midday
Thereupon the officer in charge seems to have temporarily lost his presence of mind , for instead of sheering out of the line , as it seems to me he might have done , and so avoided the mine , he instantly stopped and reversed his engines , without warning the _ Kasuga _ , which was his next astern . The inevitable result of course was that the _ Kasuga _ struck the _ Yoshino _ heavily , making such a terrible rent in her side that , in spite of collision mats , she speedily filled , capsized , and sank , drowning over two hundred of her crew . The _ Kasuga _ , badly damaged , is on her way hither , and may be expected to arrive some time to-night . `` That disaster , however , serious as it is , is nothing compared with the loss of the _ Hatsuse _ and _ Yashima _ , which occurred shortly after midday . Little did we dream , as they steamed away from here , this morning , that we should never see them again ! It happened about ten miles south of Port Arthur , the two ships striking mines within a few minutes of each other . The _ Hatsuse _ appears to have struck two mines , the second of which completed her destruction , for she foundered in less than two minutes after the second explosion occurred .