Show WITHOUT SHOWING FEAR St Stry ry of the Sink Sinking tg of the Japanese Cruiser VESSEL RAN INTO A MINE ONLY OUT O A CRE CREW OF RESCUED ED Correspondence of the Associated Press 1 June aGThe stor story of the loss lossI T I of the Japanese cruiser in December last only published since the destruction of fleet fleet is a military classic After the struck a mine and d began to sink the crew cress assembled l in perfect or order order der on the upper deck there to await the battle with a stormy sea and death Captain Ishibashi ordered every man manto manto to USe a life belt and directed that no noone noone one jump overboard until the ship actually sank The crew then joined in singing the national anthem cheer ipg the emperor and lastly they sang Gallant Sailors their voices ringing out above the storm Alter After that as a relaxation the men were allowed to smoke and thus they went ent calmly to I their deaths Of men ho went down dawn with the only 13 were rescued Remarkable Bravery An officer who wn aboard gives the following account of the disaster and the remarkable coolness and bravery of the crew The fresh from the Kure dockyard where she had been under undergoing undergoing going repairs steamed straight to the mouth of the gulf at t the be beginning beginning ginning of December and on December 11 she was ordered to wait for a collier conier at a point off Port Arthur The collier coUler however did not put in an appearance owing to the rough roush weather On the the sea was still high and there were no signs of the collier During the lay day the cruiser drifted with the waves an and at t nIght cruised slowly at atthe atthe the entrance of gulf gnu She was not accompanied by any other vessel At 9 p mu half of the crew were al allowed lowed to take a cess and the men lay down upon the decks in their uni uniforms forms Fatal Mine Struck It was an intensely cold night with witha a gale and snow At two minutes past pase midnight when at a point nautical miles south ot of Port Arthur and on the eastern side of the islands she struck a mine on her her lar larboard board and a terrible explosion occurred the see sea leaping high above the ship hip The crew took up their regular posh positions The mine had Ipa e a br breach ch about six feet in diameter in the dIe of the waterline of oC time the left side ide The water rushed in with tremendous force and the ship listed to the left Captain Ishibashi was on the bridge and Commander beside him The crew worked hard bard to stop the inrush of water but butIn in vain In order to right the he vessel heavy articles on the left heft side were thrown n overboard rd but the shin continued continue l to list more heavily There was no vessel in sight so that the fate of the ship as welt well as that of the crew emed sealed Lights Went Out F Fifteen teen after striking the mines all the electric ll on board were suddenly extinguished and every everything everything thing was enveloped in darkness with the exception Of a lIght on the brIdge and the glare of the rockets telling of the disaster Owing to the list the boats on the starboard could not be launched with the exception of one Of tho those e on the larboard a steam launch was destroyed and only a cutter and andone andone one other boat was available HAst Aa 1245 a mm In the vessel the disaster to our squadron by means of wireless telegraph and Ute the crew had to do but to a wait await waitt t the e sinking of the vessel essel Captains Address to the Crew Captain Ishibashi on the addressed the Ule crew in number who ho had assembled on th upper deck say saying sayIng ing that very en one on board should equip lf a life liCe belt belL He con conti continued ti I INo No leave thE shin until she sinks Ye We will together share the fate of time the vessel I After this there was solemn silence At 1 a 11 the crew sane the I national anthem and at the instance of Captain Ishibashi roUSing were I shouted for the em emperor eror the empIre and the navy Thea the cre crew LIl mn it a annval song styled Gallant Sailors On I Ithe the conclusion of this song the crew were permitted to smoke OwIng to the list the and assembled on the bridge and masts and netting and waited for the hour of sinking The waves rose high higher er and the snow fell thicker Down in the Depths I At a m the vessel suddenly In Increased Increased creased her list and after once dipping her masts into the waves raised her herself herself self with a shudder and then plunged to the bottom Captain Ishibashi and the crew were thrown into the sea The three boats which had been lowered from the ship were fortunately afloat with their regulation crews on onboard board ThE They did theIr utmost to rescue time officers and men but the fate of the boats themselves seemed at times precarious A few minutes l later ter how however however ever a searchlight nas as observed in a southeasterly direction The light ap approached preached and disclosed to view the warship Otowa which had come to the rescue The latter stoned at a a din dis distance tance of metres front from the scene of the disaster illumined the scene with I all her searchlights and dispatched I three boats to the rescue At sight of tile the Otowa the men who resigned themselves to death raised cries for I help thus increasing the sadness of the scene Despite the efforts of the boats only persons including Captain Ishiba shi hii were saved more than bt beIng ing lost including Commender A number of men died from exposure after being picked up |