e barbette on the
starboard side, glanced upward, striking the conning tower and
exploding, the fragments wrecking a couple of ventilators, a boat, and
freely puncturing our fore funnel, while one piece swept my cap off my
head and overboard. The _Asama_, however, next but one astern of the
_Yakumo_, suffered very much more severely than we did, three heavy
shells hitting her abaft in quick succession, throwing her steering gear
out of action, and causing her to leak so badly that she had to drop out
of the line and be left astern, executing temporary repairs.

By this time--that is to say, shortly before six bells in the afternoon
watch--the two fleets were heading about East-South-East, running in
parallel lines, our own line leading that of the enemy by about a mile,
while the _Alexander Third_ was, like the _Oslabia_ and _Suvaroff_, in
flames and blazing furiously. A few minutes later it was seen that the
_Sissoi Veliki_ was also on fire, she being now the leading ship of the
Russian port line of battle, and, in accordance with Togo's tactics, the
object, with the _Navarin_ and _Admiral Nakhimoff_, of the concentrated
fire of our battle-line. Meanwhile, our protected cruiser squadrons had
come upon the scene and were harassing the Russian rear so effectively
that, aided by the vigorous attack of our battle-line upon the Russian
van, the enemy's line was breaking up in confusion.

Togo now gave the order for us to close in upon the enemy's van, himself
leading the way in the _Mikasa_, with the result that the leading
Russian ships, in order to avoid being crossed and raked, were compelled
to continually bear ever more and more away to the southward, until
finally they swept right round and were all heading north once more,
with the _Alexander Third, Suvaroff_, and _Oslabia_ all out of the line
and practically out of action.

It is difficult, nay more it is impossible, for the captain of a ship
taking part in a general action to note and remember every phase and
detail of such action; he is so intensely preoccupied in the task of
fighting and manoeuvring his own ship that only certain detached
incidents of the engagements impress themselves upon his memory strongly
enough to be permanently remembered; thus I am able to recall that about
this period of the battle I came to the definite conclusion that we had
won, notwithstanding the fact that several of our ships, including the
_Yakumo_, had suffered severely. Th