation In
the orient confronted by the fleet of Rus
STA and Japan, declares that the greatest
sea fight since Trafalgar is impending, and
now, as then, an empire is ut stake. Lieut..
Commander Gleaves article appeared in
yesterdays New York World. He says:
THE arena which Is to be the scene Of
the mighty combat Is an ellipse of magnifi-
cent proportions, extending 500 miles from
Tamsui in the south to the straits of Korea
in the north; from the Chusan archipelago
at the mouth of the Kiang in the
west 300 miles eastward to the Linshoten
Islands.
Rojestvensky's Force.
1.-THE Baltic squadron when it sailed from
Russia was composed of thirty-seven ships
of all classes, but the real fighting strength
of the force was confined to seven battle
ships, of from 10000 to 5000 tons. two ar
mored cruisers of 200 and $500 tons, six
protected cruisers and a dozen destroyers
The remainder Of the feet was made up Of
auxiliary cruisers. transports, repair ships.
golfers and one hospital ship. The fleet was
divided into two divisions. the smaller YES
sells going through the Mediterranean and
the heavy ships around the Cape of Good
Hope; they Joined at Nautilus, where Ro-
jestvensky devoted several weeks to organ
fzing them as far as possible into a homo
geneous force. drilling them night and day
with such perseverance that on the eve of
his departure for the China sea he was able
to wire the car the significant and laconic
message, I am ready
1.-The material Of his feet includes four Of
the newest and finest battleships in the
world. They are the Borodino. Orei I'M
perator Alexander Ill and the Kniaz Suva-
LOFT. of 1856 tons and speed of eighteen
knots The others are the Oshaba, Sissoi
Veliky and the Navwien.
Neither of the armored cruisers is of the
latest type. The Admiral Nakhimoff was
launched in 1885. She was rebuilt in 1899.
The Dimitri Donskoi, rebuilt in 1895, is less
than 5000 tons.
THE protected cruisers Oleg and Aurora
of the first class are new and of about the
same tonnage as our Olympia. The second
class cruisers range from 1000 to 1000 tons
and have a speed of twenty-five knots.
THE above thirteen ships constitute Ro-
jestvensky's effective force, and while it is
a powerful fighting line. it is made up of
too many different types to be easily ma
neuvered. AS already stated, it Is accom-
panied by twelve destroyers aud fleet OF
auxiliareS.
Japan's Fleet.
At the beginning of the war the Japanese
effective sea force was composed of six
first-class battleships one second-class bat
tleship-the Chin Yen. captured from the
Chinese; eight modern armored cruisers,
sixteen other cruisers, and nineteen de-
stroyers From Admiral Togo's dispatch
after the fall Of Port Arthur it was
learned that the Japanese had lost one
battleship. one coast defense ship, three
protected cruisers and one gunboat, so 1t
Is probable that the feet which is in
tended to meet the Russians will be prac-
tically as 1t was at the beginning Of the
war. with the exception OF the Hatsuse
and possibly the Yashima, which was sunk
by mine and may or may not have been
repaired. Therefore, numerically, the Rus
slams are somewhat stronger. but 1t must
be remembered that their fleet is not so
homogeneous as that of the Japanese
We then conclude that In the coming
fight Togo will have at his disposal five
(omitting the doubtful Hatsuse and va
shima) battleships, namely: The Asaki and
Mikasa, of 1920 tons; the Shikishima, of
1850 tons; the Full, of 1880 tons, and
the Chin Yen, of 400 tons. each carrying
four twelve-inch guns and a total of fifty
eight six-inch The first four are heavily
armored with Krupp steel and Harvey
nickel, and have a sea speed of eighteen
knots. His armored cruisers are the Asama
Azuma, Idzumo, Iwate. Kaisuga. Nisshin.
Tokiwa and Yakumo. carrying total of
one ten-inch, thirty eight-inch, one hun
dred and sixteen six-inch guns and one
hundred and fifty-four rapid-frers grand
total of heavy guns for Togo OF 225 as
against 1893 guns of six-inch caliber and
above for Rejestvensky and 29S rapid irers.
In armor defense the two fleets will prob
ably average evenly. although the Japanese
ships, rule, have the partial armor
while the Russian ships are for the most
part protected by the all-around belt.
Togo's Probable Movement.
OF course 1t is impossible to say how the
two adInirals will dispose their respective
fleets on the day Of the battle. Togo viii
probably leave his auxiliaries at his base.
defended by booms and torpedo boats. Ro-
jestvensky will have his well in his rear,
guarded by his four second-class cruisers
and division of his destroyers. His line
OF battle will doubtless be composed of his
seven battleships. his two armored cruisers
and the Aurora and Oleg, for, while the
cruiser does not properly belong to the
FIRST line." it viii be essential for him to
use every available heavy gun. Togo would
have five or six battleships and eight cruis-
ers to meet Rojestvensky II It were not for
the Vladovistok squadron. which he could
not leave uncovered In his rear.