THE MATSUSHIMA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9253, 4 June 1908, Page 2

THE MATSUSHIMA.

«♦ : l A TERRIBLE EXPLOSION, i ' HEROIC CONDUCT OF THE CREWr United Press Association— By Eltetri* Telegraph— Copyright. (Received June 4, 10.6 a.m.J SYDNEY, June 4. The " Herald's " Hong Kong correspondent supplies particulars of the explosion in the after magazine of the Japanese training ship Matsushima, which visited Australia a year or two ago. Three cruisers were off Pescatorea at four in the morning. Nearly all those on hoard were asleep* when the Matsushima' s after magazine exploded, and within five minutes the bow rose and she went under water in a smother of foam. Of 461 officers and men, only three officers and 236 men escaped. A bluejacket whose duty it was ;to strike the hours on the ship's bell noticed a thin wreath of smoke from the deck neaf the magazine, and at the same instant smelt a peculiar odour* He ran to the officer on duty, who hur^ ried down towards the magazine, ask-. ing for a light. Thoroughly alarmed, the sailor ran for a lantern, calling out ' ' Fire ! Fire 1" As he reached the fifth gun there was a deafening explosion, and a choking rush of smoke fumes. Ea crept on with difficulty to the upper deck, over which the water was already coming, and found the rooms, occupied by the midshipmen blazing furiously; and the after part of the cruiser en-« veloped ir* smoke and flame. Explosions followed one another with rapid succession amid volumes of flame and smoke aft.- * . ' The bodies of officers and men were seen to be blown up into the air, some to a height of a hundred feet. The magazine was situated just beloTf the rooms of the junior officers, which were surrounded by the senior officers; quarters. The cadets were on the second deck, and the bluejackets amidships. So terrible was the explosion that the* stern was smashed, and every officer in the stern cabins was killed. The surgeon-lieutenant, who was in the lavatory, and two officers, who were on shore, remain as the representatives of the Matsushima' s officers. The cadets behaved with . coolness, amounting almost to recklessness. Most of them scorned to fight with friends to oscape on deck, and quietly awaited re* suits. If the cadets displayed stoicism the bluejackets showed a grim exultation which was probably peculiarly Jap- . anese. ; The explosion threw the sailors in the middle of the ship out of their hammocks, and as they scrambled on to their feet the- mingled fumes of water and gunpowder rushed in. The stench of the gunpowder was suffocating. Some of the Japanese placed handkerchiefs in their mouths and waded to the portholes. These portholes enabled a few to escape, but the water rose so rapidly that the majority were drowned or suffocated. In the last moments the sailors shouted a Japanese war song, and the survivors heard two loud, " Banzais," then a third faint and hardly perceptible cheer. After that the cruiser sank. The terrible swiftness of the disaster! prevented sufficient help being rendered. .

Though she was only a second-class cruiser, French built, the Matsushima was one of the best known of the Japanese steam propelled warships. She was built in 1890, but in the war with China in 1894-5 sue was, with her sister boat, the Isukushima, the most powerful vessel in the Japanese Navy. She was Admiral Ito's flagship, and had th« honour of being the first flagship to engage in a naval battle while commanding Japan's modern war fleet." In the battle of the Yalu the Matsushima had a very narrow escape from destruction. A shell from tlie Chinese flagship, the battleship Chin Yuen, entered her torpedo room, but failed to burst,- and was afterwards found to Contain sand instead of powder. If it had been a good shell nothing could have saved the Matsushima, which would have been torn asunder by her own torpedoes. She Avas also badly damaged in her upper structure, and retired from the fight* after having lost heavily. Her performance in engaging a battleship was at that time considered remarkable. She also acted as flagship at the battle of Wei-hai-wei. The Yoshima. the flagship of Admiral Ito's second in command, was blown up by a mine in front of Port Arthur.