The same morning, at five o’clock, the Hayatori approached Port Arthur and discerned two Russian ships, which opened fire on her. The destroyer discharged a torpedo, which was seen to explode. The Hayatori also escaped scathless.
It is impossible to state the definite material results, owing to the darkness, but the moral effect was certainly considerable.
Togo.
It has not yet been definitely ascertained whether any Russian ship was sunk; if so, it was only a minor vessel. This attack may be written off as a wasted effort.
ATTACK ON VLADIVOSTOK
The next incident of note was the attack on Vladivostok, which, again, was barren of results, as the Russians did not attempt to reply.
The official report of the attack on Vladivostok, from Admiral Kamimura, commanding the second squadron, is as follows:—
As prearranged, the squadron reached the eastern entrance of Vladivostok on the morning of March 6, after passing through the frozen sea. The enemy’s ships were not seen in the outside harbour, and the Japanese vessels approached the batteries on the north-east coast from a point beyond the range of the batteries of the Balzan Promontory and the Bosphorous Strait.
After bombarding the inner harbour for forty minutes from ten minutes to two, the Japanese squadron retired. It is believed that the bombardment effected considerable damage. Soldiers were seen on land, but the Russian batteries did not reply to the Japanese fire.
Black smoke was observed in the eastern entrance about five in the afternoon, and was thought to be from the enemy’s ships, but the smoke gradually disappeared. On the morning of the 7th inst. the Japanese squadron reconnoitred America Bay and Strelok Bay, but nothing unusual was seen. The warships again approached the eastern entrance of Vladivostok at noon, but the enemy’s ships were not visible, and the batteries did not fire.