Chapter 6

"What was Rhozdventsky's reaction to their arrival?" asked the Ensign.

"He ignored them. We crews clapped and cheered them, of course. Although they didn't round the Cape as we had done, nevertheless it was a top effort to get those ancient things all that way."

"They brought another Destroyer with them, Commander Georgy Kern's Gromky. When we'd left, it had been laid up after hitting a sand bar. That brought us up to 10 Destroyers, 8 Cruisers, 4 Coast-Defence Ships, the Oslyabya with 260mm main guns was really a large armoured cruiser, 2 second rate Battleships and 4 first raters. Together with his warships, Nebogatov brought 4 transports and 11 colliers. A few days later the Hospital Ship Ural arrived. The anchorage was crowded with shipping."

"Little did we know at the time, but it wasn't Nebogatov who proved our undoing, but that Hospital Ship, as I shall explain later."

Nebogatov sailed into Cam Ranh Bay with his antiques smothered in signal flags. Their crews, looking smart in dress whites, lined the rails and saluted.

Nebogatov was an uninspiring but studious senior Officer who spent a great deal of time on the problems of his squadron and the Navy generally. His crews had trained continuously since they'd set out from the Baltic. He'd tried to instil pride in his little fleet by insisting they dressed and comported themselves properly. Up to 40% of his crews had never been to sea before and he'd done a superb job with them.

Rhozdventsky treated him very badly. He hadn't even informed him he was now second in command after the death of Felkersam. The Commander in Chief consulted his second in charge rarely. Instead he issued orders to him as if he was a lowly subaltern.

That Nebogatov kept his feelings to himself is all to his credit in a fleet where this was rarely the case. Enkvist, for example, had no qualms about criticizing Rhozdventsky to his Captains.

The entire fleet was in need of reprovisioning and coaling. For this final leg the ships again would take on as much coal as they could manage.

With the arrival of the reinforcements the Commander in chief re-organised the fleet. The Nakhimov joined the 2nd Division and the Monomakh sent to bolster Enkvist. The Nakhimov had been given a set of modern 210mm guns and it was thought they would stiffen the Division.

The fast Cruisers Zhemchug and Izumrud were detached from Enkvist's command and sent to co-operate with the Battleship Divisions. Enkvist's ego was soothed by the Almaz, sent back to the Scouting Division. The Rear Admiral himself shifted flag to the Oleg, for reasons lost in the mists of time. Probably he'd had a fight with the Aurora's Captain.

The Destroyers were split into two half-flotillas. Grozny was to take its place behind Bravy, as usual, with Bezuprechny, Buiny and Bedovy behind. Their place was to be ahead of the fleet, while the Gromky's group was to take station between Nebogatov and the Scouting Division.

Enkvist was given the task of protecting the transports, a role he never forgave Rhozdventsky for. 'The Scouting Division's proper place, ' he later said, 'was leading the fleet.' By then, however, no-one was listening to him any more.

The 3rd Pacific Squadron was renamed the 3rd Battleship Division. Rhozdventsky was having no independent commands in his fleet.

This then was the Russian Fleet: 1st Battle Division; the 305mm gunned Kniaz Suvurov, Alexander III, Borodino and Orel. 2nd, the 260mm gunned Oslyabya, with Sissoi Veliky and Navarin of mixed calibre guns and Nakhimov. The 3rd consisted of the Imperator Nikolai I with three 260s of different calibres, and the 'flatirons', Apraxin, Senyavin and Ushakov with two short-barrelled 305s each.

The Armoured Cruiser Oleg led the Scouting Division, followed by Aurora and the Svetlana, all 210mm gunned vessels of modern design. Almaz followed with her 155mm weapons, then came the old girls of the fleet, the Dimitri Donskoi and the Monomakh with their mixed armaments.

The fast 155mm gunned Izumrud was attached to the 1st Division, the similar Zhemchug to the 2nd.

To attend to the fleet's needs were four transports, two tugs and 2 Hospital ships.

A comprehensive set of orders was circulated around the fleet, only the second time such orders were issued by the Admiral. 'I intend, ' it read, 'to enter the Tsushima Straits at night and be well past Japanese Naval bases by dawnbreak.'

'If Togo is sighted, the 1st and 2nd Divisions will form a second line to starboard of the fleet. With the Grace of God we may catch the enemy between two fires. At my signal those divisions will turn 8 points to starboard (ie. 90 degrees).'

It ended with the exhortation, 'all ships are to continue on to Vladivostok regardless of losses. I have in mind to preserve as much of the fleet for future operations as possible.'

The Japanese were also preparing, but they had the benefit of a flood of intelligence about the Russians. Along the China coast they'd set up a covert series of observation stations complete with radios. All manner of vessels were enlisted as patrol ships, their sole mission to report on the Russian fleet.

Togo knew this was the last fleet Russia had to send. He doubted it was a card they knew how to play. He was concerned, though, that the Russians out-gunned him. His Armoured Cruisers had done well in the Battle of the Yellow Sea so he decided to use them to boost his Battle Squadron.

His four Battleships, Mikasa, Shikishima, Asahi and Fuji were all British designed 12 inch gunned vessels of the latest type. His Italian, Ansaldo-built Armoured cruisers Nisshin and Kasuga followed. Next came the excellent pair Idzumo and Iwate with the British-built Yakumo and French, La Seyne-built Adzuma. Lastly the two Armstrong-Elswick Cruisers Asama and Tokiwa brought up the rear. All his armoured cruisers had uniform batteries of 8 inch guns.

Togo's trump card, however, was the use of a new type of explosive for his shells. It was called Shimose, an incendiary-explosive that the Japanese had been working on for some time.

Built into the Russian ships were great quantities of combustable materials. Indeed, most warships of the time hadn't really come to grips with the problem of fire. The decks of the Russian ships were overlaid with planks of Baltic Pine, corked with tar and 'paid' with Linseed oil. Inside, the Officers' accomodations were luxuriously compartmented with mahogany and oak, all coated with thick varnish. Even the oil-based Black and Canary Yellow paints that the crews labouriously caked onto the outside of the ships contained highly volatile solvents.

Paint stores were rarely secured, propellant charges and shells were stacked ready for use inside the turrets and embrasures. The ships were time-bombs waiting for a spark.

The Japanese had seen how hard it was to sink an armoured ship during the war. Therefore they decided to use fire to disable the Russians instead. Instead of putting delayed fuses onto their shells, they chose contact fuses. This meant that they exploded the instant they touched anything, causing a fireball that they hoped would make the Russian ships uninhabitable.

"We left Indo-China on the 14th of May. Except for a period of 48 hours between the 24th and the 26th the Japanese tracked our every move. We knew that they knew, of course. What we didn't know, was where the Hell they were."

"Did you see this Nataliya again?" the Ensign asked.

"Oh yes," Gorshin chuckled, "she was a Honey. Little did I know at the time but I left her with a little gift."

"Sir?"

"Nataliya, I found out years later, was called Tranh Na and she had my son. She named him Na Yves Ranh, which I thought was very flattering. Yves was the closest she could get to Yvgeny, it's French of course."

"So how did you find out?"

"He came to Russia in 1942 to train for the Viet Minh, who were fighting the Japanese at the time. While he was there he looked for his Father. I was with the Northern Fleet at Murmansk then. He knew my name and he had a photo I'd given his Mother. The Ministry Of Marine in Leningrad recognised me straight away and got in touch. 'Did I want to meet this man?' they asked. Well of course I did. He was 37 years old and I never knew he existed."

"That must have been... very emotional."

"Damn right it was! Not half as emotional as when I had to explain it all to Katka, though." The Ensign stifled a laugh.

"What is he like?"

"Huh!" Admiral Gorshin smiled, "have you ever seen a 6 foot Vietnamese with brown hair? We keep in touch. He's now on the staff in Hanoi. I'm not sure what he does. They're a secretive lot, the Vietnamese."

The Russian Fleet left Cam Ranh and set out into the South China Sea. They were in three columns, a very rough three. Station keeping had not improved very much.

The fleet was passed by a number of merchant vessels. It was believed that British ships in particular were reporting their position. Gorshin observed a buzz of Radio traffic whenever British ships were in the vicinity. Some of the messages appeared to be in code and were indecypherable.

Izumrud and Zhemchug took on observation duties under the direct command of the Commander in Chief. Not for the first time Enkvist was sidelined. He was in a foul mood at having been cast as a 'nursemaid' to the transports.

A week later they made their way slowly through the Taiwan Strait. After negotiating that busy area of sea they left the coast and ventured far out into the East China Sea to get away from shipping. On the 26th the fleet halted at a point roughly between the island of Cheju (then known as Quelpart) and the Southern Japanese home island of Kyushu. Rhozhdventsky wanted to wait until evening to make a run for the Tsushima Straits. Astonishingly, they were not observed.

The Southern passage into the Sea of Japan is divided into two straits by the island of Tsushima. That between Korea and Tsushima, the Korea Strait, is considered the more hazardous to shipping. The Tsushima Strait lies between the 'dog' islands of Ikishima and Okinoshima and Tsushima. It's the better passage and that is the one Rhozdventsky chose.

It was an anxious time for Togo whose scouts seemed to have fallen down on the job at the last minute. The Korea or Tsushima Strait? To pick the wrong one would allow the Russians to slip past and prolong the war.

And that is precisely what the Japanese couldn't afford to do. It had now become an issue of national survival. Unlike the Russians, the war had bankrupted the Japanese treasury. In 1905 Japan was spending a whopping 70% of her Gross Domestic Production on the war with Russia and now she had simply run out of funds. If the Russian fleet made Vladivostok then it was unlikely that Japan could continue the war for more than a few months. She had to end it now.

The pressure on Admiral Togo, therefore must have been enormous.

Togo Heichiro was the son of a Samurai from the Satsuman town of Kagoshima. As a boy he'd witnessed the destruction of his home town by the Royal Navy in revenge for the killing of an Englishman by the Samurai of the Daiwa of Satsuma. He noted how the antiquated shore artillery of Kagoshima was totally ineffectual against the British warships and pledged never again to see Japan so defenceless.

He was among the first intake of recruits to be sent to Britain to train at the Devonport Naval College. This was following the Emperor Meiji's restoration and the overthrowing of the Shogunate.

Togo was noted as a hard-working and thorough scholar, although no genius. He graduated in the middle of his class. His hero was Admiral Lord Nelson and he kept a portrait of the Victory on his cabin wall.

Togo's promotion was swift in the fledgling Japanese Navy. He served on Japan's first British built warship, the Steam Frigate Hiei. He commanded the Japanese squadron against the Chinese at the Battle of the Yalu River, 1894, using Nelson's tactics at Trafalgar as a model. He was assisted on that occasion by the mystifyingly bad performance of the Chinese Fleet.

Among the Admiral's strengths was his ability to lead by example. His normal place in battle was on the wing bridge of his ship, totally exposed. It was unthinkable for him to seek shelter. His other great strength was his utter, ruthless determination.

The Russians were going to learn why he was considered the greatest Admiral of his time.

"Togo needed the information about us. He had with him about 50 Torpedo Boats and Destroyers and if he'd sailed too early they would be running out of coal. To have sailed too late, of course, meant we would get away. His scouts had crapped themselves at the last moment. Luckily for them we gave them a helping hand."

"How?"

"By obeying International Law. The fleet was becoming obsessed with doing everything correctly lest we annoy the British. Fuck! We had sown mines in International waters, coaled and repaired vessels in Neutral ports, used their flag under false pretences and then we'd fired on their fishing boats. You don't know how close we'd come to war with the English. That led us to do something so unbelievably stupid it defies all reason."

"What was that, Admiral Gorshin, sir?"

"Hospital ships must display the red cross and that must be illuminated at night. The law is very specific." The old Admiral shook his head from side to side slowly.

On the evening of the 26th the Russian fleet formed in line ahead and started for the Tsushima Strait at a leisurely 9 knots. The order was passed down to darken ships. All lights were to be extinguished, any orders were to be passed by loud hailer via the Izumrud and Zhemchug. Signal lamps were kept masked or else!

The fleet had barely set out when the Admiral saw a bright glow behind him among the transports. Asking who was showing lights, he was told it was the Hospital ship Ural. Rhozdventsky sent orders back to demand she extinguish lights and was told that it was the law. The Admiral threw his hands up in frustration and allowed them to be left on.

Why did he permit the Ural to show her lights? The other Hospital ship, Don, had doused hers so why was an exception made for the Ural?

Gorshin had his theory like everyone else. He believed it had to do with the personality of Zinovy Rhozhdventsky, who displayed a habit of ignoring things he didn't want to deal with.