"We had accomplished our work, so with cheers for Old England we gave a parting shot, and turning were soon steaming away towards the Sicilian coast, leaving Algiers a mass of roaring flame.
"The journey was uneventful until just before noon on the following day. I was at that time on duty, and suddenly, to my surprise, detected a number of ships. By the aid of our glasses, the captain and I found to our dismay that a number of the most powerful vessels of the Russian Fleet were bearing down upon us! All our other vessels had made the same discovery, and I must confess that the meeting was somewhat disconcerting. The strength of the Russian ironclads was such as to cause our hearts to beat more quickly. To engage that great force meant certain defeat, while it was necessary that our Admiral off Marseilles should know of the whereabouts of this hostile squadron, therefore we resolved to get away. But although we altered our course and put on all speed, we were, alas! unsuccessful. At last we determined at all hazards to stick to our guns so long as we were afloat, and as the first of the Tsar's ironclads drew within range, one of our 22-tonners thundered. The white smoke, driven forward, tumbled over our bows. We had spoken the first word of battle!"
CHAPTER XXI.
A NAVAL FIGHT AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
he great naval force of the Tsar, with which we were now face to face," continued Lieutenant Ingleton in his narrative, "consisted of the new battleship Petropavlovsk of 10,960 tons, with a speed of 17 knots; the great turret-ship Dvenadsat Apostoloff of 8076 tons; the two new barbette-ships Kama and Vologda of the Cizoi Veliky type; the Tchesmé of 10,181 tons, the Gheorghy Pobyednosets of 10,280 tons, and the powerful Tria Sviatitelia of 12,480 tons; the two enormous new cruisers Tiumen and Minsk, both of 17,000 tons, and running at 20 knots; the Vladimir Monomach of 5754 tons; the armoured gunboat Otvazny, and the new rams Admiral Seniavine and Admiral Uschakoff, with thirty torpedo boats, including the Kodor, Reni, Anakria, and Adler, the latter being able to run at 27·4 knots.
"Against such a gigantic force as this our small force of vessels and torpedo boats presented but a sorry appearance. Nevertheless we had fired the first shot, and were now determined to die rather than haul down our colours. As our guns thundered, those of the Jupiter, Repulse, Sans Pareil, Undaunted, Orlando, Diana, Scout, and Gannet joined in noisy chorus. The 12-inch guns in the turrets of the Petropavlovsk and the four big guns in the barbettes of the Tria Sviatitelia crashed out together, and almost immediately afterwards we found ourselves being swept from stem to stern by the enemy's shells. The Russian battleships were all well armoured, and had a much heavier shell fire than the vessels of either France or Britain. We were both in columns of divisions in line ahead, but from the first moment of the engagement our position was critical.
"A terrific and deadly storm burst upon us from the enemy's tops, while his heavy guns kept up an incessant thunder. With such an enormous force against us, it was apparent to every man on board that disaster was imminent. It had, alas! never been graven sufficiently deep upon the public mind how absurdly weak we were in the Mediterranean. Here, as in all other squadrons, every grade of officer from commander downwards was deficient in numbers, and the ships in commission had for years been so much below their complement that the work had only been carried on with great difficulty. Other ships at home had been obliged to wait until a sufficient number of merchant seamen and half-trained engine-room staff could be scraped together to provide the semblance of a crew. In fact, successive British Governments of both parties had subordinated national necessities to a desire to evade a material increase in taxation, and now at last our Mediterranean Squadron were compelled to face the inevitable.