Chapter I: Preface

Eugène Sigismondovitch Politovsky, engineer-constructor of the second deep sea fleet flagship, was born at Tashkend on November 12th, 1874. He received his education at the Emperor Nicholas I. Naval Engineering School, and left it in 1897. Up to the departure of the fleet for the East he served at the Admiralty at St. Petersburg. He went down in his ship, the battleship _Kniaz_ (Prince) _Suvaroff_, in the fight of May 14th, 1905. This diary consists of extracts from his letters to his wife, which it must be understood were not intended for publication.

The diary is written entirely from the personal point of view of the author. He shares with the human being dearest to him everything that occupies or interests him. He writes in fragments, with detached sentences, sometimes snatching a few spare minutes from his duties for his letters. His diary is a full one. Scarce a day is omitted from the departure from Libau up to May 11th.

Involuntarily, one is impressed by the sincerity and justice of the author's tone. As he thought, so he wrote.

His style is very simple and graphic, despite its fragmentary nature.

The author was a constructor, not a sailor. This was his first cruise. His views of all that he saw are those of an independent person, bound by no traditions or clannishness. They appear to be absolutely impartial. In addition, through his position on the staff he knew much that remained unknown to others.

From the very beginning he did not believe in success for the Russian navy. The further the fleet went the more apparent did it become to him that it was going on a desperate and hopeless mission. "If you could but imagine what is going on," he writes--"if it were possible for me to tell you exactly all about it--you would be amazed. Should I live, I will tell you afterwards. No! there is no use our fighting. Things have come to such a pass that I can only wring my hands and feel assured that no one can escape his fate, for this is the only possible assurance."

He took his duty very seriously and responsibly. Damages to the ships, and especially to the torpedo-boats, were constantly occurring, and it was necessary to repair them with self-improvised means under the most trying circumstances. For instance, can you not imagine the following scene? A torpedo-boat in the open sea with a damaged rudder. Divers must be sent to repair it. The swell is tremendous, the boat is rolling fearfully, and around it are sharks. They lower the diver; he is knocked about by the sea all the time--take care that he is not permanently disabled. They watch the sharks and drive them away with shots from a rifle. In spite of all these difficulties the repairs are completed.

Not one ship did the fleet leave behind, and this was in a great measure due to Politovsky. Whatever the weather, he tirelessly went from one ship to another, thinking out means of repair and accommodating himself to the most improbable and difficult circumstances, and always emerging from them with honour. Every one remembers his great work in getting the battleship _Apraxin_ off the rocks at Gothland, where she had struck, icebound, in the winter of 1899.

With ships of the _Suvaroff_ class he was well acquainted. From 1899 he was assistant-constructor of the _Borodino_, and this was probably the reason of his appointment to the fleet, an appointment destined to be fatal to him. How passionately he dreamed of the arrival at Vladivostok and of the possibility of returning to Russia! Alas! fate decided otherwise. He perished in his prime, being but thirty years old. Through his death our engineer-constructors have suffered a severe loss.

He was talented, clever, and energetic, with a vast experience gained from his cruise. What a valuable man he would have been in the construction of the new Russian fleet!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
BEGINNING THE VOYAGE

PAGE
The Summons--The Emperor visits the Fleet--Worries
and Work--Fear of Japanese Mines--Repairs--The
Order of St. Anne--Mishaps--Suspicions and
Nerve-strain--On the Dogger Bank--The _Kamchatka_
"attacked"--The North Sea Trawlers--The
_Aurora_ fired on--The Ship's Barber--"Foggy
Albion"--Crossing the Bay--Complications--At
Vigo--Protests from England 1

CHAPTER II
OFF NORTH-WEST AFRICA

Vigo and the Spanish--Chased--An English Escort--That
Horrid Britannia!--A Memorial Service for
Alexander III.--Cruisers--Tangier--Japanese
Torpedo-boats at Hull--The _Suvaroff_--Morocco
and the Moors--Rumours and Lies--Cutting the
Cable--The _Malay_ breaks down--Vessels in the
Squadron--The Captain gets some Soap!--Great
Heat--Dakar--Those English again!--Coal the
Weakness--Sunstroke--Japanese Spies--The
Natives--Visiting the Fleet--Heat and Thirst--Whales
sighted--The _Malay_ again--Strike of a Stoker 25

CHAPTER III
CROSSING THE LINE

Off Gaboon--Rats--Wiring for News--Requested to
leave by the French--Cannibals--Awaking a King--Photographed
with Royalty--A Captain reprimanded--Libreville--Dancing
a Tam-tam--Andrew
Andrewitch--Crossing the Line--How
they fast--Great Fish Bay--A Portuguese
Gunboat--Albatrosses--Dysentery--Angra Pequena--News
of Mukden--English Possessions everywhere--German
Sympathy--Sad News from the
Front--Visiting the _Malay_--Lights put out--Rat
Hunting 51

CHAPTER IV
ON THE WAY TO MADAGASCAR

Passing Capetown--A Steamer following--A Furious
Gale--The _Malay_ again in Trouble--Fire on the
_Suvaroff_--Bad Coal--General Alarm--Another
Storm--Madagascar in Sight--Sickening News
from Port Arthur--Hopeless Darkness--The _Orel_
invaded by Jews--A Swiss Schooner--St. Mary--Scenery
and People--The French Cordial--Tang-tang--Undecipherable
Signals Japanese--Mysterious
Signals--The _Esperanza_ nervous--Port Arthur
surrendered--Christmas--Warships sighted--Are
they Japanese?--Mutiny on the _Roland_--Arrival
at Nosi Be--The Admirals meet--Uncertainty and
Dissatisfaction 79

CHAPTER V
AT MADAGASCAR

Life in a Torpedo-boat--Elephantiasis--Officers
discharged--Sailors suffocated--A Funeral Service--Further
Tragical Mishaps--_Suvaroff_ Shore Leave
stopped--A Snake in the Hay--Requiem Service
on Board the _Ural_--A Sad Spectacle--Population
of Nosi Be--Frightened Oxen--Telegrams from
Home--News of the _Oleg_--The _Kuban_ arrives--Prickly
Heat--Rumours of Return--Luxurious
but Useless Ships--Animals on Board--On
Shore--Gambling--Blessing the Water--The Rainy
Season--The Mad Ensign--Intense Heat--_Malay_
returns with Sick and Incapables--Arrest of
Mutineers--The Foreign Legion--Pianola Musicians--Bad
Meat--Shipping Cattle--Sinking of the
_Bengal_ Coal Steamer--Passive Resistance 108

CHAPTER VI
WAITING FOR ORDERS

Uncertainty--Firing Practice--Martial Law in Russia--Narrow
Escape from a Collision--The _Suvaroff_
flooded--Capture by the _Oleg_--On Shore--A
Supposed Spy--German Methods--Playing for
High Stakes--Our Hopeless Situation--Wasting
Money--Man Overboard--Big Ships sighted--Internal
Affairs in Russia--Rumours of Reinforcements--German
Colliers--Confession under Difficulties--Europeans
at Nosi Be--Breakdown of
_Rezvy_--Complaints of Local Governor--Loss of
Torpedo-boats--Shore Leave stopped--Apathy and
Oblivion--A Narrow Escape--A Spy at Large--Sorting
the Letters--Visit from Another Spy--Admiral
Birilieff criticised--Waiting and wasting
Time--A Sad Anniversary--A Comedy of
Ladies--Money-changing--The Barber in Difficulties--A
Humbugging Frenchman--Cleaning the Ships--Mysterious
Balloon--Court-martial--Undisciplined
Sailors--Rumours of Peace 134

CHAPTER VII
EVENTS AT NOSI BE

A Nigger Wedding--Effects of Drink--Anxiety about
the _Irtish_--Quarrels among the Officers--A Suppressed
Telegram--Bad News of Vladivostok--A
Dummy Dirk--Indignation at Home News--Good
Work by Divers--The Malagassy impertinent--The
Germans jeering--The General Staff
anathematised--News about Mukden--A Prophecy--Examining
the _Aurora_--Waiting for the
_Regina_--Signal for Departure 167

CHAPTER VIII
ACROSS THE INDIAN OCEAN

Leaving Nosi Be--Confusion on the _Kamchatka_--Preparations--The
_Regina_ and the Japanese--A
Grand Armada--Fearful Heat--Various Breakdowns--Steaming
without Lights--A Star mistaken
for a Ship--Cattle on Board--Chagos Archipelago--Artificer
Krimmer--More Mishaps--Coaling
at Sea--Look-out Boxes--Night Alarms--General
Mismanagement--Success Unlikely--More
Deaths--The Admiral's Weak Nerves--Guarding
Divers from Sharks--Lights Ahead--Reflections
on the Outlook--A Favourable Current--Opportunities
of Attack--Life on Torpedo-boats--An
"Iconoclast"--An Unjust Reprimand--Across
the Equator--Japan's Advantages--Towing
Torpedo-boats--Preparations for Fighting--Officers
Drunk--Opium Cigarettes--Rats 183

CHAPTER IX
THROUGH THE STRAITS OF MALACCA

Mutiny--More Mishaps--Dogs--Straits of Malacca--Imaginary
Torpedo-boats--Will the Japanese
attack?--Passing Malacca--No News of the War--Night
Attack feared--Small Hope of Victory--Passing
Anamba--Bound for Kamranh--Constant
Fear of Japanese--A Time of Alarms--More
Deaths 221

CHAPTER X
THE STAY AT KAMRANH

Arrival at Kamranh--Chances Neglected--Despair--Losing
Time--More Accidents--Meeting of Admirals
and Captains--Post Difficulties--A Goat--Cockroaches--Hard
Work repairing--A French
Cruiser--Food Scarce--Admiral Folkersham Ill--Meeting
of Engineers--False News--A Regrettable
Incident--Forest Fires--Foreign Contempt for
Russia--Requested to leave Kamranh--Where is
the Third Fleet?--Two Colliers arrested--Fatal
Errors--Discretion of the English Press--Phantom
Submarine 238

CHAPTER XI
DELAYS AT VAN FONG

Sympathy of French Admiral--Japanese Spies--Expensive
Food--The Russian System--A Rat Bite--Squalor--Want
of Engineers--An Alarm--"Apes"
and "Anyhows"--The _Oleg_--Preparations
for Easter--Officers usually Drunk--Easter--Prickly
Heat--Expecting Nebogatoff--Row on the
_Orel_--Neutrality a Farce--Night Alarms--Buying
Children--Suspicious Lights--No News of Nebogatoff--French
Admiral as Poet--No News from
Manchuria--Getting Cigarettes--The Annamese
People--Nebogatoff in Sight--Excitement--A
Good Post--French Impertinence--Poisonous
Gases--Leaving Van Fong 263

CHAPTER XII
PREPARING FOR BATTLE

Expecting Torpedo and Submarine
Attacks--Delay--Signals--Formosa--Coaling--A
Steamer arrested--Love
of Secrets--A Possible Japanese Scout--Contraband
Ships--Preparations for Battle--An
English Trick--A Balloon sighted--No Sign of the
Japanese--The _Irtish_ breaks down--Hopes of
reaching Vladivostok 293

NOTE BY MADAME POLITOVSKY 306

APPENDIX.--OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE RUSSIAN
LOSSES IN THE BATTLE 307

FROM LIBAU TO TSUSHIMA