Page:Semenoff V. The battle of Tsu-Shima.pdf/179
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THE BATTLE OF TSU-SHIMA
the battle was progressing, and then would again sit silently, with his eyes on the ground. Considering, however, the state the ship was in, what else could he do? His conduct seemed most natural, and it never occurred to us that these questions were merely momentary flashes of energy — short snatches of consciousness.
On the arrival of the torpedo-boat being reported, he pulled himself together, and gave the order to “Collect the staff,”[1] t
- ↑ Of all the wounded members of the staff, who were below, under the armoured deck, it was only possible to “collect” two — Filipinoffsky and Leontieff. The former was in the lower fighting position, which was hermetically separated from the mess deck, and received a current of fresh air through the armoured tube of the conning tower. (All the same he had to sit by candle light, as the lamps had gone out.) The latter was at the exit hatch. The mess deck was in darkness (the electric light had gone out) and was full of suffocating smoke. Hurrying along to find the staff, we called them by name; bu