Cruiser Diana. Battle path

Shortly after commissioning, Diana was transferred to the Pacific Squadron of the Baltic Fleet. The detachment, which also included Pallada, Retvizan and 7 destroyers, left Kronstadt on October 17, 1902, heading to the Far East through the Suez Canal. The journey lasted several months, and on April 24, 1903, the Diana arrived in Port Arthur.

On the night of January 27 (February 9, new style), 1904, Diana and Pallada were duty cruisers on the Port Arthur roadstead. They were the first Russian ships to enter the war, opening fire on Japanese destroyers that suddenly attacked the squadron. Pallas received heavy damage from a torpedo fired by Japanese destroyers.

"Diana" also participated in the famous battle in the Yellow Sea, where she received heavy damage. Then the Diana made an attempt to break through to Vladivostok alone, but after it became clear that the damage could not be repaired along the way and there were problems with the supply of coal, the cruiser commander, Prince Alexander Alexandrovich Liven, decided to go to Saigon. This decision was driven by two factors:

1) according to the French declaration of neutrality, the ship could stay there indefinitely and carry out full repairs;

2) "Diana", leaving the battle to the south, could go all the time with an economical move, without fear of a collision with the enemy.

On August 12, the Diana arrived in Saigon, but it was not possible to dock the ship right away, the French authorities were delaying the decision. Japan was able to put pressure on the French authorities, and on August 21 the ship was decided to be interned. At the same time, the ship's commander received an order to disarm from St. Petersburg. On August 29, the Andreevsky flag was lowered on the Diana, and on September 16 she stood in the dock for repairs. The cruiser could no longer participate in the war. Only a year later, on October 11, 1905, "Diana" again raised the St. Andrew's flag, and on January 8, 1906, she arrived at the port of Libava.

Avrora, sister of Diana, returns to St. Petersburg

In the interwar period, "Diana" was modernized - small-caliber artillery was removed from the ship, which showed its inefficiency during the Russian-Japanese war, and the main caliber was strengthened. According to its results, the armament was 10 152-mm and 20 75-mm guns. A major overhaul of the machines was also carried out, and the boilers were replaced with new ones, the Belleville-Dogolenko systems.

Already after the outbreak of the First World War, in May-June 1915, the Diana underwent the last major modernization - instead of the old 152-mm guns, it received new 130-mm guns of the 1913 model. A fire control system was installed.

On June 17, 1916, Diana, along with the armored cruiser Gromoboy and five destroyers, took part in a night battle off the coast of Sweden. Their opponents were eight German destroyers and then a submarine. In total, the cruiser fired more than two hundred shells.

From July to October 1916 "Diana" participated in the defense of the Gulf of Riga. October 23, 1916 "Diana" returned to Helsingfors (now Helsinki) for the winter.

The last campaign of "Diana" was the famous Ice Campaign of the Baltic Fleet - saving ships from being captured by German troops.

After returning to Kronstadt, the guns were removed from the ship and mothballed. In 1922 - cut into metal. But the history of the Diana-class ships did not end there. "Aurora" participated in the defense of Leningrad, and its guns and sailors were engaged in artillery support of the Soviet troops in 1941.

"Aurora" can still be seen in St. Petersburg: now it is a museum. And you can see "Diana" and even feel yourself in the role of her commander in the World Of Warships project. In the world of warships, she is presented in her state during the Russo-Japanese War, in olive combat camouflage. In addition to Diana, other ships of the Russian Imperial and Soviet fleets can be seen in the game, in particular, the famous cruisers of projects 26 (Kirov) and 68-K (Chapaev), destroyers of project 7 - Wrathful, and at the highest, 10th level are the Soviet cruisers of projects 66 - "Moscow" and 82 "Stalingrad".

Levin A.A.

Gangut No. 36

OCR - Keu

The publication brought to the attention of our readers is compiled from separate excerpts from the book “Report of the commander of the cruiser 1st rank Diana” published in 1907 in St. Petersburg about the battle on July 28 and about the campaign to Saigon, prepared for publication by A. A. Lieven, who commanded the said ship during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Alexandrovich Lieven was born on July 7, 1860. In 1878, after graduating from the Berlin Cadet Corps, he was enrolled with the rank of ensign in the Life Guards Semyonovsky Regiment. Four years later, he was seconded to the naval department and, after passing exams in the Naval Corps in 1884, he was promoted to midshipman. In the course of further service, he was assigned the ranks of lieutenant (1888), captain of the 2nd rank (1898), captain of the 1st rank (1905), rear (1909) and vice admiral (1912).

In 1887, A. A. Liven graduated from the Mine Officer Class, and in 1898, from the Nikolaev Naval Academy.

The first ship, on which he was appointed commander in 1897, was the steamer Ilmen. Then he was a senior officer of the mine cruiser "Voevoda" (1897 and 1898) and the squadron battleship "Poltava" (1898-1901), the commander of the destroyer "Kasatka" (1901 and 1902), the gunboat "Beaver" (1902), the cruiser II rank " Robber" (1902-1904), cruisers of the 1st rank "Diana" (1904-1905) and "Memory of Azov" (1906). In 1908-1911, A. A. Liven was the head of the 1st mine division of the Baltic Sea, and from 1911 until his death, he was the head of the Naval General Staff; author of original works on the education of sailors.

A. A. Liven died suddenly at midnight on February 22, 1914 on a train near Udine station, returning from vacation from Venice to St. Petersburg. He was buried on March 4 at the Venten family estate (not far from the Ceren station, Courland).

Among the awards of A. A. Liven are the Order of St. Anna of the 3rd and 2nd class. and swords to the last, St. Stanislav 2nd and 1st class, St. Vladimir 4th class. with a bow and 3rd st.; medal in memory of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905; the golden weapon is a saber with the inscription "For Bravery".

On July 27, 1904, the cruiser Diana* was at the entrance to the harbor of Port Arthur to guard the passage when I received a secret order to prepare to go to sea the next morning. [* Captain 2nd rank A.A. Liven took over the cruiser "Diana" under his command on May 13, 1904. Note. ed.] The purpose of the campaign was not mentioned. The cruiser was already completely ready, having reserves for one month, full combat reserves, a full supply of coal, with the exception of the 70 tons spent in recent days, which they immediately started loading, sending a barge with people for this purpose, to the Angara transport. There were not enough guns on the cruiser: 2 - 6-inch ** and 4 - 75-mm, given to the battleship Retvizan. [**The ship was missing a second pair of 6-inch (152 mm) forward side guns. Note. ed.] After dinner, the head of the cruiser detachment, Rear Admiral [N. K.] Reizenstein gathered the commanders of his detachment on the [cruiser] Askold and announced that the squadron should go to Vladivostok, acquainted us with the minefield near Vladivostok, gave us identification signals in case of a meeting with the Vladivostok squadron and announced that the squadron commander [ Rear Admiral V, K. Witgeft] decided on a campaign and in the event of a battle to confine himself to the least number of signals, using the simplest formation, so that, in his words, there would be no signals, and in case of complications, the admiral relies on the quick wits of the commanders.

The loading of coal from the Angara was extremely slow, as it was very inconvenient to get it out of the ship's hold. Only late in the evening they brought the barge to the cruiser, and the loading on the cruiser was completed only at about 6 in the morning, when other ships were already leaving. This, however, did not delay, since "Diana" was appointed to leave the last.

Upon the exit of the battleship Poltava, the squadron and the [sweeping] caravan weighed anchor and moved forward. The cruisers "Pallada" and "Diana" no longer anchored, but entered directly into their places in the general formation of the wake at the tail of the line.

At 08:50, not reaching Liaotishan, they prepared for battle on a signal. The Japanese cruisers Nisshin, Kasuga, Matsushima, Itsukushima, the battleship Tin-En and several destroyers are visible on Ost. Soon he found a light fog and the enemy disappeared.

At 9 o'clock the admiral raised a signal: "The fleet is informed that the emperor ordered to go to Vladivostok."

10 h 50 min. The minesweeper caravan turned back to Port Arthur with boats and destroyers of the 2nd detachment. Fog from Port Arthur, clearer on SO. Four enemy destroyers are visible. Our first detachment of destroyers is on the right beam of the fleet, built in one wake column.

At 11:10 at SO 25°, the armored cruiser Yakumo and the three non-armored cruisers Kasagi, Takasago, and Chitose appeared to starboard bow. Their course is approximately on O, at the intersection of ours. Distance 110 kb.

At 11:25 an enemy armored squadron appeared on O, heading to link up with its cruisers. "Tsesarevich" lay down at SO 50 ° in the gap between them.

At 12 o'clock the admiral made a signal: "Go 12 knots to the course 30 ° 30", N. L 121 ° 22", O". The destroyers moved to the left traverse. The enemy armored squadron got so close that ships can be distinguished. It consists of the battleships Mikasa, Asahi, Fujii, Shikishima, and the cruisers Nisshin and Kasuga. On NO, Matsushima, Itsukushima, Tin-En and many destroyers are far visible.

The cruisers, seeing that they were unable to connect with their armadillos, turned back and bypassed our squadron astern. On the way, they stopped and inspected the [hospital] ship "Mongolia" following our fleet. Around them are 12 destroyers. Our system is greatly stretched.

12 h 10 min. The enemy opened fire from a large caliber at a great distance. Our main ships are responding.

12 h 30 min. The enemy armadillos turned "all of a sudden" on the opposite course. "Tsesarevich" bowed 5 R to the right.

12 h 50 min. The enemy turned back, again "all of a sudden", "Tsesarevich" leaned 7 R to the left. They pass by countertacks at a distance of 50-60 kb. There are more than one large guns.

1 h 5 min. The lead enemy battleship caught up with us, made two sighting salvos from 6 guns at 55 and 52 kb. The second volley landed well. Opened rapid fire. Distance 48 kb. The enemy armadillos began to lean to the right to cover the tail of our column, and the entire armored squadron concentrated all their fire on our cruisers. Shells begin to fall around the cruiser very often. To get out of this position, he began to lean to the left and added speed. Behind us, Pallada did the same, and then Askold and Novik. Thus, we switched to the bearing formation on the left traverse of our battleships, where we again went in the wake formation.

During this maneuver, they noticed the fall of shells in the "Pallada" and in the "Askold". The cruiser "Diana" was not hit, only fragments torn near the side of the shells broke through the nets and wounded two people, who, after bandaging, have now returned to duty.

1 h 20 min. The distance to the enemy increased so much that the fire stopped. His armadillos turned sequentially through N and lay down on a course parallel to us, so that they ended up on our right shell at a distance of about 80 kb to the Poltava end ship. The enemy cruisers first approached their armadillos, and then moved on to our left shell. Our system - battleships in the wake column: "Tsesarevich", "Retvizan", "Pobeda", "Peresvet", "Sevastopol", "Poltava". On their left abeam at a distance of 8 kb of the cruiser in the wake column: "Askold", "Novik", "Pallada", "Diana". Even more to the left in the wake column is the 1st detachment of destroyers.

1 h 50 min. Signal from the "Tsesarevich": "More move." They held 100 revolutions, about 15 knots. The squadron continued in this manner until evening.<...>

2 hours The enemy's lead armadillos approached our end ones by 60-70 kb and exchanged rare shots. The enemy cruisers began to catch up on the left side, apparently wanting to take us in two fires, but the Poltava opened fire on them from 12 "(305-mm. - Ed.) guns. They turned to the right, joined their battleships and in 2 h 50 min entered their wake.

Zch. The distance between armadillos is 65kb. The fire has stopped. Heading SO 45°.<...>4 h 45 min. The battleships approached again by 50 kb, and the battle began on parallel courses. The cruisers, following the movement of their flagship, increased the distance to their battleships to 26 kb. The enemy battleships and cruisers in a common wake column walked a little behind our battleships and by 05:15 they approached 25-30 kb. They shoot from all guns, the fire is quite frequent. You can’t hear individual shots, there is a rumble like a drumbeat.

Watching the fire, it seemed that the accuracy, judging by the overshoots and undershoots on both sides, is approximately the same, but the Japanese shoot much more often. Firstly, the number of medium-caliber guns on our ships is less, and secondly, their rate of fire is more found among the Japanese than among us. The enemy concentrated all his fire on the admiral ships Tsesarevich and Peresvet. Our ships fire more at the enemy who is on their beam. "Poltava" is far behind and is fighting alone with "Nissin", "Kasuga" and "Yakumo". The light cruisers of the Japanese do not take part, neither do ours.

Hits are noticed more and more in "Peresvet" and in "Tsesarevich". They both hit the pipes several times, on the "Peresvet" both topmasts were shot down and, apparently, the front turret did not turn ... However, watching the firing of the Asahi battleship, which was opposite us, for a long time, I noticed that only guns were firing back of the casemate, from the front it never flashed. It's probably all destroyed. In general, damage from the side is hardly noticeable on armadillos.

5 h 45 min. We clearly saw a shell hit on the front bridge of the Tsesarevich. There was fire and smoke. Shortly thereafter, the "Tsesarevich" suddenly put the right on board and went out of order. At the same time, he lurched so much that for a minute they thought that something was wrong with him, but he soon straightened up and went back on his course ... Meanwhile, the "Tsesarevich" entered the gap between the "Sevastopol" and "Poltava", where continued to follow the old course.

After 10 minutes, at bh, the "Tsesarevich" again went out of order and raised the signal: "The Admiral sends the authorities", then returned to duty, but immediately put it on board and went straight to the enemy, then again turned to our battleships. There was confusion... But "Retvizan" continued to follow the old course. It turned out something like a formation of the front with the course NW. The enemy at this time began to lean to the left and went to N, bypassing our squadron, retreating to NW. One "Retvizan" found himself against him. Our battleship made an extremely dashing impression. He continued to move towards the Japanese who stretched out across his course, and spewing incredibly strong fire from both sides. Then he turned and quickly caught up with his ships. He probably contributed a lot to the fact that the enemy could not approach and take advantage of the temporary confusion that occurred in our fleet.

Meanwhile, when the battleships turned, the cruisers followed suit. The head of the detachment on the "Askold" put the right on board, followed by the "Novik" and "Pallada" in the wake, but I, walking at the end, could not continue to walk in the wake. Our armadillos were coming towards us. Therefore, he turned with "Askold" "suddenly" on the opposite course. Overtaking me, "Askold" raised the signal "To enter the wake", but immediately put the right on board and described a full circulation towards our battleships, and then lay down a course parallel to them. "Pallada" and "Diana", following him and having a much greater circulation, with difficulty turned around and lay down [to him] in the wake ...

Our battleships were in the wrong formation on the NW, with cruisers on the right side. The squadron was completely surrounded by the enemy, maintaining fire all the time, and the cruisers were between two armored squadrons. To get out of this situation, the Askold, followed by us, increased the speed and stepped forward, but with this we found ourselves between our battleships and the Asama, Tin-En and three Itsukushima-class cruisers. A very heated exchange of fire ensued with these ships. The battleships went straight at them and opened fire on them from bow guns, while we, with the Askold at the head, passed ahead of the battleships on their left flank and fired with all sides. The nearest distance to "Asama" was 38 kb, and to "Itsukushima" - 25 kb. Our fire was very real. On one of the Itukushima-class cruisers, a fire immediately broke out, and several shells hit the other at once. They turned and went to N.

At this time, namely at 6 hours 45 minutes, the cruiser was hit by a projectile, as it later turned out to be 18 cm *, from the Nissin or Kasuga, hit Temperley's arrow lying on the supply rail on the upper deck, exploded and blew up with fragments 11 rounds of two 75-mm arbors near the 15th gun. [*Misprint or author's reservation. There were no 180-mm caliber guns in the Japanese fleet.] Midshipman [B. G.] Kondratiev and 4 lower ranks, wounded seriously 8 and lightly 12. Immediately after this, a large-caliber projectile hit and exploded in the side below the waterline between 102 and 100 sp. on the right side**. [**According to the inspection report of the ship in Saigon, it was a 203-mm shell, which, fortunately, did not explode.]

Three sections of rubber dam between 98 and 101 sp. filled with water, and through the damaged (probably by explosion) deck above these compartments, water appeared in the infirmary, pharmacy and office. The bilge men who were in this place immediately took measures, put up the first props to strengthen the deck, and the bilge mechanic who arrived at the place [junior mechanical engineer V. A. Sannikov] and senior officer [captain 2nd rank V. I. Semenov] with a working compartment, the deck of all three rooms was securely supported by a large number of supports. The wounded from the infirmary were transferred to officers' quarters.

As already mentioned, "Askold", and after him we, during this last battle, went ahead of the battleships from their right side to their left, or rather, cut through their entire system in order to get out of an awkward situation and not be between the battleships and enemy. At the same time, I had to pass very close to the "Peresvet". On it, as already mentioned, both topmasts were destroyed, the front hung, the upper deckhouse and the bridge were destroyed, and the bow tower, apparently, did not rotate, although he fired from it at the nose when the enemy came to the sight. When passing, the senior navigator of the Peresvet shouted to us that they were asking to give way, since their steering wheel was temporarily out of action.

Having crossed to the left side of our battleships, the Askold raised the signal at 06:50 “To be in the wake formation”, and then, at 07:00, gave full speed and raised the signal “Follow me”, went to S, apparently for a breakthrough. It was followed by "Novik" and "Diana"; "Pallada" remained on the right side of the battleships. But "Askold" and "Novik" had such a move that I immediately fell behind, and after 15 minutes they, accompanied by several more destroyers, disappeared, and I was left alone. It was already beginning to get dark, but it was still too light for one to break through, and I turned back to the squadron.

The picture was like this. Our ships were moving approximately NW. Ahead was Retvizan, followed by Pobeda, Peresvet and Sevastopol, behind a separate group, about 8 kb from the first, were almost next to Pallas, Tsesarevich and Poltava. In the interval between the two groups, "Diana" and with her the destroyer "Grozovy", which joined the cruiser in the evening, and then remained with him all the time. Three more destroyers went with the front group of battleships,

Towards S, in the direction where Askold and Novik fled, frequent shooting is heard. Probably they have already been attacked by destroyers. Now the question is: what to do next?

Our fleet obviously went back to Port Arthur. Our squad leader raised the “follow me” signal and, apparently, tried to break through the enemy surrounding us to the south. According to the general meaning of all the orders of the higher authorities received back in Port Arthur, the fleet left Port Arthur, mainly so as not to fall into the hands of the enemy, in case the fortress did not hold out. All this taken together led to the conclusion that the cruiser should try, even if alone, but to break free. This was very risky and could only succeed if the departure of the cruiser was not noticed by the enemy squadron, since when it was moving at 17.5, and at best 18 knots, it would not have left the enemy cruisers if they thought to follow him. In the battle with them, "Diana" had little chance, since some of her already weak artillery remained in Port Arthur. So, the main thing was to avoid publicity and leave unnoticed.

Exactly at 8 o'clock in the evening, the Retvizan, leading the way, suddenly turned and went at full speed to the north, opening frequent fire. Obviously, destroyers rushed at him.

It was still quite dark, but it was impossible to delay any further. Once the mine attack began, it was necessary to leave, otherwise you would not leave unnoticed later. He put port on board, crossed our squadron and went at full speed to Ost. I chose this direction because the enemy armadillos had just passed there and there was little chance that they would turn back. The cruisers remained on SO, probably blocking the way to Shantung. They had to go around. I expected to go to Ost and then turn south.

We did not even go 10 minutes, when 4 destroyers appeared on the left bow. They rushed to the attack and launched mines, approximately behind the port beam. I put left on board and then right on board. One of the destroyers fired a gun. He was answered from the stern plutonga, but I immediately stopped firing, and so no more shots were fired until the morning (according to A. A. Liven, the Diana cruiser fired 115 shots from 152-mm guns and 74 - from 75 mm - Ed.). Having fired mines, the destroyers set off after us, then went abeam and, probably, launched mines again ... Based on a thorough discussion of everything seen and heard by different ranks of the cruiser, it must be assumed that they met a total of 19 destroyers, of which only one passed, not attacking us. He apparently took us for his own. Only 8 mines were seen going to the cruiser. They either passed under the stern, or caught up with the cruiser and did not catch up. Not a single one passed under the nose ... When the destroyers appeared to the right or left, I put the rudder on board from them, but if they were on the bow, then I went straight at them and frightened them with a ram. The last one worked best. They were completely lost and fired mines to no avail.

Some destroyers followed us for some time. Until almost 10 o'clock they reported from the poop that destroyers were visible behind the stern - now to the right, then to the left. After 10:00 no one was seen. They must have fallen behind.

The destroyer "Grozovoi" followed us all the time. He mainly reported on the presence and movements of enemy destroyers astern. The enemy paid no attention to him. He freely kept with us, and the fact that the weather did not prevent him from walking makes us think that it was not destroyers who were chasing us, but numbered ones.

11 o'clock. We saw the Shantung lighthouse ahead of the right traverse ... I continued to go at full speed.

The machines worked great all the time. They gave the same number of revolutions as on trial tests, and did not refuse for a minute. Travel about 17.5 knots. More cannot be expected. The ship is overloaded and its displacement is about 7000 tons, the power of the machines is 11,000 hp. With such a ratio, no vessel gave more than 17.5 knots.

At 02:45 she changed course to SW 18°.

At dawn, there was no one on the horizon. We have one destroyer "Grozovoi" with us.

At 6 a.m. she changed course to SW 1°.

8 am. 35° 19", N, L 122°29" Ost. Reduced stroke to 11 knots.

Returning to the battle just experienced the day before, I cannot but notice that the impression left by him is extremely heavy. We didn't fight. We endured the fight. During our stay in Port Arthur, there were many meetings of flagships and commanders, at which the question of actions was discussed in the event of a squadron leaving, but nothing definite was decided ... Meanwhile, it was clear to everyone that the enemy was stronger than us. The advantage was on his side, firstly, in the number of ships, much more - in the number and caliber of guns, and finally, mainly, in the ability to maneuver and shoot. Our fleet stood in reserve even before the war, and with the beginning of it, it stood in the harbor for six months. The Japanese, on the other hand, were constantly at sea and practiced all the time. Already at our first exit on June 10, it became clear that it was difficult to maneuver with our squadron, unaccustomed to the sea ... So we went out on July 28 and immediately gave brilliant proof of our inability to manage. The squadron did not pass behind the trawls, but through the middle of their own minefield, simply because they could not get past, although everyone could see perfectly well that they were going through the barriers. Then the signal of the "Tsesarevich": "The fleet is informed that the sovereign emperor ordered to go to Vladivostok." It is difficult to imagine a more unfortunate signal in this case. It was tantamount to a complete abandonment of one's own initiative. It was literally impossible to carry out this signal. In order to go to Vladivostok, it was necessary first to defeat the enemy blocking our path; in order to fulfill the order at least in part, as far as it could seem possible, that is, to break through completely or at least with part of the ships, no measures were taken. On the contrary, the formation of the squadron already showed that things were not heading towards a breakthrough. This requires a move. Meanwhile, the slowest ships were at the tail of the column. Everyone knows that if the squadron wants to go 14 knots, then the tail ships must be able to give 16, otherwise they will fall behind.

One should have seen what a change of mood occurred when, after a tedious, depressing expectation of the end of an apparently hopeless situation, the ship separated from the squadron and rushed through the enemy surrounding us to the free sea. The enemy is all around, but there is a ray of hope ahead, and everyone redoubled their efforts. The engine crew, which had already stood all day invariably in their places in extreme heat and stuffiness, kept up the full speed all night, not weakening for a minute, and for 1.5 hours even had three turns more than the trial test. The rest of the team, which also stood all day in their places on combat alert, lasted all night, without showing the slightest sign of fatigue. The helmsmen, signalmen, gunners and all the rest, who had loaded the coal all the previous night, worked for 36 hours without needing a single word of encouragement, on the contrary, everyone himself provided all possible assistance in vigilance and in steering the ship. If there hadn't been such a general effort both in the car and upstairs, we would not have been able to get rid of the advancing destroyers and not to dodge the fired mines. But a certain goal appeared ahead, and everything turned out to be possible.

The departure of our squadron, as it happened, is an exact copy of the departure of Admiral [P.] Cervera from Santiago*. [* This refers to the battle at Santiago off the coast of Cuba on July 3, 1898. (new style) between American and Spanish ships during the Spanish-American War of 1898] And the reasons that prompted him, and the circumstances that accompanied him, and the spirit, or rather the discouragement during execution, are exactly the same. If the result was not so decisive, then this must be attributed to more even forces, and most importantly, to the remarkable stamina and courage of our personnel.

In this regard, it is impossible for us to wish positively better. The conduct of the officers and crew from first to last is beyond praise. Throughout the fight, I never saw any confusion, no fuss, no nervousness. Not a single person had to be reminded of the duties assigned to him. The only difference from peacetime was a much more thorough and attentive attitude to their work of each individual. The youngest and in ordinary times little agile sailors showed an example of conscientiousness. On the day of the battle, in the morning, all the patients were discharged from the infirmary and entered service. Without exception, all the wounded, able to stand on their feet, returned to their places after dressing.

So, at 8 am on July 29, I found myself in the Yellow Sea at latitude 39 ° 19 "N and longitude 122 ° 29" Ost, a little south of the Qingdao parallel, completely alone, accompanied only by our faithful companion, the destroyer Grozovoi. I slowed down and continued to go south at 11 knots, hoping to pass in this deserted corner until evening without uncomfortable meetings.

It was necessary to look around a bit and decide what to do next. At 9:10 a.m., a Novik appeared on ONO heading for O. I called him with a combat lamp, but without any consequences. Then he stopped and sent "Grozovy" to him to find out what his intentions were and where he was going.

At 10:30 they buried their dead. The stop was used to inspect the hole. I wanted to try to close it with a Swedish plaster, that is, a wooden shield with pillows, of which we had prepared several pieces. But it turned out to be too big, about 6 feet long and 4 feet wide (respectively about 1.83 and 1.22 m. - Ed.) With very turned up edges. There was no such large shield, and the Makarov patch was all the more unsuitable, especially in view of the fact that it was necessary to be able to go full speed. I had to leave the outer part as it was, only the number of supports in the decks was increased to 53 and they were tied together as securely as possible, so that in the event of a shock from an interruption or a wave, individual supports could not fall. However, firing from the stern guns was still very risky. With a large number of shots, the entire system could collapse.

At 12:10, Grozovoi returned and approached the cruiser. He reported that the Novik had gone to Tsingtao for coal, and that from there it would go through Japan to Vladivostok. The commander of the Novik advised me to do the same, but it was a very unsuitable thing for me. One could probably expect to be blocked in Tsingtao by the Japanese fleet a few hours after arrival. It meant nothing to Novik as it moved, but I would have been hopelessly locked up, which I, in any case, wished to avoid.

Now the task was to get to Vladivostok. Going steep Japan is nothing to think about with our stock of coal. I planned to go down along the Chinese coast to the south, continuing to walk as they went. Then cross the Yellow Sea south of Quelpart and by the evening of July 30, approach the parallel of this island in front of the Korea Strait, then go through this strait at full speed so that by dawn it will already pass Tsushima, and from [the island] Evenlet already go economically to Vladivostok. Thus, one could hope to pass unnoticed. But here, surprisingly, the issue of coal also appeared. Coal in Port Arthur lay for a long time and is rather small. Its consumption is relatively large. Over the previous day, we spent 350 tons at full speed until 8 in the morning. 700 remained. Until July 30 in the evening we had to go 12 knots, having steam in all boilers. It is impossible to stop steam in a known number of boilers if it is possible to meet the enemy.

So, on the morning of July 29, out of 700 tons of coal, I had only 400 at my disposal. The rest had to be obtained. Of these, 240 tons were required to reach Quelpart. 200 tons remained to break through the Korea Strait. This is not enough for a day of full speed. It was necessary to replenish the stock from the rear pits in advance *. [* As A. A. Liven noted, coal could be reloaded from spare coal pits only through the upper deck. Therefore, working only during the daytime, for three days - July 30 and 31 and August 1 - only 260 tons were reloaded.] If coal was loaded all the time, then it turned out like this. On July 30, in the evening, 240 tons were consumed from the front pits, 160 were overloaded. In total, 360 tons remained in the front pits. On July 31, 300 tons were used up by the evening, let’s say, all 100 were overloaded, and 160 tons remained in the front pits. But for this it is necessary to load coal non-stop up to Evenlet. Should there be the slightest encounter with the enemy, stop loading even for half a day - and we can’t give more than 10 knots.

So, in order to break through to Vladivostok, it was necessary to reload coal all the time, and, moreover, when meeting with the strongest enemy and chasing, I risked being left on the high seas without coal, while meeting with any, albeit the most insignificant enemy, who prevented the reloading of coal, entailed a loss of cruiser speed. The last circumstance especially forced me to abandon the breakthrough to Vladivostok.

So, there was only one thing left to do: go south and try to get to the first French port, get coal and go to Saigon, where you can repair a hole in the dock and where the cruiser remained free, since the arrival of the enemy could not be expected there. It was also necessary to go economically under two cars, but there were already very few chances of meeting the Japanese.

Since the destroyer "Grozovoi" could not take with him to Saigon, he ordered him to go to Qingdao to connect with the "Novik", but he warned him to be more careful and better approach the port at night, since the Japanese cruisers could very easily be in front of the entrance.

At 2 p.m. "Grozovoi" left for NW. On O, 3 steamships are visible going to N. He set off and went south in 15 knots in order to pass the most visited place in front of Shanghai at night. On the morning of July 30 at 8:50 we were abeam the Barrep Islands. At 10 o'clock he stopped steam in all boilers except ten, separated the middle car and went 10 knots south to Kwan-chau-van. Keeping 25 miles from the lighthouses of the Chinese coast, he safely reached the appointed port, not meeting anyone along the way.

On August 3rd at 5:40 p.m. I anchored in the outer roadstead of Kwan-chau-wan north of Nan-chau. On the next day at 12 o'clock in the afternoon we dropped anchor and went with full water through the bar up the river ... and at 3 o'clock 20 minutes of the day we anchored in the roadstead of Kwan-chau-van. They caught the cruiser Pascal. Saluted the nation.

The meeting was rendered most friendly. "Pascal" received us with thunderous cries of "Hurrah", and everyone, both authorities and private individuals, tried vying to do everything possible for them to arrange everything we needed. The first thing Governor Albi did when we arrived was to stop all telegraph communications so that no one would know about our arrival.

There was no coal in Kwan-chau-van, there were only 250 tons left at the disposal of the administration for the needs of the river flotilla. Of these, the governor of the city of Albi gave up 80 tons so that we could reach the Hongai mines, since we only had 60 tons left. In addition, Albi ordered the immediate dispatch of the Pascal to Hongai to warn of our arrival and prepare coal for us.

On August 5, at dawn, the Pascal left, and I sent midshipman Count [A. G.] Keyserling send telegrams and prepare coal. By noon, the loading on the cruiser was over, and at 03:20, she weighed anchor and went to the outer roadstead so that in the evening she would be able to go to sea with the expectation that by dawn she would be at the entrance to the Hainan Strait, which cannot be entered at night ... We passed the Hainan Strait and the Gulf of Tonkin with calm and on August 7 at 9 o'clock in the morning we anchored in d'Along Bay. Pascal and scows with coal were already in the roadstead.

Everything was ready, we immediately started loading coal, and on the evening of August 8, 1000 tons were loaded, and we were ready to go.

On August 8, at 11 o'clock, he left and went on a 15-knot course to Saigon. The weather was calm. On the 11th of August at 9:10 a.m., she anchored at Cape Saint-Jacques. The pilot has arrived. In Saigon, they were warned of our arrival and the place was prepared, but we had to wait at anchor for convenient water until 12 noon... "Chatoreno". On the roadstead I found the cruiser Chateaureno under the flag of Rear Admiral de Jonquiere, the cruiser Dassas, the boat Styx and port ships. On the same day he visited the admiral.

© Preparation for publication by L. A. Kuznetsova

From the editor. On this, the participation of the cruiser "Diana" in the Russo-Japanese War ended. On August 22, 1904, A. A. Lieven received the following telegram from the head of the Naval Ministry, Vice Admiral F. K. Avelan: “His Imperial Highness the Admiral General ordered the cruiser Diana to disarm now in accordance with the instructions of the French authorities and lower the flag.” This meant the ship was interned until the end of the war. True, he was allowed to enter the dock on September 14 to inspect and repair the damage received in battle, from which the cruiser left on October 11.

The regular Russian Navy turns 320 this year. In Russian history, the strength of the fleet has always been determined not only by the amount of funds invested in it, but also by the thoughtfulness and accuracy of the tasks assigned to it. In the Finnish, Abo-Aland and Stockholm skerries, the galley fleet of Peter I successfully resisted the clumsy Swedish ships. To establish Russia on the Black Sea, Catherine II created a powerful sailing fleet. Its main force was made up of battleships and frigates.

Under General Admiral Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich, low-seaworthy gunboats and monitors were built to protect Kronstadt and the capital, as well as high-speed corvettes and clippers for cruising operations on the ocean communications of England - at that time the main political and military enemy of Russia. At the end of the 19th century, the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bocean cruising war against a stronger enemy was considered still relevant, and for its implementation, specialized cruisers were required, which received the unofficial name of "trade fighters". According to the shipbuilding program adopted in 1895, it was planned to build three armored cruisers of ocean navigation, reduced in comparison with armored cruisers of the Rurik type.

For successful operations on enemy communications, the new "trade fighters" required a maximum speed of 19-20 knots, strong artillery armament, a long cruising range and high autonomy. It should be noted that domestic shipbuilders coped with the task, and the Russian fleet received a series of ships that were quite modern for that time, the tactical and technical elements of which almost completely corresponded to the terms of reference. Therefore, the critical statements about cruisers of the "Diana" type, constantly repeated in the domestic military-technical literature, are perplexing. So, according to the authors of the monograph “Goddesses of the Russian Fleet “Aurora”, “Diana”, “Pallada”, published in 2009, “cruisers had practically no advantages ... they turned out to be slow and large ... they were not suitable for any of the roles for which they were planned ... cruisers are already outdated on the slipways.

Indeed, during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, the Diana-class cruisers, unlike their “older brothers” Rurik, Rossiya and Gromoboy, which were part of the famous Vladivostok cruiser detachment, did not have a chance to participate in raiding operations on Japanese maritime communications. But this was, first of all, a consequence of the fact that the command of the 1st Pacific Squadron tactically illiterately disposed of the ship composition entrusted to it, and in Port Arthur there remained squadron battleships created for operations on enemy communications (and, in fact, armored cruisers) "Peresvet 3 and Pobeda, cruisers Diana and Pallada trade fighters. The thesis that the Diana-class cruisers allegedly “were hopelessly inferior in all characteristics to the cruisers of the 1st rank of the 1898 program”4, which means the Askold, Bogatyr, Varyag and Bayan, is also untenable. As for the latter, it was the first high-speed turret armored cruiser in the domestic fleet, and it is incorrect to compare it with armored cruisers. From the standpoint of today, it can be argued that specific ships not built according to the programs of 1895 and 1898 did not justify themselves, and the very concept of an armored cruiser of the 1st rank5 did not justify itself - a large (displacement more than 5000 tons), well-armed, but weakly protected ship.

Based on the experience of naval battles in the first half of the 20th century, it can be asserted with full confidence that war, and only war, in practice tests the correctness of pre-war theoretical views on the methods and methods of conducting combat operations at sea and the scientific and technical policy in the field of shipbuilding that meets these views. The experience of naval battles in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 clearly showed the inexpediency of building large armored cruisers6. It is no coincidence that, according to the experience of the Russo-Japanese War, all the leading maritime powers refused to build such ships, and the use of steam turbines on cruisers since 1906 made all previously built ships of this class morally and physically obsolete.

Thus, the main, fundamental and, unfortunately, the fatal drawback of the Diana-class cruisers was the discrepancy between the operational and tactical views of the top leadership of the Russian Imperial Fleet, in accordance with which the terms of reference for their design were developed, the project was developed and the construction of the Diana-class cruisers was carried out. ", the realities of naval battles of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905. The Japanese fleet had a more balanced cruising force. They were based on eight armored cruisers. All of them had a turret arrangement of artillery of the main caliber (203-254 mm) and could be effectively used in conjunction with battleships. This happened in the battles of July 28, 1904 in the Yellow Sea and May 14-15, 1905 at Tsushima. Japanese armored cruisers were literally assembled “from pine forest”: four ships were built in England, two ships in Italy, one each in Germany and France. At the same time, in terms of their tactical and technical elements, they fully corresponded to their purpose - to act together with battleships as part of a squadron.

As for domestic armored cruisers, they, unlike the Japanese ones, were not intended to participate in squadron battles7. The best Japanese armored cruisers Kasagi, Chitose, Takasago, Yoshino, nicknamed "dogs" by Russian sailors, were very actively used during the Russo-Japanese War. They carried patrols at Port Arthur, carried out long-range reconnaissance in the battles of July 28, 1904 in the Yellow Sea and May 14-15, 1905 at Tsushima. The command of the Japanese fleet was afraid of the larger and outgunned Russian armored cruisers and preferred to keep their cruisers at a considerable distance from the Russian ships. Properly using their numerical superiority, the Japanese armored cruisers took an active part in the search for and destruction of single ships of the 2nd Pacific squadron defeated in the Tsushima battle. On August 23, 1905, a peace treaty between Russia and Japan was signed in the American city of Portsmouth.

The Russian delegation managed to reject the most humiliating Japanese demands, for example, the payment of an indemnity in the amount of three billion rubles, the transfer to Japan of all Russian ships that had taken refuge (interned) in foreign ports8. The end of the war found the Diana interned in Saigon, where she broke through after the battle in the Yellow Sea. Aurora, along with Oleg and Zhemchug, was interned in Manila after the Battle of Tsushima. The Pallada was in a semi-submerged state in the inner harbor of Port Arthur, which had become Japanese9. During the war years, the Diana-class cruisers were never used for their main purpose as "trade fighters", and their participation in the battles in the Yellow Sea and Tsushima clearly proved the viciousness of the concept of a weakly armored cruiser of large displacement, when every hit of a projectile of even a small caliber resulted in serious injury and death of personnel. But in spite of everything, the Aurora and Diana survived the naval battles of the Russo-Japanese War. And this suggests that the systemic shortcoming, laid down at the stage of issuing the terms of reference for the design of Diana-class cruisers, was nevertheless partly compensated by certain advantages.

The steam power plant of the ship had high technical characteristics. Its design reflected all the latest improvements of that time. After the elimination of "childhood diseases", it was reliable, easy to maintain, and could work with large overloads. Here is how the senior doctor of the Aurora cruiser V.S. Kravchenko describes the work of the Aurora machines during the Tsushima battle: “The machines worked without failure, giving everything they had to give. And they tore them apart. As from two o'clock in the afternoon ceaseless orders rained down, so they continued until late at night. From 125-130 rpm they commanded immediately to stop, and then immediately to reverse - they barely had time to translate backstage. This frequent and quick change of moves is terribly harmful to the mechanisms, but they never failed, nothing broke, the bearings did not warm up, the steam did not sit down ... We must do justice to the gentlemen of the ship's mechanical engineers. What is the maximum speed that the Aurora developed during the Battle of Tsushima? According to V. S. Kravchenko, "at least 17 knots." According to the data provided by L. L. Polenov, up to 17-18 knots12. After an unprecedented seven-month transition, only the protection of the hull from fouling with copper sheets, as well as the high reliability of boilers and mechanisms of domestic production, helped to ensure and maintain such a speed. Often criticized are the initial artillery armament of the Diana-class cruisers, which consisted of only eight 152 mm guns and 24 75 mm guns. This has its own explanation.

Preparing for a decisive artillery battle at a short distance of 15-20 cables, the command of the Russian fleet relied on armor-piercing shells capable of penetrating the thickest armor and hitting the vital parts of the enemy ship, primarily ammunition cellars and machine-boiler installations. It was assumed that, having opened fire from 152-mm guns, the cruiser would continue to approach the enemy and enter into action, bombarding the enemy with shells, which had twice the rate of fire of numerous 75-mm guns. Then the crews of 37-mm guns entered the battle, even the possibility of sinking the enemy ship by hitting the ram stem was not ruled out. In reality, in the Battle of Tsushima, the Japanese opened fire from a distance of 38-43 cables, and only at some moments it was reduced to 11-18. Of course, under these conditions, 75-mm gun mounts in squadron combat were practically useless.

Since the architecture of the Diana-class cruisers allowed for the possibility of replacing and rearranging guns, then, according to the experience of the Russo-Japanese War on the Diana and Aurora, by reducing the number of 75-mm guns from 24 to 20 and removing useless 37-mm guns, the number of 152 mm guns was increased to ten. In 1915, during the repair, ten of the latest 130-mm guns were installed on the Diana, and on the Aurora in 1916, the number of 152-mm guns was increased to fourteen, that is, 1.8 times compared to the original project. As already noted, after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, there was a rapid obsolescence of the Diana-class cruisers, however, as well as the vast majority of ships of other classes. The cruisers actually lost their combat value and could only be used against their “peers” or weaker enemy ships.

With the revival of the domestic fleet after the Russo-Japanese War, a need arose for a seaworthy, roomy, high-autonomy and at the same time fairly easy-to-maintain training ship. Diana-class cruisers were the best fit for this role. This predetermined the further service of cruisers in the interwar period - as training ships. It was the possibility of using a hopelessly outdated cruiser as a training ship that preserved for us in the distant 1922 the legendary Aurora as a monument to the history of domestic shipbuilding.

It was designed as a "trade fighter", being a halved (in terms of displacement and armament) version of the armored cruisers of the "Rurik" series.

It was designed as a "trade fighter", being a halved (in terms of displacement and armament) version of the armored cruisers of the "Rurik" series. Weak armament with such a large displacement, the complete lack of artillery protection, insufficient speed due to suboptimal hull contours and a long construction period made it obsolete even before commissioning. The underwater part is sheathed in wood and copper for long-term activities in the ocean. After the battle on July 28 (10 killed, 17 wounded) she was interned in Saigon. After the war she served in the Baltic. In 1912-13 underwent repairs (10 152- and 20 75-mm guns), and in 1915-16. rearmament (10 130-mm guns). Participated in the first world war, revolution, ice campaign. From May 1918 it was stored in the port of Kronstadt, and in 1922 it was dismantled for metal.

Now Rear Admiral Deva was dead, and he had taken all his thoughts and conjectures to his sea grave. In general, not a single person from the personnel of the third combat detachment survived this day. And events continued to roll on, like a mountain avalanche rolling down from a mountain.

Neighborhood of Port Arthur, 20 miles southeast of Liaoteshan.

Conning tower BOD "Admiral Tributs"

Captain of the first rank Karpenko Sergey Sergeevich.

Well, with God, Andrei Alexandrovich, keep your fists. - I suddenly suddenly crossed myself, - So that, as they say, "do not swerve to the side"! Through the glazing of the cabin, one could see how the cavitation traces of six "Squalls" were stretching towards the Japanese battleships. Four from Tributz and two from Quick. It was fundamentally impossible to miss the Shkval from such a distance and for such a target, and all the excitement was only from nerves. Too much has been invested in this moment. It seems that Comrade Odintsov's colleagues call this phase of the operation the "moment of truth." There he stands, filming a historical moment on a video camera. In the meantime, in the wheelhouse, the stopwatch in the hand of the captain of the third rank Shurygin clicks measuredly. Everyone was frozen in tension.

As expected, the first to reach were "Squalls" fired by "Fast" on two lead Japanese battleships. First, after one minute thirty-seven seconds, "Mikasa" literally jumped up, first from the explosion of the "Shkval" under the bow main turret, and then from the explosion of the ammunition load. A massive carcass with a half-torn bow lay on the port side, turned over like a keel and, sparkling in the air with furiously rotating propellers, sank like a stone. A thick black cloud of chimose and coal smoke covered the final resting place of Vice Admiral Togo and almost a thousand Japanese sailors like a mourning veil. The senior flagship of the squadron survived the younger by less than five minutes.

"Asahi" got his eight seconds after "Mikasa". Water stood up on both sides of the hull directly under the second pipe. A second later, the battleship was enveloped in steam - the connections of the steam pipelines and boiler tubes burst from the concussion. And then cold sea water burst into the furnaces, and the explosion of the boilers completed the work of the warhead of the torpedo. Fragments of machines and mechanisms, fragments of the deck and sockets of boiler fans flew high up. And then the sea parted and swallowed up the Japanese battleship, as if it had never been.

A couple more seconds and it exploded almost the same way under the boiler room of the battleship Fuji, the third in the column. A black-and-white cloud of smoke and steam rose from the Japanese ship. Initially, the damage affected only the bottom of the boiler room, and therefore the team, desperately struggling with the ever-increasing left roll, it seemed that everything would still work out .... But, a few seconds later, somehow, water also penetrated into the bow stoker, another explosion crashed and, listing faster and faster, the battleship turned upside down, showing everyone a huge hole into which the train could freely enter.

Eight seconds after the Fuji, and with a terrible roar, the battleship Yashima, the fourth in the column, exploded. "Shkval" hit him under the aft main gun turret.

The battleship "Sikishima" was hit in the stern area, behind the main turret. I imagined the severity of the damage, the steering machines were destroyed, the propeller blades were torn off or twisted, the propeller shafts were bent and the bearings were scattered. And besides, a hole through which a company of soldiers would march in formation and without bending down. It seems that today his fate is to become a Russian trophy.

So, from under the stern of the closing armadillo, water enraged by the explosion rose. "Hatsuse", and it was he, losing speed and landing with a damaged stern, now fell into an uncontrolled left circulation. Apparently, his steering wheel was jammed into the left turn position, and only the right car was operating. It seems that the depth of travel was incorrectly set on the Shkval, and it exploded at the side, and not under the bottom. But, anyway, the battleship was doomed. All he could do was circle around pointlessly. A list from ten degrees to the port side, although not critical, completely ruled out artillery fire. But Makarov has to deal with this hemorrhoids, and I pass, we have already done our job.

By the way, a lieutenant Yamamoto died in this battle on the Mikasa. For the entire duration of the battle, the Japanese squadron did not fire a single shot with the main or at least medium caliber.

Well, that's all comrades, - I smoothed my hair and again put on the long-suffering cap, which I crumpled in my hands "all the way", - Admiral Togo is no more, and his fleet too. - someone handed me a microphone. - Comrades, officers, midshipmen, foremen, sailors ... Today you have completed your task, today you are great! Listen, you are all great! I would like to express my thanks to the entire team.

The bridge of the armored cruiser of the 1st rank RIF "Askold".

Present:

Vice Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov - Commander of the Pacific Fleet of the Republic of Ingushetia

Captain 1st Rank Nikolai Karlovich Reitsenstein - Commander of the Cruiser Detachment of the Port Arthur Squadron

Captain 1st rank Konstantin Aleksandrovich Grammatchikov, - cruiser commander

Colonel Alexander Petrovich Agapeev - head of the military department of the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet of the Republic of Ingushetia

Lieutenant Georgy Vladimirovich Dukelsky - flag officer of Admiral Makarov

Vice Admiral Makarov was approached by his flag officer, Lieutenant Dukelsky, - Your Excellency, Stepan Osipovich, may I address you? An urgent dispatch from the Fleet Observation Post on the Golden Mountain!

Listen, lieutenant? Makarov nodded.

It is reported that, from the southeast, the Japanese fleet is approaching Arthur: a detachment of six ironclads and two armored cruisers, followed in the wake by Rear Admiral Dev's cruising detachment of four armored cruisers.

Raise the signal, the battleships speed up the exit to the sea - Makarov threw to Dukelsky and turned to the captain of the first rank Reitsenstein. - You see, Nikolai Karlovich, your cruisers are already in the outer roadstead, and the battleships are barely crawling. The squadron is leaving slowly, slowly!

Vice Admiral Makarov moved his binoculars, scanning the horizon. - One, two, five, eight, twelve... Gentlemen, Admiral Togo brought his entire fleet here. And here, after today's embarrassment with Sevastopol and Peresvet, we have exactly half the strength. For three of our battleships, Togo has six, for one of our armored cruisers, Togo has two, for two of our armored cruisers, Togo has four ...

Stepan Osipovich, Reizenstein stroked his beard, don't you take "Diana" into account?

Is Diana a cruiser? Is she able to race with Japanese dogs, like "Novik" or "Askold"? The loss of "Boyarin" and "Varyag" is indeed a loss for a detachment of cruisers ... And your two sleepy goddesses, Nikolai Karlovich, will not even catch up with Japanese battleships. Those have a half knot more design speed. And accordingly, anyone who is not lazy will catch them. And this is fatal for a cruiser. So, Nikolai Karlovich, for your "goddesses" you need to come up with some new class of ships. And the name "low-speed cruiser" sounds like "dry water", or "fried ice", such ships, in these conditions, are suitable only for midshipmen for practice and only ...

It is not known what else Admiral Makarov wanted to say. Very opportunely annoyed by today's incident with the colliding armadillos, the slow exit of the squadron, and even not getting enough sleep after the night rush with the reflection of the fire-ship raid. Only now, eighty cables from the "Askold", over one of the Japanese armored cruisers, a column of flame suddenly arose several tens of fathoms high.

Konstantin Alexandrovich, - Makarov turned to the commander of the Askold, - give me your binoculars ... - he silently watched the Japanese squadron for a minute, then lowered the binoculars, - Lord officers, can anyone explain what is happening?

Stepan Osipovich, - Reizenstein answered, without lowering his binoculars, - only one thing is clear who is fighting with a detachment of armored cruisers. And they have already reduced this detachment by two units ... Stepan Osipovich, look for yourself - the Japanese terminal cruiser is under fire. It seems that a whole squadron is hitting him, no less than three dozen eight-inch barrels. Moreover, under cover, the Japanese were taken from the very first salvo and the accuracy is beyond praise. But the shooters are almost invisible, they are almost on the very horizon, I clearly see flashes of shots, but there is no smoke. Yes, and the shooting is kind of strange, the rate of fire is like that of a shotgun.

Makarov again raised the binoculars to his eyes, - Perhaps you are right, Nikolai Karlovich, the rate of fire and accuracy is amazing, and the absence of smoke leads to some bewilderment ... how then they move.

Stepan Osipovich, - attracted the attention of Grammatchikov, - Togo's squadron is consistently turning to the south.