SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
binder this heading we %aka snot Books of the week as Lore not boon reserced for rerioc in other foriosj
The kNovik' and the Part She Played in the Russo-Japanese War, 1904. By Lieutenant A. 1'. Steer. Translated by L. A. B. (John Murray. 3s. 6d. net.)—The `Novik ' was a third-class cruiser which especially distinguished herself during the earlier part of the siege of Port Arthur, owing to the energetic character of her successive commanders. When at the beginning of August, 190-, the Russian fleet under Admiral Vityeft made its last unsuccessful sortie from the harbour in the hope of reaching Vladivostok, the Novik' succeeded in breaking through the Japanese line alone. Owing to the failure of the coal supply she was eventually obliged to run ashore at the southern extremity of Saghalien, and her crew marched across the island and thence crossed to Vladivostok. All this is vividly described by the author, who served on the ship from the beginning of the war. His account is a melancholy catalogue of the- results of carelessness and incompetence. The condition of the Russian fleet a few months after the war had started is exemplified by the extra- ordinary confusion which arose after the sinking of the Petropavlovsk' by a mine during a reconnaissance outside the harbour :—
" When the explosions were taking place in the Petropavlovsk' a rumour rose on board the other ships that wo were being attacked by submarines, which caused an indescribable panic. Both battleships and cruisers opened fire on everything they saw floating about : pieces of wood, empty tins of preserves, and any other object which they took for periscopes. This insane cannonade went off without anyone directing it. Without any regard for their neighbours the gunlayers fired at less than two cables [400 yards] ; shells were indeed whistling all round us."
That such results were caused by bad leadership and not by any lack of pluck in the men is sufficiently proved by the record of the Novik's ' crew, which could not have been bettered.
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