Page:Semenoff V. The battle of Tsu-Shima.pdf/141

but luckily the telegraph to one engine and the voice-tube to the other were still working. The bridge had caught fire, and the hammocks — with which we had proposed to protect ourselves from splinters as well as the small chart house behind the conning tower, were also burning. The heat became unbearable, and what was worse — the thick smoke prevented our seeing, which, without a compass, made it impossible to keep on in any particular direction. The only thing left for us to do was to steer from the lower fighting position and abandon the conning tower for some place whence one could see. At this time there were in the conning tower the Admiral, the Flag Captain, and the Flag Navigating Officer — all three wounded; Lieutenant Bogdanoff,