Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin was satisfied. The Royal Navy definitely didn't have a good day today. Before Wēihǎiwèi it was a surprise attack, you couldn't count that. But today the Imperial Japanese Navy had to deal with a potentially superior and fully combat-ready opponent and was about to take down the most powerful ship. The crews of the torpedo boats, however, might judge it differently.
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The approach to the enemy battleship started excellently, but the other ships of the Royal Navy were also in a problematic situation.
Author’s note: Here you can see very nicely the "smoke screen" of the British.
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By Japanese standards, the torpedo attack went badly. Instead, the British had zeroed in on their goals.
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There was no time to lick wounds, they still had the momentum for themselves.
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The persistence was rewarded. Two torpedo hits in both sides of the hull were a clear signal to the enemy, especially since a protected cruiser was also hit by a torpedo.
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The Akigumo passed its target barely a hundred yards away and the crew saw a gaping hole in the hull of the giant. But there was not much time to take a closer look at the ship. Another torpedo was shot out of a launcher by the Akigumo, which ran straight towards its target and hit.
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All in all, however, more torpedoes missed the intended target than the Imperial Japanese Navy was used to so far. The Royal Navy was definitely a more difficult opponent than the Tsarist fleet of old. This was also due to the fact that the enemy torpedo boats seemed to take their task as escort ships seriously. Unlike the Russians, they did not simply abandon their capital ships.
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The battleship was anything but badly damaged, but it was rapidly losing speed. Apparently, it had hit the machine system. So this goal was now a found food. Only the torpedo stock was a problem. Many torpedo boats had already been shot almost empty.
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Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin watched the whole thing from a distance. He didn't want to risk hitting his own ships, as they were far too close to the enemy. The Sagami and Azuma therefore killed the last remaining troop transports and everything that could be safely taken under fire.
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The torpedo boats started a new attempt and at the same time tried not to get caught in the crossfire between the battleship and the British torpedo boats. Nevertheless, heavy hits on the Japanese side were not absent.
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The Japanese 7th Reconnaissance Division had now been instructed to employ the British torpedo boats so that the Japanese torpedo boats could attack the Royal Navy battleship in peace.
The maneuvers on the Japanese side worked almost like clockwork. While the torpedo boats torpedoed the battleship, the protected cruisers ensured that the enemy torpedo boats were pushed away.
At the same time, the cruisers attempted long-range shots at a ship of the line.
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The situation of the Oyashio changed dramatically, although the commander had already reduced the speed to four knots. The loss of the Oyashio must be expected at any time.
But the situation was also critical on other torpedo boats.
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Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin looked anxiously at the horizon to the east. Dusk was imminent and the capital ships of the Royal Navy were all battered but combat-ready. A night battle could quickly reverse its hitherto outstanding success.
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It was time to bring the battle to an end. All units that still had torpedoes should use them as quickly as possible, then they would have to break away from the enemy. But one thing was already certain. The Empire had lost thousands of soldiers. It might well be at least one complete division. For the siege of Hong Kong, this could be the decisive moment.
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However, this energy-sapping struggle took further toll on the part of Japan.
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Then the twilight came faster than Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin would have liked. Now it was necessary to escape unscathed, without his battle fleet falling victim to British torpedoes during the night.
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The battle became calmer, but continued. There were isolated hits by light artillery on friend and foe, but all in all, the deteriorating visibility conditions were clearly noticeable.
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Then Akigumo, who was under heavy fire herself, reported the first big catch of the day. One of the ships of the line of the Royal Navy capsized and sank!
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It was the last report from the Akigumo before the torpedo boat was torn apart by a British torpedo and also sank.
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The torpedo hit on the Akigumo was confirmation for Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin to abort the battle and run its course. From now on, the success could only be diminished. There was justified hope that the remaining British capital ships were already so badly damaged that they would not reach port even without further shelling.
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The drop-off manoeuvre began at nightfall.
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The protected cruisers were to remain behind for the time being as a cover formation and prevent a possible follow-up of the British torpedo boats. However, the loss of the badly damaged Japanese torpedo boats could not be prevented.
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The protected cruisers soon made contact with the enemy, but it quickly became clear that it had to be the battered British battleship. If the British torpedo boats are not already nearby, perhaps this enemy could be sunk here for good.
The protected cruisers began the run, but the manoeuvre was in vain. Even before one of the cruisers could get into position, the crews saw how the huge monster suddenly began to roll, capsized to starboard and within seconds was keel on top of them.
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That was enough, now the protected cruisers also turned around. If the British torpedo boats really did follow, they would probably start salvage measures immediately and no longer pose a danger.
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The Yugiri remained motionless and took large quantities of water.
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In the meantime, rough seas prevailed and for the badly damaged Japanese torpedo boats, this was tantamount to a death sentence.
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About three hours after midnight, Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin felt safe from further enemy attacks and declared the battle over. That this was a mistake became the Hamanami undoing. The torpedo boat did not notice the danger, nor did any other Japanese ship.
The Hamanami exploded with a violent bang when a British submarine torpedo detonated in the torpedo boat's magazine.
>> Memorandum of Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō on the Battle of Hainan on May 9, 1914 <<
Distinguished officers and members of the 大本営 (Daihon'ei),
the failure to bombard the British garrison of Hong Kong must in no way be blamed on the commanding officer Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin. The culprits for this failure, which cost the lives of hundreds of our brave soldiers, are, to my shame, to be found in the investigation. Our spies did a good job, but it turned out that there were unsustainable delays in the chain of command.
This disgraceful behavior in dealing with information that is important to the war, if not decisive for the war, is ultimately to my detriment. I have already instructed that the head of the intelligence department in Formosa be removed from his post.
We can be proud that we had such an outstanding commander in the right place at the right time in Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin.
Only an officer with such tactical skill and experience as Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin was able to wrest such a clear defeat from a far superior enemy, although he did not have to reckon with this opponent.
We have proven that the Royal Navy is not invincible. Nevertheless, in this conflict, it is not success at sea that counts, but victory on land. We must intensify our efforts to capture Wēihǎiwèi and Hong Kong. To do this, we need more troops in battle, but we also need further support from the sea side with our heavy guns.
I therefore ask the 大本営 (Daihon'ei) to give priority to the deployment of additional troops and to agree to a renewed push to bombard Hong Kong.
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Thus, the officers of the 軍令部 (Gunreibu) of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the 参謀本部 (Sambō hombu) of the Imperial Japanese Army, as well as the 海軍省 (Kaigun-shō) may take good note of the prepared and illustrated course of the battle for the Battle of Hainan on May 9, 1914 of that year.
Long live the Rengō Kantai, long live the Imperial Japanese Navy, long live the Emperor!
Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō, May 10, 1914
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Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Sunday, May 10, 1914
>> Rengō Kantai beats overpowering opponents! <<
Our Glorious Navy sank the British battleship HMS Glory during an unexpected head-on encounter with the Royal Navy!
The noble Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin has succeeded with his much weaker squadron in sinking an entire British troop transport convoy, including two battleships of the Royal Navy present as escorts. However, the Navy regrets having to admit that it has also lost a few torpedo boats.
The Minister of the Navy personally took responsibility for the loss of the torpedo boats and announced that a memorial would be erected for all torpedo boats ever lost. According to information from this newspaper, these are the following ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy:
However, the Minister of the Navy did not explain in more detail which design this memorial should be. Instead, the assembled journalists of the world press were impressively demonstrated how superior the British battleships had been to the Japanese warships. The Secretary of the Navy has released a bundle of information that we do not want to withhold from the public:
Unfortunately, our brave soldiers off Hong Kong were unable to take advantage of the success of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The fighting for Hong Kong continues with bitter severity and there is no end in sight.
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Editorship of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Sunday, May 10, 1914
Osaki Satoshi knew a lot more than he wanted to publish after visiting the Kempeitai. He had received several independent messages from his informants, which he had meanwhile distributed in important places throughout the region. This started at the Suez Canal and reached via Colombo to Singapore.
It was not easy to pass on the reports and he wondered how the secret service would do it? But he had still been able to put together a clear Picture from the individual parts. And this Picture said that the situation in Southeast Asia threatened to tip over in less than two weeks.
The British shipping space on its way to Asia was impressive!
He wondered how the Japanese fleet could stand up to this, but in view of the recent success, at least this did not seem impossible. As long as the Royal Navy brought in its forces only piecemeal, the enemy lacked what it was – numerical superiority in all areas. But if the British squadrons in India wait until the rest of the fleet arrived and then march together to Asia, it will be unpleasant for Japan.
However, the information from Colombo said that the ships were under steam. This spoke against waiting for the rest of the fleet.
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There was no denying that the leadership of the Royal Navy was under enormous pressure. They urgently needed a comprehensive victory against Japan. Satoshi noted the losses of the Royal Navy known so far on a piece of paper:
That was something!
If the great European nations were shocked by the outcome of the Russo-Japanese Wars, they did not have a high opinion from either side. Both the Russian navy and that of Japan were considered bad, too small and incompetently led. This gave the naval leadership of the Empire, in Berlin and Washington, a good explanation as to why Japan was able to destroy the Russian fleet. They were simply equally bad opponents.
So there was no need to worry about the Imperial Japanese Navy for a really large and well-managed fleet. This arrogance of the supreme commanders had to be regretted by the local commanders of the Royal Navy.
Gradually, it dawned on the British, as well as other Europeans, that a new naval power was growing with Japan!
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Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Sunday, May 10, 1914
The extra sheet of the morning about the great victory of the fleet was completely sold. The printing presses were in the process of reprinting the edition, so these messages were outdated. In the early afternoon, the first information leaked out, then there was the official announcement. The printing presses were stopped and hurriedly another extra sheet came to light, which had no time to dry!
>> Events are coming thick and fast – victory – victory – Wēihǎiwèi is Japanese again! <<
The General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army has announced that the flag of Japan will fly over the former British colony of Wēihǎiwèi from now on and for all time! In a brutal assault, the Japanese soldiers succeeded in driving the British defenders out of their positions and putting them to flight.
Shortly afterwards, the British garrison commander declared unconditional surrender and asked for mercy for his emaciated troops. In an act of great charity, Rikugun-chūjō Kawamura Sogoro, the commander of the Japanese 9th Division, has accepted the surrender and begun caring for the surviving soldiers of the Empire.
Editors of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Tuesday, June 2, 1914
The Navy made a big fuss about the fact that the U-boats were now able to inflict unpleasant losses on the enemy. Secretly, quietly and quietly, the Ministry of the Navy, on the other hand, tried to deal with another report.
The design bureau of the 小野浜造船所 (Onohama Zōsenjo) (Kure Naval Shipyard) had completed the development contract for a new type of ship and the Navy reportedly wanted to start with the detailed design immediately. In the past, the navy had had new designs extensively checked by its own designers, but this time a construction contract was to be awarded as soon as possible.
Osaki Satoshi had learned that several engineers from the naval design department had not only been dismissed because of their criticism of this procedure, but the engineers had even been imprisoned.
For the Navy, it seemed more important to put a copy of this new type into service at all than that it was a reliable design. Satoshi seethed with anger that he could not even publish hints about this information. If the navy was already imprisoning its own people, he might be threatened with worse.
Times changed for the Japanese press. It was noticeable that the current rulers were not interested in open reporting.
Secrecy and patriotism were the new doctrine.
Satoshi and all his colleagues felt this very clearly!
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From the War Chronicles of Imperial Japan:
>> Second Battle of Hainan, June 10, 1914 <<
Four weeks had passed and Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin was back at sea with the Sagami, heading for Hong Kong. After the success against the British troop convoy, the naval leadership had become more cautious. In fact, the 聯合艦隊 (Rengō Kantai) had been withheld. Someone had picked up rumors that the Royal Navy was planning a massive retaliatory strike against Tōkyō himself. Other rumors said the attack would be aimed at the docks of the Kure naval shipyard.
Whether the rumors ever contained a kernel of truth did not matter, the navy remained in its home waters with a strong contingent. The fact that two troop convoys reached Hong Kong during this time was the logical consequence of Japan's passive behavior. The siege troops themselves were now under pressure and action had to be taken. Once again, the shelling of Hong Kong was planned, after all, the plans for it were already in place. Japan wanted to counter the growing threat with doubled firepower at the target. The Japanese 5th Battle Division now consisted of the Sagami and the Iki, and Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin was eager to fulfill his mission this time.
He was not to succeed again!
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Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin had finished his breakfast with a cup of Yasmin tea, the aroma of which he could still taste on his tongue. He was firmly convinced of a successful day until the first officer came to him with a radio message.
The reconnaissance reported British ship movements off Hainan.
He already believed in a mix-up. The radio operator must have accidentally gotten his hands on the old message from the previous month. But the news was completely different. Here there was clearly talk of a combat unit. Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin immediately had combat readiness established.
Japanese 5th Battle Division:
Standard ship of the Line Sagami (Flagship)
Standard ship of the Line Iki
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Japanese 9th Cruiser Division:
Armoured cruiser Azuma
Armoured cruiser Kasuga
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Japanese 7th Reconnaissance Division:
Protected Cruiser Yaeyama
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Japanese 11th Reconnaissance Division:
Protected cruiser Chitose, Itsukushima
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Japanese 13th Reconnaissance Division:
Protected Cruiser Kasagi
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Japanese 6th Torpedo Boat Flotilla:
Torpedo boats: Shirakumo, Okikaze
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Japanese 8th Torpedo Boat Flotilla:
Torpedo boats: Hokaze, Yukaze
Japanese 12th Torpedo Boat Flotilla:
Torpedo boats: Teruzuki, Hamanami, Makinami
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Japanese 14th Torpedo Boat Flotilla:
Torpedo boats: Naganami, Fujinami, Okinami
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Armoured cruiser Azuma – lead ship of the Japanese 9th Cruiser Division
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Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin felt strange. The situation seemed like a dream to him and yet it was real. The same mission, the same situation – were the British so stubborn and inflexible, or was it a trap?
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If it was a trap, the Royal Navy would expect the same course as a month ago. Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin decided not to steer for the position in question this time. He kept his distance and would give him a wide berth. If the Royal Navy were to wait for him and become impatient, he might be able to fall into their flank. But all in all, he knew that this could all be wrong.
It was just before half past nine in the morning and there was nothing in sight. A few snow-white clouds were carried across the sky by a gentle breeze and nowhere did a black patch of clouds indicate the presence of enemy ships.
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As before, his impatience prevailed. Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin ordered the protected cruiser Yaeyama to the transmitted coordinates – just in case...
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At half past eleven the confirmation came from the Yaeyama – unknown ship in sight – in the immediate vicinity where the radio reconnaissance had suspected the enemy!
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Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin immediately had all units turn towards the presumed enemy position, and further sighting reports quickly came from the Yaeyama.
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To the astonishment of Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin, the enemy fled and the distance between his main force and the enemy shrank only imperceptibly or even increased.
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But then a second group of ships stormed directly towards the Japanese squadron from the north.
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It took barely a minute before a more precise message came from the Yaeyama:
Enemy battleship is heading towards us at high speed!
Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin thought again: Was this a trap?
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Now the first group turned back and united with the second group. The battleship opened fire on the Yaeyama. The escape seemed to be only feigned, the Royal Navy pooled its forces – and there were two battleships of the Royal Navy in the formation!
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Both battleships turned around to be able to fire at the Japanese attackers with the maximum number of gunners.
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The situation worsened when British ships of the line were identified.
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But then this large and clearly superior unit turned north and seemed to flee again.
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And again there was this feeling – this déjà vu – as more ships came into view in the north. It was again exactly like four weeks earlier.
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Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin didn't know what to think of the situation? In front of him he had no less than four powerful enemy capital ships with numerous protected cruisers and torpedo boats as escorts and the enemy fled. Were these other battleships in the north with which the British wanted to unite?
Had these been three separate battle groups looking for him, who wanted to gather together now that they had found him?
Northwards, more and more ships appeared and Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin had to smile about what he should think of the situation?
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Then the battle began with a skirmish of the torpedo boats.
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Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin didn't know if he had misread? The report of the Yaeyama indicated that ships were moving slowly in four columns. This was the typical formation for a convoy of cargo ships. Was that a trick or had he been led to a convoy by the British again?
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After all, the following column immediately turned around and behaved like a flotilla of warships. The rest, however, steamed away. If these were battleships that wanted to unite with the rest of the fleet, it didn't make sense.
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One of the ships was now addressed as an armoured cruiser. So a third squadron of warships after all?
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It seemed to be confirmed when the lead ship of this column was classified as a ship of the line. Now everything pointed to a planned ambush by the Royal Navy.
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The large gunships seemed to want to unite, while three British torpedo boats blocked the way of the Japanese attack leadership and forced them to turn away. This was probably to buy the battleships time to get into line formation.
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The Royal Navy's defensive maneuver was successful. For the moment, the Japanese 10th Torpedo Boat Flotilla had to break off the pursuit.
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Then the first technical problems became apparent due to the high speed levels of all Japanese warships. The Naganami could not keep up the speed any longer and fell behind.
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In the end, however, the confirmation came for what Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin had already subliminally suspected. The Oshio identified the ships in the north as cargo ships. Could that be? Was the Royal Navy so stupid?
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The British squadron was clearly too powerful for a convoy escort. For a battle group, however, there were far too many old torpedo boats in the formation, which tended to slow down the modern battleships. The situation was strange.
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Again, the British capital ships headed directly for the freighters, but the pursuit proved difficult because the British torpedo boats carried out constant jamming manoeuvres.
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At least there was now certainty about the enemy. The main force consisted of two battleships, two ships of the line and an armoured cruiser. In addition, there were at least twelve torpedo boats. It was also thought-provoking that the majority of vans were classified as trade offenders.
Then it dawned Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin. If the Royal Navy really wanted to set a trap for him, it was only logical that the convoy consisted entirely of armed merchant ships and thus represented a difficult bait to digest.
Gradually, the messages were corrected and Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin now knew what was going to happen. Again, clearly superior forces of the Royal Navy fled in the direction of their wards and he was almost sure again the transports would be abandoned by the enemy.
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At least the British torpedo boats tried their best to take the battleships out of focus, but thus got to feel that the Japanese artillery fire was not so bad.
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Nevertheless, the Japanese torpedo boats managed to catch up. Even if the first serious enemy hits occurred.
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Completely unexpectedly, the enemy battleships turned around and sought the fight. Was it really to be different this time?
At least the enemy battle line immediately gets the worse hits!
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One was particularly unpleasant for Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin. His old ships of the line were not even remotely able to keep up with the speed of the enemy. He was far behind and could therefore practically not support his torpedo boats.
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The Japanese torpedo boats, which had already been badly hit, tried to use their torpedoes as much as possible before their retreat, if only to bring the British formation into disarray.
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The Oshio, as the leading torpedo boat, felt the concentrated defences.
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This time, the British squadron commander in charge did not seem to want to sell himself as cheaply as he had done four weeks earlier.
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But then one of the rather haphazardly fired torpedoes actually managed to hit one of the British ships of the line. While the Japanese torpedo boat flotillas now set about pincing the two British battleships, which were without shielding.
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Although the British torpedo boats were no longer busy pushing off the Japanese attackers, the earlier attempts had also been halfway successful. The Japanese torpedo boat flotillas were in each other's way. Nevertheless, everyone tried to torpedo the two battleships in front of them. And they succeeded!
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Now it was time to step up as long as the chances were so good. In the vicinity of the two gigantic British ships, death sentences against torpedo boats were quickly carried out.
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The enemy was battered and completely out of formation. Like a pack of wolves, the Japanese torpedo boats invaded the enemy formation. The water was teeming with torpedoes in all possible directions, so that the ships of the Royal Navy were unable to get back into an orderly battle line. The British torpedo boats shielded the old ships of the line that had been hit first.
Had that been a misjudgement by the opponent? Did the British think the ships of the line were the target and that the modern battleships would also cope well on their own?
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The British torpedo boats began to lay a veil of fog to shield the ships of the line. However, the attention of the Japanese torpedo boats and protected cruisers was on the two battleships, which could not resist this excess number of ships. It was only a matter of time before more torpedoes would unleash the batters on both ships. One of the two battleships, hit by three torpedoes, began to lose speed.
Then came the thunderclap of five torpedo hits in one fell swoop!
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Whatever the day would bring, one thing was already clear – the Royal Navy would lose at least two modern battleships – more than anything the Royal Navy could do to the Japanese today!
The Okikaze almost crashed into the bow of HMS Albion, which had now been exactly identifiable. At the shortest distance, all operational torpedoes were squeezed out of the launchers to seal the fate of the battleship.
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But the Japanese torpedo boats and cruisers also had to take further losses.
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The sea was boiling and from a distance friend and foe could hardly be distinguished.
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Finally, the British escorts intervened again in the defensive fight, but it was too late. There was chaos and you could almost smell an imminent boarding fight. The opponents were scattered all over the place, but the Imperial Japanese Navy had an advantage:
The Japanese were able to shoot anywhere without recklessness and, with bad luck, hit their own torpedo boat. The Royal Navy could also shoot anywhere and probably risk hitting its own capital ships!
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At least one thing could be said this time: this opponent attracted attention, which bought the cargo ships time.
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The Japanese tactic of flooding the sea with torpedoes worked. Constantly some torpedo came dangerously close to some ship and some of them found a valuable target.
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Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin was finally able to catch up because the enemy ships hit had clearly lost speed. His armored cruisers were already able to intervene in the battle. With his ships of the line, he would need some more time for this.
After a look at the nautical chart with the ship's positions, he had an idea!
Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin could already assume that the British capital fighting ships were defeated. His torpedo boats only had to deal the death blow to these ships, and hardly anyone could have serious doubts about that.
Certainly one or the other torpedo boat would be lost in the process, but the naval command has taken that into account in the meantime. But there were still the hitherto unmolested cargo ships that tried to get away. He saw his chance in circumnavigating the enemy battle group at a long distance and attacking the freighters directly with his armoured cruisers and ships of the line.
While the torpedo boats continued to occupy the enemy, he tried to put this idea into practice.
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It was somewhat unusual that enemy protected cruisers were repeatedly hit during this battle. But the explanation was quickly found. These ships fought, or at least tried to. The protected cruisers of the Russians had mostly retreated quickly. You could tell that the Royal Navy had a different quality, even if not a good one either.
For this, British torpedo boats tried to torpedo the Kasagi and at least the manoeuvres for this were very good. So far, only success has been missing.
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The battle for the battleships continued to go in Japan's favor.
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At least one torpedo boat commander of the Royal Navy seemed to suspect what Japan's heavy combat ships intended to do. At least one torpedo boat went into an interception position to the Azuma and Kasuga.
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Three protected cruisers of Japan tried to put an end to the goings-on of this torpedo boat.
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The commander of the Azuma began to warm up his artillery and several hits were made on the nearby British battleship.
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The decisive weapon, however, were undisputedly the torpedoes.
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Then it was almost done. Although the Kasagi had to take heavy artillery hits, the cruiser came within range of the freighters. However, the commander immediately noticed that these ships were unusually high in the water.
It seemed as if these ships were not loaded and thus these freighters were what had been suspected several times. A bait for Japan.
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Then the armoured cruiser Kasuga put an end to HMS Albion. After a broadside with the 8inch guns, there was a small explosion, after which the mighty battleship began to roll and finally capsized.
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Then came the first loss for Japan. The torpedo boat Michishio had already been badly hit several times and now had to be abandoned after another direct hit by the enemy armoured cruiser.
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The bypass maneuver could be canceled. The resistance by the capital fighting ships of the Royal Navy had come to a standstill. The protected cruisers of Japan had long since broken through and began to fire at the cargo ships, and the Japanese armoured cruisers and ships of the line fired at everything that dared to move on warships from a distance.
The protected cruisers were now in the middle of the convoy, firing with everything at their disposal.
Only a few British torpedo boats visibly struggled to prevent the catastrophe. However, a good part of the British squadron watched without much effort as the capital ships were finally shot together.
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The British torpedo boats showed full commitment to the freighters, but paid for it with heavy hits. When the two Japanese armoured cruisers finally intervened in the shelling of the freighters, it was only a matter of time.
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The cargo ships didn't stand a chance. The armoured cruisers remained unmolested, the weak British forces concentrated on the Japanese protected cruisers.
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Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin could have been satisfied. His squadron had clearly had the upper hand and inflicted the second heavy blow on the Royal Navy in open naval battle. However, he already knew that he would not fulfill his actual mission again.
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However, the opponent tried to sell himself dearly. The British armoured cruiser had gradually set its sights on the protected cruisers of Japan.
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The protected cruisers now tried to attack the armoured cruiser in turn, but so far the latter has dealt out instead of taking it.
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The opponents were now in close proximity and the British 8inch guns were extremely effective against the Japanese cruisers at this distance. However, they use the opportunity for a torpedo attack - with success!
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Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin took note of the news of the sinking of the second British battleship with satisfaction. Almost at the same time, one of the ships of the line sank.
Now the last ship of the line was missing. For the Sagami and Iki, this is now an easy target.
+ + +
Then the Royal Navy struck back in the form of a successful torpedo attack on the Yaeyama.
The torpedo caused one of the magazines to explode, so that the Yaeyama was literally torn apart!
+ + +
Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin was almost directly on a level with the Yaeyama with the Sagami and he was standing at the window of the command post with his eyes wide open when he saw the huge black cloud, at the root of which organe-red flames were gnawing.
Certainly, a protected cruiser was much less important than a battleship, but for Japan, any loss of a ship larger than a torpedo boat was a problem.
Worse still, he would have to explain why Japans first large warship since the turn of the century had been lost under his command!
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At least his artillery crews were able to "let off steam" on the last British ship of the line.
+ + +
In fact, the last British ship of the line was already badly damaged, but it was still able to shoot back. And it did. The commander of the ship did his utmost to work with his ship against the enemy.
The British armoured cruiser was also anything but defeated after the torpedo hit, which was felt especially by the protected cruisers of Japan.
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The cruiser Kasagi and the torpedo boat Naganami were preparing to fire the British ship of the line, but the armoured cruisers Azuma and Kasuga also intended to take care of this enemy.
The Naganami paid for her project with a direct hit, but was able to use all four of her torpedoes beforehand.
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These torpedoes then also sealed the fate of this British ship.
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Much to the astonishment of the Japanese crews, many British torpedo boats and cruisers are busy rescuing survivors from the water rather than preventing the sinking of more ships.
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After all, some British torpedo boats were busy laying a new smokescreen between some of the freighters and the Japanese ships.
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The Kasagi, which was already considerably damaged itself, now also tried to torpedo the British ship of the line. However, he almost got caught in the artillery fire of the Azuma and had to dodge. Nevertheless, the torpedo attack was successful.
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The enemy ship of the line had received six torpedo hits within a very short time, plus several 8inch shells from the armoured cruisers and before that some 11inch shells from the Iki and Sagami.
Nevertheless, this ship made no attempt to sink!
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The battlefield now stretched over a distance of a good 55,000 yards and Kaigun-chūjō Yamaya Tanin had to realize that he could not work in places.
To the south, the torpedo boats appeared, which had been engaged in rescue operations. In the centre, the battle for the last British ship of the line was decided. North of the center, the protected cruisers of both sides fired at each other in a duel. To the west, the Sagami and Iki, covered by the Japanese 10th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, made their rounds and sank the freighters there. In the far west, several badly hit Japanese torpedo boats withdrew from the battle and in the east, several British torpedo boats and the armoured cruiser tried to shield at least part of the freighters.
