Famous Sea Fights Part 19

m { | | | | | o {_Yang-wei_ |}1350{| 6 | -- | 7 | u {_Chao-yung_ |} {| 6 | -- | 7 | r {_Kw.a.n.g-chia_ | 1300 | 7 | -- | 8 | e {_Kw.a.n.g-ping_ | 1030 | -- | 3 | 8 | d { | | | | | | | | | | 4 torpedo-boats | | | | | and 3 small | | | | | gunboats. | | | | | | |----|-----|-----| | | 55 | 3 | 120 | -----------------+------+----+-----+-----+----------------------------------

The Chinese fleet had more armour protection. The two coast-defence battles.h.i.+ps were heavily armoured, and there were three other less completely protected ironclads, although seven other s.h.i.+ps had no armour whatever. In the j.a.panese fleet the only armoured vessels were the two old ironclads, belonging to an obsolete type, and the armour-belted "Chiyoda."

The real fighting force of the fleet was made up of the seven new protected cruisers. Some of these had armour on the barbettes in which their long bow-guns were mounted, but their "protection" consisted in a deck plated with steel covering the "vitals" of the s.h.i.+p, boilers, engines, and magazines, all placed as low as possible in the hull. There was some further protection afforded by the coal-bunkers placed along the water-line amids.h.i.+ps. The theory of the protected cruiser was that everything below the water-line was safeguarded by this armoured deck, and as the over-water portion of the s.h.i.+p was further divided by bulk-heads into numerous water-tight compartments, the danger of the s.h.i.+p being sunk was remote. The protected cruiser is no longer regarded as having a place in the main fighting-line. But the j.a.panese cruisers gave such good results in the Yalu battle that for a while an exaggerated value was attached to it.

But in one point, and the most important of all, the j.a.panese had an overwhelming advantage. The Chinese officers and men were mostly brave enough, but almost entirely unskilled. The only really efficient officers and engineers they had were a few Englishmen and Americans and two Germans.

The j.a.panese, from Admiral Count Ito, who commanded, down to the youngest of the bluejackets, were not only brave with the inherited recklessness of death and suffering, which is characteristic of their race, but were also highly trained in every branch of their profession, first-rate sailors, excellent gunners. And the fleet had for years been exercised in manoeuvres, so that the s.h.i.+ps could work together as an organized whole.

The spirit which animated it was that of "No surrender--Victory at any cost." It is a standing order of the j.a.panese navy that if a s.h.i.+p should strike her colours, the first duty of her consorts is not to try to recapture her, but to endeavour to sink her and her crew.

The Mandarin Ting, who commanded the Chinese fleet, was more of a soldier than a sailor, but he had some sea experience, and was a thoroughly brave man. As soon as war was declared he was anxious to go in search of his enemy. He urged upon the Pekin Government that the first step to be taken was to use the Chinese fleet to attack the j.a.panese transports, which were conveying troops to Korea. This would, of course, lead to a battle with the enemy's fleet, but Ting was quite confident that he would defeat the j.a.panese if he met them. In giving this advice the Chinese admiral was reasoning on correct principles, even if his confidence in his own fighting power was not justified by facts. To keep the fleet idle at Port Arthur or Wei-hai-wei would be to concede the command of the sea to j.a.pan, without an effort to dispute it.

But the mandarins at Pekin would not accept their admiral's view. In the first place they were alarmed at the fact that in a minor naval engagement off the Korean coast, at the very outset of the conflict, the weak Chinese force in action had fared very badly. The quarrel in Korea had begun without a regular declaration of war. On the coast there were the Chinese cruiser, "Tsi-yuen," and a small gunboat, the "Kw.a.n.g-yi." On 24 July the two s.h.i.+ps had gone to sea to look for, and give their escort to, some transports that were expected with reinforcements from China. In the grey of the morning on the 25th they fell in with, and were attacked by, three of the swift protected cruisers of the j.a.panese fleet, the "Yos.h.i.+no,"

"Akitsus.h.i.+ma," and "Naniwa Kan." The fight was soon over. The gunboat was sunk, and the little cruiser was attacked at close quarters by the "Naniwa Kan," whose sh.e.l.ls riddled her weak conning-tower, killing all within it.

The "Tsing Yuen" fled, pursued by the "Naniwa," whose commander, by the way, was Captain Togo, famous afterwards as the victorious admiral of the Russo-j.a.panese War. The "Tsing Yuen" made good her escape, only because the chase brought the "Naniwa Kan" on the track of the transport "Kows.h.i.+ng,"

and Togo stopped to dispose of her by sending her to the bottom.

This incident made the Pekin Government nervous about the fighting qualities of their s.h.i.+ps. And then they were afraid that if Ting went to sea with all his s.h.i.+ps, the j.a.panese fleet would elude him, and appear with an expeditionary force at the mouth of the Pei-ho, capture the Taku forts, and land an army to march on Pekin. They therefore ordered Admiral Ting to collect his fleet at Port Arthur, and watch the sea-approach to the capital.

The j.a.panese were therefore able to land their troops in Korea without interruption, and soon overran the peninsula. When they were advancing to capture Ping-yang, the Chinese began to concentrate a second army to defend the crossing of the Yalu River, the entrance into Southern Manchuria. It was now evident even to the Pekin mandarins that the j.a.panese plans did not at this stage of the war include a raid on the Pei-ho and the Chinese capital, so Admiral Ting was at last allowed to go to sea, in order to protect the movement of transports along the western sh.o.r.es of the Korean Bay to the mouth of the Yalu.

On 14 September five large steamers crowded with troops left Taku under the convoy of six Chinese cruisers and four torpedo boats, bound for the mouth of the Yalu River. Next day, as they pa.s.sed Talienwan Bay, near Port Arthur, they were joined by Ting with the rest of the fleet. On the second day they safely reached their destination, and the troops were disembarked.

And early on the 17th Ting again put to sea with his fleet to return to Port Arthur.

He had expected to have to fight the j.a.panese on his outward voyage, and he knew that there was a still greater chance of meeting them on his way back down the bay. He had a few white officers with him. On board his flags.h.i.+p, the armour-clad "Ting-yuen" was a German artillery officer, Major von Hanneken. On the other battles.h.i.+p was Commander McGiffen, formerly of the United States navy, nominally second in command to the Chinese captain of the "Chen-yuen," but practically acting as her commander. On some of the other s.h.i.+ps there were a few British-born engineer or gunnery officers, and some of the latter had been petty officers in the English navy. By the advice of these non-Chinese officers Ting had done something to remedy the defects of his fleet.

A good deal of woodwork had been cut away and thrown overboard, though far too much of it still remained, and on several s.h.i.+ps there was a dangerous quant.i.ty of carved ornamental wood on the upper works, much of it all the more inflammable because it was gilded and lacquered in bright colours which it was the practice to clean with oiled rags. The thin steel roofs of barbettes, and the s.h.i.+elds of many of the guns, had been removed, as the "Tsi-yuen's" experiences in the fight with the "Naniwa Kan" had shown that such light steel did not keep out the sh.e.l.ls of the j.a.panese quick-firers, but served only to ensure their bursting with deadly effect. Sometimes a gun-s.h.i.+eld had burst a sh.e.l.l, which if there had been no such attempt at protection would perhaps have pa.s.sed harmlessly over the heads of the gunners. Round the barbettes of the s.h.i.+ps sacks of coal were stacked as an emergency method of strengthening these defences. Of coal the fleet had an abundance, but it was woefully short of ammunition, and much of what was on board was old and defective. If Ting had had more professional knowledge and training, he would have been more anxious as to the probable result of a battle.

Where were Admiral Ito and the j.a.panese fleet? Early in August he had crossed the Yellow Sea with his cruiser squadron, and shown himself before Port Arthur and Wei-hai-Wei. He drew the fire of the seaward forts at long range, and replied with a few shots, but he made no attack. He was engaged only in a reconnaissance, and was quite satisfied when he ascertained that the Chinese s.h.i.+ps were remaining in harbour. He then returned to the Korean side of the Yellow Sea, and till nearly the middle of September was employed in escorting the convoys of transports from j.a.pan, and protecting the disembarkation of the reinforcements they were bringing to Korea.

On Friday, 14 September--the same day on which the Chinese convoy with the reinforcements for Manchuria left Taku--Ito had completed his work in connection with the transport of j.a.panese troops, having landed the last detachments at Chinampo in the estuary of the Ta-tung River. Higher up the river General Nodzu's army was attacking the Chinese walled town of Ping-yang. Ito sent his gunboats up the Ta-tung to co-operate with Nodzu, and leaving his torpedo boats at the river mouth, went to sea with his fleet. He steered for the mouth of the Yalu River, intending to reconnoitre the Chinese positions there, and obtain information as to the reported concentration of troops near the river mouth, but under the belief that the enemy's fleet was still at Port Arthur, Admiral Ting was just as ignorant of his enemy's position and movements. Early on the morning of Monday, 17 September, he had expended some ammunition in practice at floating targets off the mouth of the Yalu. The fleet had then anch.o.r.ed, and the men were given a rest while the cooks got dinner ready. This was about 11 a.m. A little later there was unexpected news, that interrupted the cooking. The look-outs at the mastheads of the anch.o.r.ed fleet reported that the smoke of many steamers was rising above the horizon far away to the south-westward.

It was a bright sunny day, with a perfectly smooth sea, clear air, and a blue sky, and the look-out men could easily make out that the smoke rising above the skyline came from a long line of funnels. Admiral Ting had no doubt it was the j.a.panese fleet, and he gave orders to weigh anchor and clear for action.

Early that morning Admiral Ito had heard from coasting craft that the Chinese fleet was at sea, and one trader retailed to him a rumour that the fleet was anch.o.r.ed behind Hai-Yang island, where there was a sheltered roadstead. But on reaching Hai-Yang he found only a few fis.h.i.+ng-boats lying behind the island. He continued his voyage towards the Yalu, now antic.i.p.ating a meeting with Ting, unless the Chinese admiral had already run down the other coast of the bay, and so pa.s.sed him at a distance during the previous night.

Ito's fleet was steaming in line ahead, and was organized in two squadrons.

The van squadron was led by his second in command, Admiral Tsuboi, who had hoisted his flag on the fast cruiser "Yos.h.i.+no." After her in succession came the cruisers "Takachico," "Akitsus.h.i.+ma," and "Naniwa Kan." Then there was a considerable interval between the van squadron and the leading s.h.i.+p of the main squadron, the cruiser "Matsus.h.i.+ma," flying Count Ito's flag.

Next to her came the armoured cruiser "Chiyoda"; then the "Matsus.h.i.+ma's"

two sister s.h.i.+ps, the cruisers "Ikitsus.h.i.+ma" and "Has.h.i.+date." The four s.h.i.+ps of the van squadron and the four leading s.h.i.+ps of the main squadron represented the chief strength of Ito's fleet, his eight modern cruisers.

After them came the two old ironclads "Hiyei" and "Fuso," the gunboat "Akagi," and the small armed merchant steamer "Saikio Maru." The long line of wars.h.i.+ps steaming swiftly through the sunlight must have looked more like a fleet arrayed for some festive occasion than squadrons prepared for imminent battle, for every s.h.i.+p was painted a brilliant white, with the gilded device of the chrysanthemum forming a broad golden s.h.i.+eld on her bows, and the red-and-white sun flag of j.a.pan flew from every masthead.

At half-past eleven, half an hour after the Chinese had perceived the approach of the j.a.panese fleet, the "Yos.h.i.+no," which was leading the advancing line of the van squadron, signalled that there was a dense ma.s.s of black smoke on the horizon insh.o.r.e. This was the smoke produced by Ting's furnaces, as his s.h.i.+ps hurriedly stoked their fires to get full pressure on the boilers. Then the Chinese fleet was seen coming out and forming in line of battle.

Admiral Ting formed his s.h.i.+ps in line abreast, that is side by side with every bow towards the enemy. In the centre were the two little battles.h.i.+ps, with the armoured cruisers, "Lai-yuen" and "King-yuen," to right and left of them. On each flank of these four heavy s.h.i.+ps there was a group of three unarmoured cruisers--the "Ching-yuen," "Chao-yung," and "Yang-wei"--on the right; and the "Chi-yuen," "Kw.a.n.g-chia," and "Tsi-yuen," on the left. These were the ten s.h.i.+ps on which he relied to bear the brunt of the fighting.

Away to the left flank and rear of the line, and nearer the sh.o.r.e, was the small, armour-clad "Ping-yuen," the corvette "Kw.a.n.g-ping," and four torpedo boats. The Chinese fleet was under easy steam. The s.h.i.+ps were painted a dull black, but had a large amount of gilding and colour on their bows, upper works, and deck-houses, and they were all dressed with flags. The decks had been strewn with sand, to prevent accidents by men slipping, and flooded with water from the fire hose to minimize the danger of fire.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BATTLE OF THE YALU 1. THE j.a.pANESE ATTACK]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BATTLE OF THE YALU 2. END OF THE FIGHT]

The fleets were now rapidly closing. McGiffen, the American officer of the "Chen-yuen," was impressed with the "holiday aspect" of the scene. "The twenty-two s.h.i.+ps," he wrote in an account of the battle, "trim and fresh in their paint and their bright new bunting, and gay with fluttering signal flags, presented such a holiday aspect, that one found a difficulty in realizing that they were not there simply for a friendly meeting."

When the range of the leading j.a.panese s.h.i.+p--the "Yos.h.i.+no"--was just 5400 metres, or something less than 3 1/2 miles, the Chinese admiral fired one of his heavy barbette guns at her from the "Ting-yuen." The shot fell short, throwing up a great fountain of foaming water. The guns of the other Chinese s.h.i.+ps roared out, and the line was wrapped in smoke, but the gunners had not the range in most cases, and their shooting was everywhere bad. Untouched by the hostile fire, the j.a.panese fleet came silently on.

At first the j.a.panese line had been heading directly for the Chinese centre. It now altered its course, s.h.i.+p after s.h.i.+p, the "Yos.h.i.+no" leading the line so that it would pa.s.s obliquely across the right front of the enemy, and beyond the extreme right of his line, the wing of Ting's fleet that was furthest from the sh.o.r.e. At a range of about two miles, the "Yos.h.i.+no" began replying to the Chinese fire with her bow guns and her starboard battery, and the other s.h.i.+ps opened as they reached the same range. Thanks to McGiffen's narrative, we know what was the impression made on the few skilled observers in the Chinese fleet. The advancing line of hostile cruisers was wrapped in a dense cloud of smoke, out of which rose their tall masts. Through the smoke came a continual flicker of the long red flashes of the j.a.panese quick-firers. To men used to the old guns the rapidity of the fire was something startling. But the j.a.panese had just missed getting the range. The showers of sh.e.l.ls were falling ahead of the Chinese s.h.i.+ps. The sea in front of their bows was a ma.s.s of spurting columns and fountains of foam, and some of these geysers of sea-water shot up so close ahead that they splashed over the Chinese s.h.i.+ps, and numbers of men on their forward-decks were drenched to the skin.

But as the range shortened the rain of sh.e.l.ls began to find its target, and fell cras.h.i.+ng and exploding on the hulls and upper-works of the Chinese line. It had now lost something of its first formation. The centre had surged forward, the wings had hung back, and it had become slightly convex.

Ito in his report stated that Admiral Ting had adopted a crescent formation, but this was only the result of his s.h.i.+ps not keeping station correctly. His order had been to fight in "line abreast." Presently the line became so irregular that some of the Chinese s.h.i.+ps were masking each other's fire. The slow fire of the Chinese guns, ill directed as it was, did little damage to the j.a.panese cruisers. But the Chinese s.h.i.+ps were already suffering from the shower of sh.e.l.ls. The j.a.panese found themselves faced with an unexpected difficulty of detail. In the older type of guns the silk cartridge-case was burned when the shot was fired. But with the quick-firers the solid drawn bra.s.s case of the cartridge, a thing like a big metal can, is jerked out by an extractor as the breech-block is swung back after firing, and these bra.s.s cases began to acc.u.mulate in heaps at the gun positions. Extra men were sent to the batteries to throw them overboard.

The "Yos.h.i.+no" was now on the extreme flank of Ting's right, about a mile away from the "Yang-wei." Count Ito signalled from the "Matsus.h.i.+ma" for the van squadron to circle round the enemy's fleet by changing its course to starboard. This would bring the weaker s.h.i.+ps of the hostile squadron under a cross-fire from the van squadron, sweeping round astern of them, and the main squadron crossing their bows obliquely. At the same time the s.h.i.+ps on the Chinese left had most of their guns masked by their consorts, and could only fire at relatively long range with their bow guns at the rearward s.h.i.+ps of the j.a.panese main squadron. Ting was out-generalled, and was paying the penalty of a bad formation. His weak right wing was in imminent danger of being crushed by superior numbers and weight of fire.

The two ironclads in the Chinese centre had been made the target of the heaviest guns in Ito's fleet. Theoretically these guns should have been able to pierce even the heavily armoured plating of the barbettes, but no projectile penetrated the armour of the two s.h.i.+ps, though shot after shot came thundering against them. Their unarmoured parts were pierced again and again, the sh.e.l.ls bursting as they entered, and lighting several fires that were extinguished with difficulty.

But the unarmoured s.h.i.+ps on the Chinese right were suffering terribly under the cross-fire of the enemy's van and main squadrons. The two outer s.h.i.+ps on this flank were the "Chao Yung" and the "Yang-wei." Each of these s.h.i.+ps had a barbette armed with a 10-inch gun fore and aft. Amids.h.i.+ps was a raised structure carrying machine guns on its roof, and having on each side of it a pa.s.sage, off which opened a range of wooden cabins, oil-painted and varnished. Under the rain of bursting sh.e.l.ls these ma.s.ses of dry, inflammable woodwork were soon ablaze; the fire spreading rapidly made it impossible to bring up ammunition for the guns, and the two cruisers drifted helplessly out of the line, each wrapped in clouds of black smoke, through which long tongues of red flame shot up into the air.

On the other flank practically no damage had been done by the few shots fired by the j.a.panese in this direction. But here there was a miserable display of cowardice on the part of the Chinese. The s.h.i.+p on the extreme left was the "Tsi-yuen," which still bore the marks of her encounter with the "Naniwa Kan," in the first days of the war. The experiences of that adventure had evidently got on the nerves of Captain Fong, who commanded her. As the j.a.panese line swung round the other flank, he suddenly left his station and steamed at full speed away from his admiral, crossing astern of the j.a.panese, at what he thought a safe distance, and heading for Port Arthur. The rearmost j.a.panese cruiser, the "Chiyoda," sent a sh.e.l.l after him, that dismounted one of his guns, and added wings to his flight. The "Kw.a.n.g-chia," the next s.h.i.+p in the Chinese line, followed his bad example, and leaving the battle raging behind them, the two cruisers soon disappeared over the south-western horizon. Fong, with the "Tsi-yuen,"

reached Port Arthur. He said he had been in the thick of the fight, and only left it when the day was lost. But the evidence of his own crew was against him. He was promptly tried by court-martial and beheaded. The other s.h.i.+p, the "Kw.a.n.g-chia," never reached Port Arthur. She was wrecked during the night after the battle, with much loss of life, on a reef outside Talienwan Bay.

There were some other instances of half-heartedness or worse among the Chinese as the fight developed, but on the whole they fought bravely, and many showed the most self-sacrificing courage.

While the large j.a.panese cruisers of the two squadrons kept perfect station and distance, and enveloped the Chinese right wing with as much precision as if they had been carrying out a fleet exercise in peace manoeuvres, the older s.h.i.+ps in their line, less speedy and handy, had dropped astern, and were under fire from Ting's two ironclads in the centre. The "Fuso" was at one time so close to them that one of the ironclads made an attempt to ram her, but the j.a.panese s.h.i.+p evaded it, and running along the broken front of the enemy, rejoined the main cruiser squadron. The other of the old j.a.panese ironclads, the "Hiyei," boldly steamed between the Chinese battles.h.i.+ps, amid a storm of fire. Two torpedoes were discharged at her, but both missed, and she joined the van squadron in the Chinese rear. The little "Akagi" was for a while the target of many of the Chinese guns, and one of her masts went over the side. Ito had signalled to her, and to the armed merchantman, "Saikio Maru," that they might keep out of the fight, but j.a.panese courage would not allow of this. The "Saikio Maru" had a narrow escape. As the two burning cruisers drifted away from the Chinese right, making for the Yalu, the "Saikio" pursued them, firing her light guns. Two Chinese gunboats opened upon her and four torpedo boats steamed out to attack her. But she turned her fire on them, and some of the j.a.panese cruisers helped her by accurate shooting at long range. The Chinese flotilla, which had expected an easy prey, turned back, and gunboats and torpedo boats disappeared in the Yalu estuary.

But in the brief encounter the "Saikio Maru" had received a good deal of damage from the light guns of the hostile flotilla. Her funnel was riddled, and several steam-pipes cut through. She retired from the engagement. With her went the "Hiyei," which had been seriously damaged in her dash through the Chinese centre. The "Akagi" also withdrew to clear her decks, which were enc.u.mbered with wreckage. The fall of her mast had killed her captain, Sakamoto, and her two lieutenants were badly wounded.

So far Ting had lost four of his unarmoured cruisers, and Ito had sent out of the fight three of his s.h.i.+ps, the old ironclad "Hiyei," the gunboat "Akagi," and the armed steamer "Saikio Maru." But none of these were fighting units of serious value. His two squadrons of protected cruisers were intact, and it was on these he counted for victory.

The second phase of the battle was a prolonged cannonade at a range of from one to two miles. Thanks to the superior speed of the j.a.panese fleet, Ito could choose position and distance, and the training of his officers and men enabled him to concentrate his fire now on one part, now on another, of the straggling Chinese line. His s.h.i.+ps poured out a steady shower of sh.e.l.ls, whose heavy bursting charges not only scattered hurtling fragments of steel among the Chinese crews, but also had a tendency to light a hot fire wherever they exploded. The Chinese had a very poor supply of inferior ammunition, most of it armour-piercing projectiles, that were practically solid shot. Their fire was slow and ill-directed, and even when it found its target the damage done was seldom serious.

Two more Chinese s.h.i.+ps were soon disposed of. The cruiser "Chi-yuen" had been pluckily fought by her Chinese captain, Tang, and her English engineer, Purvis. She had received several shots between wind and water, and was leaking badly. Tang knew she could not be long kept afloat, and he made a desperate resolution to attempt to ram a j.a.panese s.h.i.+p before he went down. As the enemy's van squadron, headed by the "Yos.h.i.+no," came sweeping to closer range with the Chinese left the "Chi-yuen" made a dash for the leading cruiser. Even if she had not been half-sinking already, the Chinese s.h.i.+p had neither the speed nor handiness to ram the swiftest s.h.i.+p in the enemy's line. As the "Chi-yuen" came on, the guns of the van squadron were concentrated on her. She was enveloped in a fierce storm of bursting sh.e.l.ls, and suddenly her bows plunged in the sea, her twin screws whizzed for a moment in the air, and then all that was left to show where she had sunk was floating wreckage and drowning men. Purvis went down with his s.h.i.+p. Tang was seen swimming on an oar for a few minutes, with a big dog--a pet of his--paddling near him. Then the dog put its paws on his shoulders, and he was forced under and drowned.

Another Chinese cruiser, the "Lai-yuen," which lay in the line to the right of the two armour-clads, was now seen to be burning fiercely. On board this s.h.i.+p the Chinese engine-room staff showed devoted courage. While the fire spread through the upper works, so that after the fight many of the iron deck beams were bare and twisted out of shape, not one of the brave men below quitted his post. Stokers, engineers, mechanics worked almost naked, in heat like that of a furnace. Some died, all were in the doctor's hands after the fight, but they kept the engines going, obeyed orders, and brought the half-burnt s.h.i.+p out of action.

More than half of the Chinese fleet had now been destroyed or beaten off, without any loss to the main fighting force of the j.a.panese. Disregarding the Chinese cruisers, which were now badly cut up and firing harmlessly at long range, Ito concentrated his attack on the two armour-clads. Though each s.h.i.+p was. .h.i.t more than four hundred times, their armour was never pierced. Yet the j.a.panese had some guns that theoretically should have penetrated it. Battle results are, however, often very different from experimental work on the testing range.

Early in the fight a j.a.panese sh.e.l.l had cut down the foremast of the Chinese flags.h.i.+p, sending overboard and drowning seven men who manned the top--carrying away also the signal yards, so that no orders could for some time be conveyed to the fleet. But for more than an hour Admiral Ting was in no condition to give orders. Almost at the outset he had carelessly taken a position that brought him within the danger arc of the blast from his own big barbette guns. He was stunned, and for a while it was thought that he was dead. The s.h.i.+p was fought by two European officers, Herr Albrecht, a German, and Mr. Nicholls, who had formerly been a petty officer in the British navy. Albrecht distinguished himself by more than once going to terribly exposed positions, and personally handling the hose with which he extinguished the fires lighted by the j.a.panese sh.e.l.ls. Nicholls directed the barbette guns with a cool courage worthy of the service in which he had been trained, until he was killed by a bursting sh.e.l.l.

Two other white men, the German soldier, Captain von Hanneken, and the American commander, McGiffen, took a prominent part in the fighting on board the other armour-clad, the "Chen-yuen." Both had more than one narrow escape. Von Hanneken was stunned for a while by an explosion, and slightly wounded while at the barbette guns. When the lacquered woodwork of the bow burst into flame and smoke, and none of the Chinese would go forward to extinguish it, McGiffen, who was in command of the s.h.i.+p, dragged the fire-hose to the danger point. Just as he had drowned the fire he was wounded in two places and stunned by a bursting sh.e.l.l. He had told the men in the barbette not to reopen fire till he rejoined them, but, to his horror, as he recovered from the shock he saw the guns swing round and point directly over the bow. He escaped being blown to pieces by dropping through an open hatchway. Altogether during the fight the "Chen-yuen" was on fire eight times.

Most of the Chinese crew fought pluckily, but there were some skulkers.

McGiffen tells how once, when there was something wrong with the revolving gear of the barbette guns, and he went down into a recess under the barbette to clear it, he saw a group of frightened men huddled in the semi-darkness, and heard the voice of a Chinese officer saying: "You can't hide down here. There are too many of us already." But he tells also of the courage of others. The captain of one of the guns was killed as he prepared to fire, the man's head being shattered by a sh.e.l.l, and his brains scattered over the gun. Another man dragged the corpse away, took the lanyard, looked along the sights, and fired without a moment's hesitation.

Tsao-kai, the gunnery lieutenant, was badly wounded and taken below. He had brought his brother, a mere boy, on board for a holiday, and had him beside him in the barbette. The boy remained there to the end, helping to pa.s.s up ammunition, and apparently regarding the fight as an interesting game, though he was the only unwounded individual in the barbette when the battle ended.

McGiffen a.s.serts that when the fight began the "Chen-yuen" had in her magazine, besides a quant.i.ty of armour-piercing (almost solid) shot, only three really effective sh.e.l.ls for the 12-inch guns. Two of these were fired early in the day. In the afternoon, in handling the ammunition, a third was discovered. It was fired at the "Matsus.h.i.+ma," Ito's flags.h.i.+p, and did terrible execution. Ito, in his report, says that the incident occurred at 3.26 p.m., and that the sh.e.l.l came from the "Ting-yuen," but this appears to have been a mistake. The sh.e.l.l dismounted a 5-inch gun, seriously damaged two more, and exploded a quant.i.ty of quick-firing ammunition that was lying ready near the guns. According to the j.a.panese official report, forty-six men were killed or badly wounded. Unofficial narratives make the loss even greater. One officer was simply blown to pieces. The flame of the explosion set the s.h.i.+p on fire, and she was for a while in imminent danger of destruction.

"The crew," writes Mr. H. W. Wilson, "with unabated gallantry and courage, divided their attention between the fire and the enemy. The bandsmen went to the guns, and, though the position of the s.h.i.+p was critical, and her loss appalling, there was no panic. The fire was on the lower deck, just above the magazine. In charge of the magazine were a gunner's mate and a seaman. The sh.e.l.l had apparently dented the plating over the powder, and the red glow through the crevices showed the danger. But these brave men did not abandon their post. Stripping off their clothes, they crammed them into the cracks, and saved the 'Matsus.h.i.+ma'; though nearly a third of the men above the waterline had been put out of action, the remnant got the fire under."

While the fire was still burning the "Matsus.h.i.+ma" steamed out of the fight, and Ito transferred his flag to the cruiser "Has.h.i.+date." This was really the second narrow escape the "Matsus.h.i.+ma" had experienced during the battle. Early in the fight a 10-inch sh.e.l.l had pa.s.sed through her side, killed four men in her torpedo-room, narrowly missed a loaded torpedo, smashed up an oil-tank, and then broke into pieces. Examination of the fragments showed there was no trace of a fuse, and a plug of cement filled the place where the bursting charge should have been. It was really a bad specimen of a solid shot. If it had been a live sh.e.l.l, it might well have destroyed the "Matsus.h.i.+ma." It was thanks to the wretched ammunition supplied by swindling contractors to the mandarins that the j.a.panese were able to fight the battle with such trifling loss.

After the transfer of Ito's flag to the "Has.h.i.+date" the battle became a cannonade at an increasing range. The Chinese ammunition was running low, and Ito, after having had his quick-firers in action for hours, had also his magazines nearly empty. The heavy fire of the afternoon had failed to destroy the two little "battles.h.i.+ps" that represented the only remaining effective units of the Chinese fleet. Ito had accomplished enough in the destruction of the Chinese cruisers, and he had no intention of giving their torpedo boats a chance, by spending the night near the mouth of the Yalu River. At half-past five he broke off the engagement.

Shortness of ammunition supply and exhaustion of officers and men were probably his real reasons, for the explanation he gave in his official report is not very convincing. "About 5.30 p.m.," he writes, "seeing that the 'Chen-yuen' and the 'Ting-yuen' had been joined by other s.h.i.+ps, and that my van squadron was separated by a great distance from my main force, and considering that sunset was approaching, I discontinued the action, and recalled my main squadron by signal. As the enemy's vessels proceeded on a southerly course, I a.s.sumed that they were making for Wei-hai-wei; and having rea.s.sembled the fleet, I proceeded upon what I supposed to be a parallel course to that of the enemy, with the intention of renewing the engagement in the morning, for I judged that a night action might be disadvantageous, owing to the possibility of the s.h.i.+ps becoming separated in the darkness, and to the fact that the enemy had torpedo boats in company. However, I lost sight of the Chinese, and at daylight there were no signs of the enemy."