powerful armoured cruisers
"Nisshin" and "Kasuga," purchased from the Argentine Government on the eve
of the war.

The battle began with long-range firing at 1 p.m., and continued till after
seven in the evening. It was decided by the superior gunnery of the
Japanese, and the damage done by their high explosive shells. The
"Tsarevitch," badly cut up and set on fire, was driven out of the line.
Witjeft was killed by a shell. His last word was to reiterate his order to
push for Vladivostock. As darkness came on Ukhtomsky lost heart, and led
the fleet back to Port Arthur. If he had held on he might have got through
the Japanese fleet, for their ammunition was almost exhausted when the
firing ceased. Reitzenstein, with the cruisers, tried to execute Witjeft's
last order. The "Pallada," however, left him and followed the battleships.
The rest of the cruiser squadron and the destroyers that accompanied it
were forced to part company, and only the "Novik" got through to the
northwards. The "Diana" fled southwards to the French port of Saigon; the
"Askold," with a destroyer, reached Shanghai. The battered "Tsarevitch,"
with three destroyers, took refuge at Kiao-chau. All these ships were
disarmed by the French, German, and Chinese authorities, and detained till
the end of the war, when they were restored to the Russian Government.

The "Novik" failed to get into Vladivostock, but reached a Russian port in
Saghalien, where a few days later she was tracked down and destroyed by
Japanese cruisers. The Vladivostock squadron had come out to meet the
unfortunate Witjeft. The "Boyarin" was left behind, damaged by accidentally
grounding, so the squadron was made up of the three big armoured cruisers
"Gromoboi," "Rossia," and "Rurik." They were approaching the straits of
Tsu-shima, and were as far south as Fusan, when they were discovered and
attacked by Admiral Kamimura's cruiser squadron, on 14 August. Once more
good gunnery against poor shooting decided the fight. The "Rurik" was sunk,
and the "Gromoboi" and "Rossia" returned to Vladivostock, bearing marks of
very hard hitting--riddled funnels, and sides hastily patched with plates
of iron, told of the straight shooting of the Japanese cruisers. In both
the action with the Port Arthur battleship fleet and the Vladivostock
cruiser squadron the losses of the Japanese had been very slight.

On paper the Russians had had a distinct superiority over the Japanese in
sea-power at the outs