Page:Korea (1904).djvu/33

Rh In June the cruisers Bogatyr and Boyarin reached the scene.

In July the battleship Probleda arrived.

In November the battleship Tzarevitch and the cruiser Bayan further added to Russia's strength.

In December the battleship Oslyabya, the armoured cruiser Dimitri Donskoi, the protected cruisers Aurora and Almaz, and eleven torpedo-boat destroyers.

In January 1904 the battleship Imperator Alexander III. left the Baltic for the Far East.

Russia has laboured under great disadvantages to secure her position in this region. In consequence of restricted shipbuilding resources and owing to an unfortunate geographical position, she has not enjoyed those opportunities of adding to her Pacific fleet which have presented themselves to Japan. In effect, if not in fact, Russia is compelled to maintain four navies. Unhappily, each is isolated from the other, many hundreds of miles separating them. Naval squadrons are concentrated in the Baltic, in the Black Sea, in the Caspian Sea and in the Pacific. The Pacific squadron is of recent establishment and of most modern construction. It dates back to 1898, from which time her policy of naval expansion began. Orders were placed with France, Germany and America for cruisers and battleships, coal was bought at Cardiff, and in a short space the nucleus of a powerful fleet had sprung into existence. At the present time these new ships are deficient in the various ratings, and hundreds of mechanics, gunners and engineers have been withdrawn from the Black Sea Squadron to do service with the Pacific Fleet, moving to the Pacific Ocean from the Black Sea by means of the Trans-Siberian Railway.