ronghold by the investing Japanese, fell aboard the battleship
_Retvisan_, lying at anchor in the harbour, and seriously damaged her,
there had been a general outcry that the Russian fleet ought to go to
sea and fight, rather than remain in harbour and be ignominiously
destroyed without striking a blow in self-defence.

It was known that Admiral Vitgeft, and Prince Ukhtomsky, his second in
command, were utterly opposed to such a course, their freely expressed
opinion being that the Russian ships, already more or less seriously
damaged by the attacks to which they had been subjected from time to
time during the progress of the war, were totally unfit to meet and
engage the Japanese fleet, which, they had every reason to believe, was
in first-class fighting trim. There were certain officers, however,
whose mortification at their enforced inactivity blinded them to the
soundness of this judgment. "If the ships must be destroyed, let them
be destroyed at sea in the act of inflicting as much injury as possible
upon the enemy," was their contention; and it was certainly a reasonable
one. It was broadly hinted that the leader of this faction found means
to convey his contention to the ear of Admiral Alexieff; for, strange to
say, the following day brought a wireless message from the
Commander-in-Chief to Vitgeft, ordering the latter to take his whole
fleet to sea and proceed to Vladivostock, fighting his way thither, if
necessary. Every effort was of course made by Vitgeft to keep this
order a profound secret; but it was necessary to communicate it to the
captains of the several ships and other officers whose duties required
that they should possess such knowledge, and the delight of some of them
at learning that their long-cherished desire was about to be granted was
not conducive to secrecy. Moreover, the sudden, feverish hurry and
bustle of preparation was a sufficient advertisement of what was
impending; and that very night the news was signalled to the blockading
squadron in the offing, from which it was as promptly transmitted by
wireless to Togo, among the Elliots. The news was confirmed on the
following morning by our patrol vessels off the port, from which came
the information that a tremendous state of activity was discernible
among the Russian ships, and that all indications pointed toward an
almost immediate sortie.

The news arrived by wireless, about an hour after sunrise; and
immediately upon receiving it