TSU-SHIMA-AN UGLY PASSAGE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1146, 6 June 1911, Page 5

TSU-SHIMA-AN UGLY PASSAGE.

■« THE LAST HALF-HOUR. ARE WESTERNS GROWING SOFTER f (By Gyro.) llcwt of the following appears for Hie first time in an JinpMsh newspaper. It is ihe complementary study to "Tlio First Half-Hour at Tsu-shima," which appeared in Tin-; Dominion on May 30, and treats of the somewhat disconcerts iiif question-surrender in warfare. In tnw case an othcrwiso rather able admiral saw lit to give up Bevera.l valuable eliips, and afterwards was severely punished by the Russian Government. Die perplexinp; circuniElanccs under which he hoisted the white flair arc rolated, but the subject lias a wider interest, in that surrenders wero a. rather common feature among our own troojis in South Africa, mid, though, mention of that uiily feature has been minimised as much as possible, it h none the less ugly. It may bo explained that, though "modern wcaponf" have introduced fewer changes into warfare than is popularly supposed, ono real change liar; come—it is now far more dreadful for the beaten side, at tho finish of any general action, than it used to be. Ox-like as the Russian accounts arc, it is easy to form a picture from them. Wo see tho stage at Tsu-shima and tlio Satanic setting thereon quite well. It is 7 o'clock. A coppery sun is resting its disc, exaggerated by the mists, on tho sea rim. Against this the Japanese ships are scuttling away from the battle—dark, furtive, deadly blotches, seen en silhouette liko toy tin things against tho illumination of tho evening. Japan wants no night-warring, and (he grim parcel Death is closed for tho day. For the first time it becomes possible for the engineers on the old batleship iMcolni 1 to hold tho stokers to their duty. Tlio thunder on her plates has erased, and now she is smoking famously, and the gauges are really showing steam. A liKiKhbourinK ship begins with tho Bemaphoro-"Does Admiral Nobogatoif ~° w? , - , -- " the man who ultimately surrendered, docs not know, for the message is never finished. But, presently, a destroyer passes eloso to tho Nicolai, and a megaphone message is shouted: "The command is transferred to Admiral Nebogaloll'." H was, of course, a sudden and grave announcement for Ncbogatoir. No had the misfortune (o havo two political appointees among his captains, and, in consequence, Hoj'dcstvensky, his superior, had refused to meet him at all. Of (he Admiral's plans ho know nothing except a chance remark, winch he had accidentally overheard, to the effect that in the event of ovcrytliiiiif going wrong, "tho remainder" wero to take, up the courso N. 23, K., which was the courso lo Vladivostok. Ho had begun the battle as ninth in the line, and* now ho found himself second, just astern of the first-class battleship Orel. Ho at once signalled the Orel to slow down, and passed .up to the head of the column. All tho survivors tucked in behind, and rm i sin s' p column in line ahead. Ihough the Japanese armoured steamers had drawn off, their torpedoes wero incessant from dark till daylight. "What mostly distressed me," says Nobosatoff, in n letter published in "Tho Buss, was this: "Bad as my captains were, I alone, of all the vice-commanders in the licet, had taught them to navigate in (no darkness without lights, and when their torpedoers assailed us in the night my Nicolai and the others avoided them by turning the helm, not showing any light. Tho Orel did not belong to my trained division, but she did as wo did, and camo through. As for the others they made such dreadful lights with their projectors, and were hit. Ah! How I cursed thoso Government men! If my admiral had known my feelings then ho would not have made me an outcast iu the fleet as ho lmd done. I might, even, then, have gono back to tho China ports, but I did as I understood the admiral wished, and kept on the courso N. 23 E " Ihe morning of May 28 came in calmly Ihe sea was subsiding, and the dfctressfnnoises of the wounded which had been coming from various ships, all night and} especially from tlio Orel, were d,vin» away. Tho cheerful rattle of knives'and iorks at breakfast was going on but, for reasons which are quite simple (though they would be lengthy to stale) Togo was bound to reappear. About 7 o'clock, behind Iho port , beam, they saw seven largo funnels smoking and, towards 10 o'clock, their little string was surrounded by 2? large ships of war. Nobogatoff also presently found that the range of his best guns was only 50 cables, while tho Japaucso (always retiring from him) kept firing from a rauge of 55 enblcs to which, of course, he could make no reply. Ho had therefore to make up his mind (1) whether to remain as ho was until sunk by a gun-fire which lie could not moot; (2) open his Kingston valves and drown 2000 men; (3) surrender. , Tho ;isJth article of (lie Russian "Fighting Instructions" says: "During the battle the commander shows the example of courage, and continues the battle a? long as possible. To avoid useless bloodshedding, he is allowed—but not without general agreement of all tho officers—to surrender the ship, if all- the cartridges and ammunition nro used up, the'artillery destroyed, and all means of dofonco exhausted, and if tliew is no possibility of destroying the ship in such a way that tho crew enn find a way of savin's themselves on shore, or in (ho boats." The 109 th Article states-: "If the Admiral's shin is very badly damaged, and not in condition to continue the battle, or is in danger of boiiu; in tho power of tho enemy, the Admiral may go on to another ship according to his own judgment." Nebojiatoff could really havo conformed to this latter refrulntinn and transferred to the fnst cruiser Jzumrmt which escaped, but his attitude In his duty at tho titno is best described in (ho summary of his defence put forward at his trial. It was as follows:— I have in my command four battleships. I am surrounded by 27 bic ships, and a great number of (orpedo boats. The range of our guns is 50 cables. Tho enemy stands- at a distance not nearer that b~> cable lengths. AVhen we try to approach him nearer, his ships, having more speed, go further away from us, not lessening the distance. I ]'n this manner we represent a target ■ which is very easy to shoot through, and which is not able to respond to the enemy. Tho enemy is firing continually, killing the men and destroying the helpless ships. A few more minutes we should perish. All felt and understood the tame, p.iul all saw with horror that the limo had come which is pointed out in tho 351 th Instruction. In this affair, in compliance wilh every moral order, J. only beg to have in view, that in deciding the question of surremleriiiß the ships, I did not participate for one second in tho selfish feeling of saving my own life. Well, what of it all? It is first-class logic but, having in view tho oiily theory on which a warrior's profession rests, it will not do. For one of our own sympathetic juries, with a special pleader in front, it might be well enough. No doubt there would be an acquittal, such is the sickly state of mind in regard (o tho actualities of lifo to which all Western—and especially we in New Zealandare being reduced, but it should not bo allowed to deceive. The question of surrenders of Westerns (Wo sowed n plentiful crop in Soiilh Africa) is now being looked into by tho German, French, mid Uussin.ii General Staffs, and (he concensus of hard conclusion seems lo bo that surrenders are so demoralising to (hose who come after that, either tliov must stop In all circumstances, or ihe nniion In which tho surrenderors belong must .ultimately u r o to (ho wall. The best Kiiglish authority on the subject is Lieutenant-Colonel Maude, who has uttered (ho last word nn the nlace of war in the life of a nation. He finds (he ultimate reason of (bo warrior in the words of (lie Gospel: "Greater love hath no man than (bis (hat lie lay down his lifo for a friend." But when a man is content to assume the' Row-imws of warfare and, at tho liineli, will not lay down his lifo . . .P Woll, what (hen?