Running along the fore-bridge I almost fell, slipping in a pool of blood (the chief signalman—Kandaooroff—had just been killed there). I went into the conning tower, and found the Admiral and Captain both bending down, looking out through the chink between the armour and the roof.
“Sir,” said the Captain, energetically gesticulating as was his wont, “we must shorten the distance. They’re all being killed—they are on fire!”
“Wait a bit. Aren’t we all being killed also?” replied the Admiral.
Close to the wheel, and on either side of it, lay two bodies in officers’ tunics—face downwards.
“The officer at the wheel, and Berseneff!”[17] was shouted in my ear by a sub-lieutenant—Shishkin—whose arm I had touched, pointing to the bodies. “Berseneff first—in the head—quite dead.”
The range-finder was worked. Vladimirsky shouted his orders in a clear voice, and the electricians quickly turned the handles of the indicator, transmitting the range to the turrets and light gun batteries.
“We’re all right,” thought I to myself, going out of the conning tower, but the next moment the thought flashed across me: “They can’t see what is going on on board.” Leaving the tower, I looked out intently on all sides from the fore-bridge. Were not my recent thoughts, which I had not dared to put into words, realised?
No!
The enemy had finished turning. His twelve ships were in perfect order at close intervals, steaming parallel to us, but gradually forging ahead. No disorder was noticeable. It seemed to me that with my Zeiss glasses (the distance was a little more than 4,000 yards), I could even distinguish the mantlets of hammocks on the bridges, and groups of men. But with us? I looked round. What havoc!—Burning bridges, smouldering débris on the decks,—piles of dead bodies. Signalling and judging distance stations, gun-directing positions, all were destroyed. And astern of us the Alexander and Borodino were also enveloped in smoke. No! it was very different to the 10th August.
The enemy, steaming ahead, commenced quickly to incline to starboard, endeavouring to cross our T. We also bore to starboard, and again we had him almost on our beam.