From Libau to Tsushima: A narrative of the voyage of Admiral Rojdestvensky's fleet to eastern seas, including a detailed account of the Dogger Bank incidentPolitovskii, Evgenii Sigizmundovich
History
From Libau to Tsushima: A narrative of the voyage of Admiral Rojdestvensky's fleet to eastern seas, including a detailed account of the Dogger Bank incident
Politovskii, Evgenii Sigizmundovich
Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905
In the _Gromky_ I saw friend Grishka, "the Iconoclast." This monkey
has grown a great deal, and is very amusing. I think I told you about
Grishka. He is the monkey who was the cause of a scandal in the
_Suvaroff_, and was given to another ship. He received the nickname of
the "Iconoclast," because he once stole an ikon out of the cabin and
threw it overboard.
_March 16th_ (evening).--Early this morning I again went to the
_Gromky_. I got there with difficulty. The swell tossed the
torpedo-boat all day. Heavy rain-squalls constantly flew by. The boat
rolled more than 25°. Everything fell about. To sit you had to press
hands and feet against something. How many times I was literally wet to
the skin to-day, and got dry again, it is difficult to say. Under these
conditions the divers had to work. The waves now tore them from the
boat, now beat them against her, now retreating, showing the diver's
heads, now hiding them somewhere in the abyss. They were rocked about
under the water, and were seasick with all its consequences when in
diving clothes. They had to be drawn up, as they were so faint. The
work was desperately difficult. I was astonished that they went into
the water again without refusing.
Picture to yourself the scene. All this was being done in a
torpedo-boat in the midst of the ocean. The boat had been carried
away from the fleet by the swell; we could even no longer see it. The
diving-boat lay alongside the torpedo-boat. In addition to this they
were coaling at the same time. It was a regular hell. The work went on
very slowly.
In order to review the results of my work I sat on an outrigger (I have
already told you what this is) like a bird on a twig. When rolling,
the water now covered my head, now lifted me high. It was horrible,
abominable, foul. It was a good thing there were no sharks.
At last, amid the chaos of waves and foam, I had to go to the
_Suvaroff_ in a whaler. I seized hold of a chain, pressed my feet
against the side, and climbed on deck. I was wet, dirty, and could
scarcely stand from fatigue. And what welcome awaited me? A reprimand
from the admiral, with a cry of "Shameful! you serve on the staff,
and cover yourself with filth. You return at five o'clock, instead of
three." This is my reward! Never, never shall I forget it! True, it is
my first reprimand during the seven months. What could I do? They did
not send a torpedo-boat for me, as they always had done.
Nor was the _Gromky_ at fault. She brought me as soon as ever she
could. When the work was done she had to take the divers to the
_Svietlana_, _Kamchatka_, and _Jemchug_. I was only guilty in that I
was not guilty at all. Having reached my cabin, I changed my clothes,
and instantly fell into a dead sleep.
There was nothing to eat in the _Gromky_, and she could not receive
anything from the transport. They sent a present of a basket of
provisions and a live pig from the _Svietlana_. How pleased the
officers were!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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