tration better than the thicker belts of the older ships. It will be
noticed that the Japanese carried fewer of the heavier types of guns, but
had more 6-inch quick-firers than the Russians. This is a point to bear in
mind in following the story of the battle. It was the steady rain of
100-pounder shells from the quick-firers that paralysed the fighting power
of the Russian ships.

Far more important than the mere number of guns was the fact that the
Japanese shot straighter and had a more effective projectile. There was
such a marked difference between the effect of the Japanese shells at
Tsu-shima and in the naval battle of 10 August, 1904, that Captain
Semenoff, who was present at both battles, thought that in the interval the
Japanese must have adopted a more powerful kind of high explosive for their
bursting charges. This was not the case. Throughout the war the Japanese
used for their bursting charges the famous Chimose powder. But perhaps
between 10 August, 1904, and the following May they had improved their
fuses, so as to detonate the charge more certainly and thoroughly.

The first five battleships on the Russian list were up-to-date modern
vessels. The "Navarin" was fairly fit to lie in line with them. The rest
were, to use a familiar expression, "a scratch lot," coast-defence ships of
small speed and old craft quite out of date. The decks of the larger ships
were encumbered with an extra supply of coal, and this must have seriously
diminished their margin of stability, with, as we shall see, disastrous
results.

Admiral Togo could oppose to them only four modern battleships. But his two
heavy cruisers, the "Nisshin" and "Kasuga" (the ships bought from Argentina
on the eve of the war), might almost have been classed as smaller
battleships, and certainly would have been given that rank a few years
earlier. His fine fleet of armoured cruisers were at least a match for the
Russian coast-defence ships and the older battleships.

RUSSIA
----------+--------------------+-------+----+-------------+----+-------------------
Class. | | | | | |
| Ships. | | | | |
| |Displacement. Tons. | |
| | |Thickest Armour. Inches.
| | | |Principal Armament. Guns.
|