The Fortnightly Review: No. CCCCLXIII, New Series [‎586v] (63/239)

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THE BATTLE OF THE SEA OF JAPAN.
attaching due importance to cleanliness and order on board ship,
have never made paint and polish their idol. The Japanese ships
were built to fight, and the main preoccupation of officers and men
has been persistent training in the use of the gun as well as the
torpedo. The manner in which both these weapons were em
ployed points to long and persistent training in which officers and
men profited by all the assistance to be obtained from the mech
anical contrivances of Rear-Admiral Percy Scott; they adopted the
“ spotter,” the loading-tray, and other appliances before even the
British Admiralty had done so. They have their reward in the
most complete naval victory recorded in history. This unique
success was achieved by the use of instruments made in England
on the same principles as those mounted in the British Fleet, and,
in view of the recent ‘ ‘ scare ” as to British guns, the battle of the
Sea of Japan must be consolatory to the British public. The
Japanese by their triumph have given a testimonial to the heavy
guns of the British Fleet which should set at rest any fears which
may have been aroused.
(5) The Personal Element.
The completeness of the Japanese victory may be traced in large
measure to the different characters of the crews of the two fleets.
If we read between the lines of the story of the battle it will be
realised that the Russians were demoralised almost from the first
brush with the enemy. Brave though they are in close contests,
they seem to have lost all ability to defend themselves when fired
at by a determined foe three or four miles away, and to have been
reduced to human pulp—without power of thought, initiative, or
action. Only on this assumption can the extraordinary absence of
Japanese casualties be explained, for Russian sailors, however
deficient their war training, have never lacked courage—a courage
without intelligence, such as a bull shows when he is at bay in
the ring after the matador has driven him to frenzy. Courage of
this character in the hand-to-hand fighting of the old sailing days
was an asset of immense value as ships lay broadside to broadside,
and the men swarmed over the bulwarks and fought hand-to-hand.
But to-day the fight is between weapons which operate at a
distance, and the destruction which they can effect depends not
on brute courage, but on a clear eye, steady hand, and cool head
trained to act in mechanical unison. The modern sailor who loses
his nerve is a danger to his country, because ” jumpiness ” spreads
like an infection. The Russian sailors had the guns, but we cannot
doubt that they lost the coolness requisite to their use even had
they been adequately trained. Indeed, the armament of the ” lost
fleet ’ ’ was in no way incomparable to that mounted in the
Japanese ships, because at least half a dozen of the Russian vessels