had been drowned. More
than 200 lost their lives in the explosion of the "Palestra," but the
other losses of the Italians in the Battle of Lissa were slight, only 5
killed and 39 wounded. The Austrians lost 38 killed (including two
captains) and 138 wounded. These losses were not severe, considering that
several wooden ships had been exposed to heavy shell-fire at close
quarters, and one must conclude that the gunnery of the Italian crews was
wretched. The heaviest loss fell on Petz's flagship, the "Kaiser," which
had 99 killed and wounded. Some of the gunboats, among which were some old
paddle-ships, though they took part in the fighting, had not a single
casualty.

Persano was tried by court-martial and deprived of his rank and dismissed
from the navy. Tegethoff became the hero of Austria. His successful attack
on a fleet that in theory should have been able to destroy every one of his
ships in an hour, will remain for all time an honour to the Austrian navy,
and a proof that skill and courage can hope to reverse the most desperate
disadvantages.

CHAPTER XII

THE BATTLE OF THE YALU

1894

One result of the victory won by Tegethoff at Lissa was that an exaggerated
importance was for many years to come attached to the ram as a weapon of
attack. In every navy in the world ships were built with bows specially
designed for ramming. The sinking of the "Re d'Italia" had made such an
impression on the public mind, that it was in vain for a minority among
naval critics to urge that the ram was being overrated, and to point out
that even at Lissa for one successful attempt to sink an enemy by running
her down there had been an untold number of failures. It was very gradually
that the majority was brought to realize that a ship under full control
could generally avoid a ramming attack, and that it could only be employed
under exceptional circumstances, and against an already disabled enemy.

Then the progress of invention and armaments introduced features into naval
warfare that made it extremely difficult and dangerous for a large ship to
come to such close quarters as an attempt to ram implies. First the
introduction of the Whitehead torpedo as part of the auxiliary armament of
battleships and cruisers gave the ship attacked a means of sinking the
aggressor as she approached, and the increase in the power of guns led
naval tacticians to accept as a principle that fleet actions must be fought
at ran