six o'clock in the morning
Banzai Nippon ! '' instantly taken up by the crew out on deck , who heard it , and as instantly repeated by the crews of the other ships , as the sound of the cheering reached them . Then , one after another , we filed past the Admiral , who shook hands with each of us as we passed out of the cabin ; and ten minutes later the harbour was resounding with the clank of chain cables being hove in through a fleet 's hawse-pipes and stowed away below . It was still quite early -- half-past six o'clock in the morning , to be exact -- when a gun from the _ Mikasa _ and a string of flags , drooping from the end of her signal yard in the breathless calm of a hot August morning , gave the signal for the Japanese fleet to go forth to battle . In accordance with the Admiral 's instructions , the _ Yakumo _ was to lead the way to sea , and it was a proud moment for me when , standing upon the cruiser 's navigating bridge , I personally rang down the order to the engine-room , `` Ahead , half-speed , both engines ! '' And I considered -- and still consider -- that I had every reason to be proud ; for here was I , a lad not yet quite nineteen years of age , captain of one of the finest and most formidable cruisers in the Japanese navy . And I had attained to that position -- I may say it now , I think , without laying myself open to the charge of being unduly vain -- solely by my own exertions and without a particle of favour shown me , excepting that , when my own country contemptuously dispensed with my services , the aliens whom I was now serving received me with the utmost courtesy and kindness .