eleven o'clock
But , after all , this would not greatly matter , indeed it would be an advantage to us , always provided , of course , that we were not prematurely sighted by some keen-visioned , swift-steaming Russian scout ; for the moon would set about midnight , while two o'clock in the morning was the time set for our attempt . The run to the offing of Port Arthur was like a pleasure trip ; our fleet of old crocks pounded along steadily , with a soft , soothing sound of purling water rising from under their bows , dominated from time to time by the clank of our crazy engines , which our mechanics had doctored up as thoroughly as time permitted , in order to ensure that they should outlast the run across . There was nothing for us to do but follow our leader , so I spent an hour of the time in making sure that our solitary boat should reach the water with certainty and on a level keel when the time should come to launch her , taking the turns out of the davit tackles , well greasing the falls , oiling the block sheaves , and rigging up a device of my own contriving whereby the necessity to unhook the blocks could be avoided when the boat touched the water . At eleven o'clock Commander Arima signalled the destroyer flotilla , and five of the fastest of them at once went full speed ahead , spreading out in a fan-shaped formation ahead of us and on either bow to reconnoitre the roadstead . At ten minutes to midnight the moon , a great golden half-disc , swimming in a violet sky flecked with great islands of soft , fleecy cloud , touched the high land of Liau-ti-shan ; and as she sank behind it , the order was given to stop our engines and lay-to for a short while , as we had made a good passage and were somewhat ahead of our scheduled time ; also to await the return and report of the destroyers . We were now about twelve miles off Port Arthur , and far enough beyond the range of the searchlights to ensure our presence being undetected . With the setting of the moon , the clouds seemed to bunch together and acquire a greater density , and it fell very dark , such starlight as filtered through the canopy of cloud only barely sufficing to enable us to detect our next ship ahead and astern .