THE SUNKEN RUSSIAN WARSHIPS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11562, 19 May 1905, Page 4

THE SUNKEN RUSSIAN WARSHIPS.

Many people are probably wondering now whether the Japanese will be able to make use of any of the sunken Russian ships at Port Arthur in their operations against the Baltic fleet. According to the correspondent of the Times who inspected them after the capitulation of the town, it is doubtful whether the ships will prove of much use to the Japanese. "Who will ever forget," he writes, "the picture of "the greab battleships as they lay sunk at all angles in the harbour. They hardly resembled real ships, so twisted aud burnt were the funnels and superstructure ; rather did they resemble the ghosts of a long-since departed squadron, from which the sea had suddenly receded." The cruiser Bayan, struck by a mine on her return to the harbour, lay sunk against the quay of the eastern harbour, but had not been examined by the experts when the correspondent wrote. The once stately Pallada was hardly injured above water, and if outside appearances counted, she might one day fly the Japanese flag. Near the Pallada, the Pobieda had found what was probably her last resting-place, for she was so badly damaged, both by the Russians and by the enemy, that eveu :f she were raised the cost of repairing her would be so great as to be hardly worth the trouble. The once splendid battleship Retvisan was "a mere mass of twisted steel girders and perforated funnels," but her injuries were of a more honourable character than those of the Pobieda, being nearly all inflicted by the enemy's shells. The correspondent considered it certain that the Retvisan would never float again. The smaller battleship Poltava was one of the least injured of the ships, and the naval constructors declared that she could easily be raised. The battleship Peresviet was badly burnt and injured by shells," but the divers reported that they could find no damage in the hull. The Japanese would, be lucky if they could save the Poltava, Peresviet, and Pallada, and perhaps the Bayan. As for the Sebastopol, after her steering gear had been damaged by a torpedo outside tho harbour, she was steered with her twiu screws into deep water, and sunk in 150 feet. The exact position of her grave is only known to the captain and his small crew, and the enemy will never gaze on her again. The lack of a dock for battleships renders the task of salving the ships exceptionally difficult, for it will be necessary to patch them up sufficiently to allow them to make a voyage to Japan, where proper accommodation can be found.