During the Russian attack the vessels forming the destroyer flotilla divided. The _Sazanami_ and _Kagerou_ continued the search for Russian ships throughout the night, and in the morning discovered two torpedo boat destroyers. One of them steamed away, but the other was unable to do so. On approaching the latter the Japanese discerned a white flag flying from the foremast and the Red Cross flag astern. She proved to be the _Bedovi_ with Admiral Rozhdestvensky and his staff on board. The _Bedovi_ signalled that her engines were damaged, and that she was short of coal and water. An armed guard was sent on board the _Bedovi_ to receive her surrender. The Russians requested the Japanese not to remove Admiral Rozhdestvensky and the other officers on account of their wounds, and the Japanese complied, with the understanding that the guard would shoot Rozhdestvensky in the event of the delay leading to a meeting with Russian ships, thus running the danger of his recapture. The _Sazanami_ ran a line to the _Bedovi_ and began to wing her. The line parted twice. In the morning the _Sazanami_ met the Japanese cruiser _Akashi_, which convoyed the two destroyers to Sasebo. During the trip the destroyers encountered heavy seas, and their decks were awash during part of the time. [Sidenote: Chiefs of Japan's Fleet] Thirty naval commanders participated in the battle of the Japan Sea. Vice Admiral Togo was commander-in-chief, leading the first squadron. Vice Admiral Kamamura was in command of the second squadron, and Rear Admiral Kataoka led the third squadron. The chiefs of staff in the order named were Admiral Kato and Captains Fujii and Saito. The commanders of the squadron divisions were Vice Admirals Dewa, Uriu and Mitsu, acting as rear admirals under Vice Admiral Togo, Captains Yamada, Shimamura, Taketomi and Kokura. [Sidenote: Blowing Up the Izumrud] The fate of the cruiser _Izumrud_ is a chapter of itself in the story of the battle. Baron Ferzen, her captain, with survivors of the ship's crew, reached Vladivostok on June 1 and sent a report, which, in addition to confirming the disaster to the entire fleet, told the fate of his own ship. The Baron reported that before dark, on May 27, the _Osliabya_, _Alexander III_ and _Borodino_ had been sunk, and the _Kniaz Souvaroff_, the _Kamtchatka and_ the _Urel_ had been seriously damaged and were lost to sight. The command then devolved on Rear Admiral Nebogatoff. In the evening the _Nikolai I_, the _Orel_, the _General Admiral Apraxine_, the _Admiral Seniavin_, the _Admiral Oughakoff_, the _Sissoi Veliky_, the _Nevarin_, the _Admiral Nakhimoff_, and the _Izumrud_ sailed northeastward, the latter being charged to transmit orders to the battleships. Two other cruisers were cut off from the fleet and were not again seen. The battleships, steaming at fourteen knots, were repeatedly attacked by the Japanese torpedo boats, especially at the extremities of the line.