The officers believe that the debut of the submarine boat as an effective agent in naval warfare, or perhaps a large mine caused the disaster to the Kniaz Souvaroff. The damage, however, was so extensive that the flagship soon went down, leaving the deck officers and many of the crew struggling in the waves.
One of the Russian torpedo boats, either the destroyer Buiny or the Bravi, ran in and picked up a number of the swimmers, one of whom was recognized through a glass as Admiral Rozhdestvensky.
Under a grueling attack by the Japanese warships, aided by torpedo boats, mines and submarines, the Borodino, Osliabia and Ural were placed out of action and followed the flagship to the bottom.
The fog, which had raised and lowered intermittently during the morning, began to settle down again, and the distance of the Almaz, which now succeeded in disengaging herself in the combat from the struggling ships, made it difficult for her to see clearly.
The arrival of the Grozny on the following day was marked by the same scenes of excitement as those which characterized the advent of the Almaz. The wounded commander of the destroyer, Captain Andriffski, confirmed the details given by the officers of the Almaz. He described his combat as a running fight, in which the Grozny was engaged for several hours, finally sinking the pursuing Japanese destroyer.
Russian Story of Disaster
From this and further fragmentary reports the Russians pieced together a story of the disaster. They figure that Admiral Togo, with his main squadron, must have lain somewhere off the coast of Korea, while Admirals Kamimura and Uriu held their squadrons further north to head off the Russian vessels which might get through Togo's lines or be prepared to bar the entrance to the Straits of Tsugaru in case the Russians should be reported moving up the east coast of Japan. When Togo's scouts reported that Admiral Rozhdestvensky was heading for the eastern channel of the Straits of Korea the Japanese Admiral steamed around the northern part of the Tsu Islands, and came upon the Russians steaming in double column, with the cruisers to port.
Togo enjoyed the great advantage of tactical position when he opened fire, having the lightest of the Russian ships between him and Rozhdestvensky's heavier vessels, thus smothering the fire of the latter. Besides, Togo was able to use all his broadsides, whereas the sternmost ships of the Russian columns, coming on in line ahead formation, could probably only with difficulty use any guns at all.
When Sunday morning came the Russian fleet was divided. The faster and stronger division, under Rozhdestvensky, was met by Kamimura and Uriu, while the slower division, under Nebogatoff, renewed the fight with Togo. With some of the scattered Russian units it was a case of save himself who can. In the running fight the Japanese enjoyed the advantage of superior speed, enabling them to concentrate their fire and bring every crippled Russian ship to bay. Admiral Nebogatoff's battered remnant surrendered off Liancourt Rocks, while Rozhdestvensky, with the best remaining battleships, fought on for the honor of the Russian navy.
Torpedo attacks were the feature of the Japanese program, which more surely than anything else brought disaster. Torpedo boats in night attacks launched their deadly missiles within a hundred yards of their Russian targets. They completely encircled the Russian ships, swarming like angry hornets. Much of the sweeping character of the victory will ultimately be traced to these comparatively tiny craft, fighting under the shower of shells being hurled from the big guns of the battleships and cruisers far away.