Feb-Mar-Apr, May-June-July 1972 - Navy League of Australia

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Pag* Thirty-Four THE NAVY May/Jum/Juh
The quarterdeck of H.M.S. Renown - 1898. Thb picture included as It shows general It
the period Including early after bridge. Turret guns are 10 inch, 40 calibre.
Japanese (ex-Chinese) battleship Chin Yen Starboard 12 inch. 20 calibre barbette t
beneath forward funnel.
Japanese armoured cruiser Kasuga. Italian-built, originally for Argentina.
inch 20 calibre guns in her old bar- The 14 inch compound armour belt
bettes (not turrets). She was also was retained and she was given three
given four new 6 inch 40 calibre new above-water torpedo tubes,
single guns and her two sets of old- Togo's cruiser divisions were
fashioned horizontal compound divided amongst the Admirals Kamiengines
gained a new lease of life. mura. Dewa. Uriu. Takeomi and
FAIT H
WITHOUT
FOUNDATION
Kataoka. the last mentioned having
as a subordinate commander Rear-
Admiral Togo: a close relative of the
Commander in Chief (C. in C.)
(Admiral Uriu raised his Flag in the
Naniwa which was the C. in C.'s ship
when he was a Captain during the
Sino-Japanese War).
The full list of Japanese cruisers
read (not in divisional order) as follows:
Nisshin, Kasuga, Azuma,
Asama, Tokiwa, Idzumo, Yakumo,
Iwate, Kasagi, Chitose, Niitaka,
Otawa, Tsushima, Naniwa, and
Idzumi. C. in C. Togo topped off his
Battle Fleet with over seventy
T.B.D.'s.
The Japanese have always shown a
liking for cruisers and their Navy
has. until recent years, been well
endowed with them. The Fleet which
fought at Tsu-Shima contained
many more cruisers than their Russian
opponents although this was
done to offset their lack of battleship
strength. Many of these cruisers
were of foreign origin, however the
lessons learned from them were
incorporated in the fine indigenous
designs which were the envy of the
world thirty-five years later.
The weather began to close in as
Rozhestvensky cleared the Yangtze
estuary and headed North-East into
Tsu-Shima Straits in the afternoon
of 25. May. He had hoped that the
weather would screen his Fleet from
Japanese scouts which, he had been
told, were out in quantity. The skies
cleared the next day. but the ensuing
night was misty.
At 0700 hours on 27 May. 1905.
with heavy seas and light mist, a
strange two-funnelled ship appeared
to starboard travelling at high
speed. It proved to be the Japanese
auxiliary cruiser Sinano Maru.
Before a gun could be brought to
bear, she suddenly went about and
disappeared into the mist. The Russian's
precarious luck had finally
run out: Togo now knew where they
were.
Rozhestvensky deployed his Battle
Fleet in two parallel lines. To starboard
was the stronger force headed
by the Flagship Kniaz Suvaroff, followed
by the Aleksandr III, Borodino,
Oryol, Oslyabaya, Sissoi
Veliky, Navarin, and the cruiser
May/JuiWJuly THE NAVY Page Thirty-ftva