position was exactly that which the whole Pacific squadron had occupied on the fateful night of February 6th, when the first stroke of war was delivered, and Russia's best two battleships were put out of action. But this time the advantage of a surprise attack was out of the question. The commander of the _Sevastopol_ well knew what to expect, and had taken his precautions accordingly. An enormous boom had been constructed round the hull of the warship, and an elaborate system of netting had been hung from it to defy the approach of any torpedo. On the other hand, however, the fire of the shore batteries was no longer a substantial auxiliary in repelling torpedo attack; and the whole organization of the port defences was more or less impaired, if not destroyed. On the night of the 12th of December, and thrice again on the night of the 13th, the intrepid torpedo-craft of the Japanese fleet steamed into the roadstead and fired their terrible engines of destruction at the ill-fated battleship. But the boom proved on these occasions an impenetrable defence; so the attack was again renewed--this time in a blinding snowstorm. Two flotillas were engaged. The one lost its direction owing to the snow and the glare of the enemy's searchlights; but the second flotilla reached its mark, and discharged torpedoes at the _Sevastopol_, on which at least two took effect. The boats became separated in the storm, and one never returned to the main fleet--being either sunk by a shot or swamped by the very high seas that were running. To add to the difficulty of the enterprise, the weather was bitterly cold, and the decks of the vessels were coated with ice from the freezing of the spray that broke over them. When morning broke, those who had been engaged in this desperate enterprise were rewarded by the sight of the _Sevastopol_ perceptibly down at the stern. A few days later the vessel was so disabled that she had to be run aground. The spirit in which this daring attack was carried out may be gathered from the following extracts from Admiral Togo's official dispatches:--