Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 69, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 April 1904 — GREAT SEA BATTLE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GREAT SEA BATTLE

Russian Ship Petropavlovsk Sunk with All on Board. MAKAROFF IS DEAD. Czar's Losses Are Reported to Reach Into the Hundreds. Rnssia Loses First-Class Battleship and Her Naval Commander Is Drowned— One of the Reports Was to the Effect that the Big War Craft Struck a Mine Placed by the Czar’s Own Men—Grand Duke Cyril Wounded. Official dispatches received at the Czar’s palace in St. Petersburg Wednesday told of the severest blow to Rus-

sian arms since the beginning of the war. The first-class battleship Petropavlovsk was sunk at Port Arthur, Vice Admiral Makaroff went down with his ship, and only four office r s escaped. Grand Duke Cyril, one of the two members of the imperial family at the front, was wounded.

Tlie sinking of the Patropavlovsk followed an attack by the Japanese fleet at daybreak. Vice Admiral Makaroff went out of the harbor on the Patropavlovsk to meet the enemy. The Patropavlovsk struck a mine in the outer roadstead, heeled over, turned turtle, aud sank. The Petropavlovsk was flying the flag of Vice Admiral'Makaroff. The Petropavlovsk, which had twice previously born reported damaged in Japanese attacks in Port Arthur, was a first-class battlship of 10,000 tons displacment and 14.213 indicated horse power. She was 307 feet long, had 00 feet beam and her armored belt was of about sixteen inches of steel, with ten inches of steel armor on her turrets. Her armament consisted of four twelve-inch, twelve six-inch, four smaller guns aud six torpedo tubes. The complement of the Petropavlovsk, when fully manned, was 700 men. She was built at St. Petersburg and was completed in ISOS. One account says twenty"men escaped from the disaster to the Petropavlovsk. Grand Duke Cyril was only saved from dentil by a miracle. His brother, Grand Duke Boris, witnessed the catastrophe through a marine glass. Grand Duke Cyril was first-officer.-of—the Petropavlovsk. Although injured during the engagement he was rescuei and taken nsliore in a small boat. Early dispatches failed to toll of any other damage except that connected with the loss of the battleship. The effect

of tlie lire of tlie Japanese fleet oil the Russian vessels and the town at Port Arthur was not mentioned. Rumors of the catastrophe reached St. Petersburg early Wednesday and great excitement prevailed. First reports had it that Grand Duke Cyril had been killed, and when it was found that he had been wounded only slightly thanksgiving services were held in the pahice of his father, Grand Duke Vladimir. " i

AUMIRAL TOGO.

JAP TROOPS LANDING AT CHEMULPO, KOREA.