e were of ships, the futility
of taking her to sea was at once recognised, and she was to be left
behind to carry on her former duty as guardship to the port.

In addition to the above-mentioned ships, there were seven
torpedo-boats, which were to accompany the fleet, ranging in size from
seventy to a hundred and twenty tons; but, unlike Japan, China possessed
none of the type of craft known as torpedo-boat destroyers--T.B.D.'s for
short. Japan had quite a number of these, all over a hundred tons, one
or two being even over two hundred; and they were, of course, much
faster and more heavily armed than the Chinese torpedo-boats. Japan
also possessed an advantage in that her cruisers were not only larger
than those of China, they were also newer, faster, and more heavily
armed; and there were more of them. One ship in particular, the
_Yoshino_, was larger than the Chinese battleships; while the armoured
cruisers _Matsushima, Hiroshima_, and _Hakodate_ were all well over four
thousand tons, and much more heavily armed than any of the Chinese
ships, with the exception of the _Chen Yuen_ and _Ting Yuen_. These
were superior only in the possession of the two big guns each: their
secondary armament was not so powerful as that of the enemy's cruisers.

Frobisher, who, of course, knew pretty accurately the composition of the
Japanese naval strength, shook his head as he contemplated the
collection of vessels in the river. There was a sad lack of homogeneity
in the squadron, which would render quick and effective manoeuvring
extremely difficult. Some of the newer ships--his own, for instance--
were capable of steaming fifteen or sixteen knots, but the battleships
were not good for more than thirteen, while some of the older cruisers
could not be relied upon for more than ten or eleven; and as the speed
of a fleet is necessarily that of its slowest ship, this meant that the
whole squadron could not steam at more than ten knots or thereabout.
The speed of the slowest Japanese ships he knew to be not less than
thirteen knots; so, in the event of a naval engagement, the enemy's
fleet would be able to outmanoeuvre the Chinese, and choose their own
locality for fighting, as well as the range and position. It was a most
important advantage to possess; and, as Frobisher considered the
likelihood--nay, the practical certainty--of the Chinese ammunition
proving faulty, he did not feel at all certain that China would come out
on top