one o'clock in the afternoon
But the attempt evidently did not appeal to Vitgeft , for the _ Tsarevich _ suddenly starboarded her helm and led away from us in a north-westerly direction , while Togo , perhaps afraid that this was the preliminary to a retreat on the part of the Russian fleet , feigned a nervousness that he certainly did not feel , and shifted his helm , heading South-South-West , at the same time forming his battleships in line abreast . The result was that , for a time , the two fleets were actually steaming away from each other , the Russians being upon our starboard quarter . After steaming a short distance in this direction , our formation was altered back to line ahead , and the course was changed to South-West , apparently with the object of getting the ships well in hand . It was close upon one o'clock in the afternoon when our Admiral , having put us through one or two further manoeuvres and apparently satisfied himself that he had strung us up to the necessary pitch of alertness , finally formed line ahead and changed course to East-North-East , at the same time hoisting the signal , `` Engage ! '' The signal was greeted with a terrific outburst of cheering from every ship , and faces that had begun to look gloomy as the distance between the two fleets increased , once more became wreathed in smiles . Speed was increased , and we began to rapidly overhaul the enemy , the spray flying high over our bows as we pushed our way irresistibly through the rising sea . And now the horizon all round from north , west , and south showed dark with smoke as the Japanese cruisers began to close in from those points upon the Russians .