xiliary armament of twelve
6-inch quick-firers besides lighter guns. The three other battleships, the
"Ossliabya," "Navarin," and "Sissoi Veliki" were older ships. The newest of
them, the "Ossliabya," launched in 1898, was on her way to the East when
the war broke out, and had turned back. She was of 12,600 tons
displacement, and claimed a speed of eighteen knots. She carried four
10-inch and eleven 6-inch guns. The other two ships were rated as having
sixteen knots speed, but probably could not much exceed twelve. Their
displacement and principal armament were:--

_Navarin_, 10,000 tons, four 12-inch guns, eight 6-inch Q.F.
_Sissoi Veliki_, 8880 tons, four 12-inch guns, six 6-inch Q.F.

The two armoured cruisers were old ships:--

_Admiral Nakhimoff_, 8500 tons, eight 8-inch, ten 6-inch guns.
_Dimitri Donskoi_, 7796 tons, six 6-inch, ten 4.7 inch guns.

Two of the protected cruisers, the "Aurora" and "Oleg," were ships of about
7000 tons, carrying for their main armament the former eight and the latter
twelve 6-inch guns. The other cruisers were four smaller ships, but some of
them were comparatively new vessels with good speed--useful as scouts.

Well manned with competent engineers and trained gunners the fleet would
have been formidable enough, notwithstanding its weaker units. But here
again it was the men that counted.

In the first week of October the fleet was taken to Revel. The Tsar arrived
there on the 9th and inspected it next day. On the 11th it sailed. But it
stopped again at Libau, until October 15, when at last it started for the
East.

There had been wild rumours that the Japanese had sent emissaries to
Europe, obtained some light craft, and fitted them as improvised
torpedo-boats for the purpose of attacking the fleet on its voyage through
the narrow waters that form the exit from the Baltic or during the crossing
of the North Sea. The Russian police attached such importance to these
canards that Rojdestvensky was warned to take precaution against attack
until he was out on the open ocean. He passed the Danish straits with his
ships partly cleared for action, fired on a Swedish merchantman and a
German fishing-boat, and, avoiding the usual course from the Skaw to the
Channel, ran by the Dogger Bank, and in a panic of false alarm opened fire
on the steam trawling fleet, sinking a boat and killing and wounding
several men. The result was an outburst of indignation in England, a
partial mob