It should be stated that V. V. Ignatzius, in the first place, was one of those who was firmly convinced that the success of our voyage--this desperate adventure--depended solely on the extent of co-operation of Saint Nicolas “The Casual” and other heavenly powers, and, in the second place, bearing in mind the Japanese custom of concentrating their fire on the flag-ship, he believed that both he and his ship were doomed to destruction in the first decisive engagement. But, in spite of this, he never for a moment lost his invariably buoyant and cheery manner. He joked, chaffed, and eagerly threw himself into all the little details of daily life on board, while now (I really believe) he was, inwardly, much amused, picturing to himself the anger and disappointment of the Japanese in the event of our actually slipping past them. But the Japanese “got the 200,000th chance,” and more. At dawn on 27th May, about 5 A.M., the auxiliary cruiser _Sinano Maru_ almost ran into our hospital ships, and it was due to this that the whole fleet was discovered. We were unable to see what had happened, but by the changed character of the messages it became at once apparent that our presence was known. The scouts no longer merely called each other up, and we now took in reports, which were being transmitted further and further to the north.[11] Messages came in from both sides, so the Admiral recalled the _Almaz_, _Svietlana_ and _Ural_, in order to protect our helpless rear (transports) from sudden attack. About 6 A.M. the _Ural_ came up at full speed, reporting by semaphore that astern of the fleet four ships, which it was impossible to recognise in the mist, were crossing from starboard to port. At 6.45 A.M. a vessel appeared on the starboard beam, which, as her course brought her nearer to us, was soon recognised as the _Idzumi_. About 8 A.M., despite the mist, we were able to take her distance as 10,000 yards. The alarm sounding, the after turret threateningly raised her 12-inch guns, but the _Idzumi_, guessing her danger, commenced rapidly to beat a retreat. We might, of course, have detached a good cruiser to drive her off, but alas! there were in the fleet only two ships answering to this description--the _Oleg_ and the _Aurora_, also possibly the scout _Svietlana_; of the remainder, the _Donskoy_ and _Monomakh_ were respectable veterans, slow, though passably armed. The _Ural_ and _Almaz_ were swift, but had only toy guns. Besides, each moment we were expecting to meet our formidable opponent, when every gun and shell would be of value. If the issue of the battle were to be decided by a duel between our three armoured squadrons and the twelve best Japanese ships, the whole of the rest of the enemy’s fleet would fall to the lot of our cruiser squadron. A struggle for which we must indeed reserve our strength! Rozhdestvensky decided accordingly to ignore the _Idzumi’s_ daring sally, and sent no one in pursuit of her.