In this bombardment the townspeople, but not the naval authorities, were taken by surprise. About 8 a.m. the enemy’s squadron was sighted to the south-east of Liaotishan, and reported. Vice-Admiral Stark’s flag-ship, the _Petropavlovsk_, the _Poltava_, the _Sevastopol_, and the _Peresviet_, the flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Prince Ukhtomsky, with a number of cruisers, were under steam. The cruiser _Boyarin_ went out to scout, and at about 10.30 a.m. returned to report having sighted the enemy approaching, and shortly afterwards a fleet of twelve sail were descried on the horizon. A few minutes later the enemy opened fire from 12- and 13-inch guns. The Russian fleet thereupon formed into parallel lines, the cruiser _Askold_ leading one south towards Liaotishan and the _Boyarin_, the other north towards the Lutin point. I cannot state that the glimpse I had of the naval battle impressed me deeply. As a matter of fact it did not come up to my expectations, and in appearance was less effective and less theatrical than some naval manœuvres I have seen. Upon the vessels engaged it must have been much more exciting, particularly to those on ships which were made the aim of the enemy’s fire. I doubt very much whether the conditions on board a battleship are either so terrible, or so dangerous, as imaginative writers have pictured them. A modern warship, anything of a class superior to a small cruiser, is not to be sunk by a single shot, and though she may sink as the result of a torpedo attack, yet she will not sink immediately. If the shell fire is very hot, then indeed some alarm may be felt, but there are so many places of comparative safety on board an armoured vessel, and the result of one bursting shell is so local in its effect, that not only can the majority of the crew be kept unharmed through a long fight, but a well fought ship will last long after she has been struck before she is put out of action by the aggregation of damages sustained. In one instance only during the war has a shell struck a vulnerable part; that was when a shell entered between the sides and the cover of a conning tower. The Russian forts opened fire on the enemy’s fleet, the chief part being taken by the Golden Hill fort, and by the Electric battery on the crag below it. The firing was from 10-inch guns, and fell short, and was watched by the Viceroy from Golden Hill. The fleets approached each other, the distance varying from six to as close as three miles, and the Japanese in turning again to the south were engaged by the cruisers _Askold_, _Novik_ and _Diana_, who, it was stated, inflicted some injury on the enemy and themselves sustained some slight damage. The Japanese, having made a reconnaissance in force, to ascertain the result of the torpedo-boat attack which had been made in the darkness, again headed south and disappeared behind the Liaotishan peninsula.