Bringing Home the News
On Sunday night, the 23rd of October, two steam trawlers, one of them flying her flag at half-mast, and both riddled with shot, entered St Andrew's Dock at Hull. Their own condition, and the lifeless and mutilated bodies that they brought with them, were ghastly confirmation of the amazing tidings that they had to tell; and next morning, not only England, but all the world, was ringing with the news of the Baltic fleet's first warlike exploit. Amazement quickly gave place to indignation—an indignation of passionate intensity; and with one voice the people of England cried aloud for retribution at any cost on the perpetrators of so wanton an outrage. Nor was this indignation confined to the countrymen of the victims. In the United States, in France, and even in Germany, unsparing reprobation of a deed so unjustifiable was freely uttered; and the belief was confidently expressed that the only possible explanation was to be found in the undiscipline and probable drunken frenzy of the Russian naval officers. Be it remembered, too, that the heinousness of the offence was infinitely increased by the fact that the Russian ships, whose commanders must have discovered their grievous blunder before leaving the neighborhood of the Dogger Bank, made no effort to ascertain the injury they had inflicted, or to render help to their innocent victims. Neither did the Russian Admiral condescend to make the least report of the circumstances. He and his fleet proceeded on their way as if the sinking of fishing-boats and the slaughtering of fishermen were too trifling an incident to engage serious attention and notice; and when the news of the outrage reached London, the Baltic Squadron had already been sighted in the Channel. No Government could sit down under such provocation as this, and the English ministers, who realized well enough the dangerous pitch to which public feeling had been wrought, lost no time in addressing the strongest demands for immediate redress to St. Petersburg, accompanied by the intimation that the situation was one not admitting of delay. Their action was emphasized by that of King Edward himself, who, in sending a subscription of 200 guineas for the relief of the sufferers, declared that he had heard with profound sorrow of the "unwarrantable action" to which the North Sea fishing-fleet had been subjected. The principal witnesses of the outrage were summoned at once to the Foreign Office, and Lord Lansdowne had long audience of the King, while the Prime Minister, who happened to be in Scotland, came back post-haste to London. On the 25th of October Count Lamsdorff, the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, called at the British Embassy in St. Petersburg and requested the British Ambassador, Sir Charles Hardinge, to convey to King Edward and the British Government a message from the Czar, who, while he had received no message from the Admiral in command of the Baltic Fleet, could only attribute "the incident in the North Sea to a very regrettable misunderstanding". It was added that the Czar wished to express his sincere regret for the sad loss of life that had occurred, and to say that he would take steps to afford complete satisfaction to the sufferers as soon as the circumstances of the case were cleared up. These assurances, though far from adequate, would have done something to calm the temper of public opinion in England if they had been accompanied by any sign of a similar spirit in the Czar's advisers. But the latter seemed inclined to be as intractable as the Russian press was impenitent. While the Russian Government pursued a policy of delay and evasion, the Russian newspapers roundly denied that any blame attached to the Baltic Fleet, and scouted all idea of reparation; and all the time Admiral Rozhdestvensky was proceeding serenely on his voyage. On the 26th of October his battleships arrived at Vigo Harbor, where at last he took the trouble to communicate his report of what had happened to St. Petersburg. The statement is such an amazing one that it may be given in full. It was communicated to the world under the authority of the Russian Naval General Staff, and ran as follows:—
"1.—The incident in the North Sea was provoked by two torpedo-boats which, without showing any lights, under cover of darkness, advanced to attack the vessel steaming at the head of the detachment. When the detachment began to sweep the sea with its searchlights and opened fire, the presence was also discovered of several small steam vessels resembling small steam fishing-boats. The detachment endeavored to spare these boats and ceased fire as soon as the torpedo-boats were out of sight.
"The English press is horrified at the idea that the torpedo-boats of the squadron, left by detachment until the morning on the scene of the occurrence, did not render assistance to the victims. Now, there was not a single torpedo-boat with the detachment and none were left on the scene of the occurrence. In consequence, it was one of the two torpedo-boats which was not sunk, but which was only damaged, which remained until the morning near the small steam craft. The detachment did not assist the small steam craft because it suspected them of complicity, in view of their obstinate persistence in cutting the line of advance of the warships. Several of them did not show any lights at all. The others showed them very late.
"2.—Having met several hundreds of fishing-boats, the squadron showed them every consideration, except where they were in company of the foreign torpedo-boats, one of which disappeared, while the other, according to the evidence of the fishermen themselves, remained among them until the morning. They believed her to be a Russian vessel, and were indignant that she did not come to the assistants of the victims. She was, however, a foreigner, and remained until the morning looking for the other torpedo-boat, her companion, either with the object of repairing her damage or from fear of betraying herself to those who were not accomplices.
"If there were also on the scene of the occurrence fishermen imprudently involved in this enterprise, I beg, in the name of the whole fleet, to express our sincere regret for the unfortunate victims of circumstances in which no warship could, even in time of profound peace, have acted otherwise."
Naval Preparations
But before this preposterous and long-delayed explanation was vouchsafed, the British Government had taken steps to prove that they were not in the mood to be trifled with, and that the subjects of the greatest naval power in the world were not to be shot down with impunity. To the intense satisfaction of the whole nation, an instant mobilization of the British fleets in European waters was ordered. The Home Fleet, which had been cruising away to the north of Scotland, was ordered south; the Channel Fleet, lying at Gibraltar, was warned to be in instant readiness for active service; and the Mediterranean Fleet was instructed to join up with the Channel Fleet with all speed. The naval dockyards were kept working night and day to prepare the reserve fleet for commission, and to be ready for the demands which an immediate outbreak of war might involve. In forty-eight hours every requisite preparation had been completed, and three fleets, any one of them capable of dealing faithfully with Admiral Rozhdestvensky's squadron, were ready for instant action. Directly in the path of the Baltic Fleet, now assembled at Vigo, lay the Channel Fleet under the command of Lord Charles Beresford, and so acute was the crisis that it seemed as if at any moment that fleet might be ordered to take the sea. Among the secret preparations made was the dispatch of four battleships from the Channel Squadron at Gibraltar to Portland and the assembly of all available submarines at Dover. What made the situation especially dangerous was the conflict which in this hour of desperate emergency was being waged between the Russian Admiralty and the Russian Foreign Office. The former department, which had done so much to aggravate the case of the Malacca and to flout the assurances which had been given as to the withdrawal of the Petersburg and Smolensk, was now determined that no surrender should be made to the British demands for satisfaction in the matter of the North Sea outrage; and for several days the more pacific Foreign Office wrestled with these fire-eaters in vain. War between England and Russia, with the prospect of indefinite extension to other countries, seemed inevitable; but thanks largely to the friendly offices of the French Government, who, as the ally of Russia and the friend of Great Britain, had exceptional claims to act as an intermediary between the disputants, a settlement was at length arrived at. On the 28th of October, Mr. Balfour was able to announce to the world that that morning an agreement had been arrived at which averted all further apprehension of the rupture of peaceful relations. Great Britain and Russia had consented to refer the case in dispute to an impartial International Tribunal of Inquiry; the terms of the Convention, which were signed after much further negotiation on the 24th of November, being as follows:—
1.—The Commission is to consist of five members, namely, officers of Great Britain, Russia, the United States, and France. The fifth Commissioner is to be selected by agreement between them. If they cannot agree, the choice to be entrusted to the king of a country subsequently to be determined upon.
2.—The Commission is to report on all the circumstances relating to the disaster and to establish the responsibility.