JAPANESE SHIPS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 19, 5 January 1912, Page 5

JAPANESE SHIPS.

TRAINING SHIPS AT AUCKLAND

(Per Press Association) Auckland, January 4. It is several years since the flag of the Rising Sun has been seen Waitemata, the last occasion being the visit of part of the training squadron which visited Australasian water under the charge of Admiral Kamimura. The (Aso and Soya, which arrived in port yesterday, are useful-looking craft for an argument—more useful by a good deal in the skilful hands of their present owners than when they sailed under the black eagle of Russia, for they are equipped with a very different armament to what they possessed prior to the Russo-Japanese war. They are both sh'ps wth a warlike history, though unfortunate so far as their record is concerned, for their fighting part in that desperate business ended unheroically in capture by the victorious Jap., whose flag now flies over their sterns. _ The larger of the two, the Aso, of 7800 tons, was originally the Bayan, captured during the investment of Dalny ; while the other, now named Soya, is the Russhrn cruiser Yariag, which met an inglorious fate at Chemulpo Bay in the early days of the naval operations off the Corean coast, by being stranded in a sinking condition after bombardment by the Japs, who subsequently raised and refitted her. The two vessels would now. bo able to give a tolerable account of themselves if called ' upon to bare their teeth, while in the matter of speed they are also greyhounds, each beihg able to steam about 23 knots. Upon boarding the latter vessel, ono is struck at once with the trim and workmanlike appearance of both ship and crew, which numbers over 700 men all told, the two ships of the squadron carrying a complement of about 1400 officers and men. Everywhere on deck and ’tween decks is noticeable the ouiot orderliness and businesslike effectiveness for which the Japanese have become famous. R n ar-Admiral Kato is in command of the squadron, and will keep his ships at rest in Auckland harbour about a week before sailing for Sydney. The warships are due back in Japan about March.

Many trim and neat Japanese sailors off the training-ships Aso and Soya were in town to-day, their appearance creating much interest. Several sailors did a brisk business in Victor:a Arcade selling coins and curios from Japan. The visitors were keen purchasers of postcards of New Zealand scenerv and Maori studies.