Kobo: A Story of the Russo-Japanese War

by Herbert Strang

  *CHAPTER VII*

  *The Battle of the Destroyers*

  A Chance for the Destroyers--Flotillas in Action--Winged--RepairingDamages--To the Yalu

  Yamaguchi's business in Seoul being completed, he lost no time inreturning to Chemulpo. In default of other instructions, he decided tokeep Bob with him, and half an hour after his arrival, the _Kasumi_steamed out of the harbour to rejoin the fleet. Its fringe came intosight some ninety miles south-east of the Liau-ti-shan promontory.Through his glass Bob saw a destroyer detach itself from the squadronand come rapidly towards the _Kasumi_.

  "Coming to make sure who we are," remarked Yamaguchi.

  When the identity of the new-comer had been satisfactorily established,the other boat ran up signals, from which Yamaguchi learnt the positionof the main fleet. Two hours later the _Kasumi_, going at half-speed,sighted the cruiser squadron, and about five miles beyond them theforest of military tops belonging to the Japanese battle-ships. Runningclose up to the _Mikasa_, Yamaguchi went off in a boat to make hisreport to Admiral Togo, and returned in high feather at having beenordered to place himself at the disposal of Captain Asai, who was incommand of three destroyers that formed the first division of theJapanese torpedo flotilla.

  "What about me?" asked Bob.

  "Not a word. The fact is, I forgot all about you. I didn't mention you,neither did the admiral."

  "Out of sight out of mind," remarked Bob. "But I'm delighted to hearit, for now that I'm used to this cockle-shell's little eccentricitiesI'm perfectly at home. Is there any chance of your going into action?"

  "Every chance, I should think. I fancy we're going to have another slapat the enemy."

  "The whole fleet, you mean?"

  "No I don't. I've an idea the admiral wants to see how we mosquitoescan sting. Feel jumpy?"

  "Not in the slightest. There's nothing I'm more anxious to see."

  "Well, it may be pluck, but I call it sheer ignorance. Here we are inmid-ocean, a mere egg-shell--you know that; but we've enough explosivesin our magazines to send half London sky-high, and a single fortunateshot plumping into us would separate us all into our elementary atoms."

  The desired order came sooner than was expected. Late in the afternoonof Wednesday, March 9, Admiral Togo signalled two divisions ofdestroyers to approach Port Arthur, the one division to watch theentrance while the other laid mines at various points along the coast.The former duty was allotted to Captain Asai's division. Darkness hadfallen, and the sea was rolling high, when the two flotillas, followedat a considerable distance by a couple of cruisers, broke off from therest of the fleet and steamed northwards towards Port Arthur. On the_Kasumi_ there was none of the orderly bustle of clearing for actionthat Bob had observed on the _Mikasa_. A destroyer must always beready. The ward-room and the warrant officer's mess were fitted up ashospitals for wounded; the trolley for bringing torpedoes from themagazine under the turtle-back deck to the tubes aft was tested alongthe rails; Yamaguchi had a short colloquy with the engineer; and then hewent to his place on the fore-bridge, confident that all was right.

  The flotilla opened up the lights of the port about midnight. Thepresence of the boats was soon discovered by Russian scouts, for atirregular intervals the guns of the forts tried long-range shots atthem. Within a few miles of the port the divisions separated, thesecond steaming straight for the harbour, where it proceeded to laymines from the mouth of the channel along the coast towards Dalny.Captain Asai's three vessels meanwhile cruised off the Liau-ti-shanpromontory.

  Bob remained all night with Yamaguchi on the bridge, finding it lesschilly there than below. In spite of the blazing furnaces he had neverfelt cold so keenly as in the captain's cabin when he dived down thesmall circular hatchway to fetch Yamaguchi an extra jacket. At aboutthree o'clock in the morning they began to run down the coast. Therewas a head sea, which broke in great masses over the fore-deck, thedriving spray being carried high over the canvas screens surrounding thebridge. Dawn was just breaking when the look-out descried the low hullsof several destroyers far-off on the horizon. The intelligence was atonce signalled to Captain Asai on the _Akatsuki_. From his bridge hesoon discovered that the approaching vessels were six in number;obviously they could not belong to the Japanese squadron. The order wasinstantly given to attack. Everything was already prepared forimmediate action; every man was at his post; and the three vessels,cutting at the rate of an express train through the heavy seas, borestraight down on the six Russian destroyers.

  "It's long odds on the Russians," remarked Bob to Yamaguchi.

  The Japanese shrugged. "They're not islanders," he said; "we're likeyou Britishers, sea-dogs from birth, and our seamanship is a triflebetter than theirs, I fancy. Besides, we're probably better armed. ARussian destroyer only has three-pounder quick-firers besides itstwelve-pounders. Their shots can pierce our egg-shell, of course, butour six-pounder shots will do far more damage to their interiors."

  "Won't you use your torpedoes, then?"

  "No. Dog doesn't eat dog: we keep our torpedoes for larger game."

  "You are not using the conning-tower?" asked Bob, noticing thatYamaguchi showed no sign of leaving the bridge.

  "No; it is better to take one's risk in the open. Those peep-holes arerather worrying when you want to have a good look at the enemy."

  The three vessels were now in line ahead--steaming straight for theRussian flotilla, the _Akatsuki_ leading, the _Kasumi_ a quarter of amile behind, and the _Asashio_ making a good third at the same distance.Bob on the fore-bridge was tingling with exhilaration. All hisfaculties seemed to be braced up. He had no sense of danger, in spiteof his knowledge that one lucky shot from the Russians might explode themagazine beneath him and destroy the ship and every soul on board. Hisstrongest feeling was one of impatience. The vessel was bounding alongat more than race-horse speed; yet it appeared to be going slowly, tooslowly, and he felt he would have liked to cry "Hurry up! hurry up!faster! faster!"

  Two minutes had passed since the order "Full speed ahead!" Then fromthe fore-bridge of the _Akatsuki_ the six-pounder shrieked. From thatmoment Bob saw and heard nothing except what went on in his own vessel.Immediately after the _Akatsuki_ had opened fire, Yamaguchi gave hisfirst order. There was an ear-splitting report; the vessel seemedalmost to pause momentarily in its career, like a racer pulled up on itshaunches; and a second or two later Bob saw a cloud of smoke over thefore-deck of the leading Russian boat, which, travelling at thirtyknots, instantly shook off the pall and emerged from it with one funnelcompletely shattered. Bob did not hear the explosion of the shell; thedin from the _Kasumi_ and the other Japanese vessels, and from theapproaching Russians, was too great to allow individual sounds, exceptwithin a few feet, to be distinguished. Almost before he was aware ofit, the two flotillas had met and passed; they were within a few yardsof each other, so near that the faces of the Russian seamen were easilyvisible; but Bob afterwards remembered few details, for the actual timeof transit could be measured by seconds. The vessels sped past at acombined speed of some sixty miles an hour.

  As the _Kasumi_ came abreast of the leading Russian boat, which hadalready received a battering from the _Akatsuki_, her twelve-pounderadded a growling bass to the whining of the lighter guns, now firing attheir maximum speed. At this moment a shot from a three-pounder struckthe compass-box on the fore-bridge, just above the chart-room, and a fewfeet from where Bob was standing. A splinter from the bursting shellhit the gunner serving the six-pounder on the bridge; the man was killedin an instant; a comrade came imperturbably to take his place.Immediately afterwards a twelve-pounder shell carried away theventilator of the aft stokehold, and a three-pounder, penetrating thehull as though it were of paper, exploded in the ward-room, severelyinjuring a man waiting there to receive the wounded. Then the rearmostvessels of the two squadrons passed, and the _Kasumi's_ twelve-pounderastern got in a parting shell, which took effect apparently among theb
oilers of the Russian, for when the smoke from the bursting charge hadcleared away, the vessel was seen to be enveloped in a vast cloud ofsteam. Bob was surprised at the small total effect of such vigorousfiring on both sides, though he realized afterwards that at the rate atwhich the vessels were steaming it was still more surprising that theeffect was so great as it was.

  But the fight was not yet over. At a signal from the _Akatsuki_ theJapanese vessels spun round almost within their own length, and startedin pursuit of the enemy, now steaming at half-speed to cover the retreatof the damaged boat. The Russian flotilla was somewhat bunched;presumably the boats had been hard hit, and either their commander hadno definite plan of action, or their mechanism had been so much damagedas to retard their movements. Two had turned, but three others weremanoeuvring in a small space, hampering one another, while the sixth,the lame duck, was making the best of its solitary way in the directionof Port Arthur. Captain Asai was quick to seize his opportunity.Slightly altering his course so as to cut obliquely across the path ofthe Russians, he brought the whole of his port-side guns to bear uponthe huddled enemy; then before the Russians had time to take advantageof the broad target offered to them, he reverted to the line-aheadformation, and bore straight down upon them.

  This time the two flotillas passed at such close quarters that a mancould have thrown a line from one ship to the deck of its opponent.They were moving at less speed than in the former encounter, and theeffects of their mutual bombardment were correspondingly greater. Forthe first time Bob was conscious of a tremor, not of personal fear, buta reflex of the wild scene around. It seemed to him as if nothing couldsurvive the hail of shells that screamed and whistled through the air,to burst with ear-splitting crash whenever one was fortunate enough tofind its billet in the hull or upper works of the gallant _Kasumi_. Oneshell, apparently from a three-pounder, ricochetted off the turtle-backdeck beneath the forebridge, and burst in the air about ten yards tostarboard, the splinters breaking a hole in the aftermost funnel andknocking a corner off the compass-box that stood within a few feet ofit.

  "There goes our second compass. We have only the standard left," saidYamaguchi.

  Almost at the same moment there was a crash just below the spot whereBob was standing. A twelve-pounder shell had passed clean through thechart-room without exploding.

  "A narrow squeak!" said Bob.

  "Yes; we'll give that fourth Russian a little pepper," repliedYamaguchi, his face lit with the joy of service.

  He gave an order, and all the _Kasumi's_ port six-pounders let fly atthe Russian destroyer, several shells ploughing into her hull just abovethe water-line. Bob noticed the strained expression on the faces of theRussian seamen, and one vivid picture flashed upon his retina and wasgone--the picture of a man, struck by a fragment of a Japanese shell,falling with outstretched arms across his gun. A few seconds more andthe _Kasumi_ again came abreast of the last vessel in the Russian line.She replied so feebly to Yamaguchi's skilfully-aimed broadside that itwas evident she had already been severely handled by the _Asashio_, nowleading. But as the vessels passed, a big Russian picked up a tincanister and hurled it with such good aim at the _Kasumi_ that it fellon the platform of the fore-bridge between Yamaguchi and Bob. Thelatter instantly lifted it to throw into the sea, but Yamaguchi stayedhis hand.

  "There's no danger," he said; "it will not explode now. We'll keep it;I'll make you a present of it."

  At that instant a three-pounder shell exploded in the aft stoke-hold,bursting a steam-pipe, and dangerously wounding one of the engineers.

  "Poor Minamisawa!" said Yamaguchi, when he heard of it. "He was twicecommended for gallantry during the attack on Port Arthur a month ago."

  By this time the flotillas had again passed each other. But on turningonce more to renew the fight, Captain Asai found that the enemy had hadenough of it. They were steaming full speed ahead towards the harbour.The order was given to pursue; but the Russians had obtained too great astart to permit of their being overhauled before gaining the protectionof their cruisers and shore batteries. The pursuit had necessarily to beabandoned, and the Japanese commanders turned their attention to makinggood the damage sustained during the action.

  The full results of this spirited forty minutes' engagement were notknown on board the _Kasumi_ until some time afterwards. Near theentrance to the harbour two of the Russian destroyers were interceptedby the second Japanese flotilla. The Russians, battered as they hadbeen, showed no lack of courage. There was a short, sharp fight, duringwhich one of the boats slipped past the enemy and got away. The second,however, the _Stereguschitshi_, was not so fortunate. She fell a preyto a Japanese destroyer, and was taken in tow. But she was leakingbadly; the tow-rope was snapped like a thread of cotton by a heavy sea,and, left to her fate, the _Stereguschitshi_ went down.

  Meanwhile the three vessels of Captain Asai's division lay for about anhour with only steering-way on, until the extent of their injuriesshould have been ascertained and as far as possible repaired. On the_Kasumi_ two compass-boxes had been damaged, part of the fore-bridgecarried away, one funnel breached, the chart-room almost entirelywrecked; but the most serious injury was the shattering of thesteam-pipe, throwing one engine out of action. The other two vesselsstood by while some repairs were being made; it was not safe to leavethe _Kasumi_ to face alone the risk of the appearance of the Russiancruiser squadron. The work was barely completed, indeed, when twocruisers, the _Bayan_ and the _Novik_, the latter flying AdmiralMakaroff's flag, steamed out of Port Arthur and ran down towards thethree destroyers. But at the same moment a forest of military mastsappeared on the horizon: the Japanese fleet was evidently coming up insupport; and the two Russians, fearful of being cut off, retired,fighting at long range with the leading Japanese cruisers until they ranin under shelter of the forts.

  "Another bombardment coming off?" said Bob to Yamaguchi, as the splendidbattle-ships went by.

  "Perhaps. The flagship is signalling us."

  "What are the signals?"

  "Nothing important; the admiral merely says he is satisfied with us."

  The flush of pleasure was not on Yamaguchi's cheeks, but on Bob's. Heremembered the historic "Well done, _Condor_!" and felt a sympatheticglow.

  The battle-ships steamed past, and took up a position whence they couldneither see the Russian vessels nor be seen by them. Depending onhigh-angle fire from their twelve-inch guns, they sent shell after shellinto the town and harbour, the effect of their shots being signalled bywireless telegraphy from the cruiser squadron stationed round the point.The bombardment lasted for nearly four hours, during which severaloutbreaks of fire were seen in the town, and a distant explosionannounced that a magazine had been blown up. There was but little replyfrom the Russians, and about two o'clock Admiral Togo, havingaccomplished his immediate purpose, retired, accompanied by the cruiserand destroyer squadrons.

  Two hours later Yamaguchi was signalled to go aboard the flagship. Itwas blowing hard at the time, and seas were sweeping the deck of the_Kasumi_, tossing her about, and rendering the launching of her boat amatter of no little difficulty. By the time the little lieutenantreached the _Mikasa_ he must have been drenched through and through.

  "Well," said Bob, when he returned, "are you promoted again?"

  "No; but you are."

  "What do you mean?"

  "The admiral has remembered you, that's all. This morning, beingforgotten, you were at zero; you may be soon at boiling-point. I am toput you on board the _Yoshino_--if I can."

  "Ugh! it won't be a dry passage. If you can, you say?"

  "Yes; I am ordered to the mouth of the Yalu, and shall drop you on theway, if I can do so without losing time."

  "In a hurry, then?"

  But Yamaguchi made no reply. He was telephoning to the engine-room. Ina few minutes the _Kasumi_ was slugging through the sea, half-speedahead, in a north-easterly direction. The wind increased to half agale; huge seas broke continually with thud and swi
sh over the vessel,and Bob did not relish the prospect of the swamping he must undergo ifhe were to reach the _Yoshino's_ side. He was overjoyed when he sawthat the distance between the destroyer and the cruiser squadron wasincreasing instead of diminishing. Yamaguchi had clearly given up theidea of putting him aboard the _Yoshino_. From his manner Bob hadalready guessed that the expedition on which he was now speeding was oneof some importance, and when at length the lieutenant turned to him andsaid, laconically, "Can't waste time over you", his pulse leapt at thethought that he was still to remain on the _Kasumi_ and share inwhatever adventure there might be in store.