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While he was speaking, the huge bulk of the Britain steamed slowly towards the Australien, flying the signal "Do you surrender?" Within five hundred yards, the huge guns in her forward barbette swung round and the muzzles sank until the long chases pointed at the Australien's waterline.
That fool aboard there who calls himself the captain tells me that, shortly after I sailed, Prince Hsi, who considers himself an authority on Naval matters, decided that the guns in the fore barbette of the Chi' Yuen were of too small a calibre, and in my absence he managed to prevail upon the Council to send her to Wei-hai-wei to be docked and have her 9.4's replaced by 12-inch guns.
Asie led Nucingen to the Rue Barbette, where, in furnished lodgings kept by an upholsterer, he was led up to the fourth floor. On finding Esther in a squalid room, dressed as a work-woman, and employed on some embroidery, the millionaire turned pale. At the end of a quarter of an hour, while Asie affected to talk in whispers to Esther, the young old man could hardly speak.
He made a negative sign to her, and then, ten o'clock having struck from the tower of Saint-Leonard, he went to bed, muttering a prayer to the holy Virgin of Auray. At dawn, Barbette, who had not closed her eyes, gave a cry of joy, as she heard in the distance a sound she knew well of hobnailed shoes, and soon after Galope-Chopine's scowling face presented itself.
She was the first ship of what was called the "Admiral class," several sister ships named after famous admirals. The four heavy guns of the Devastation type of turret-ship were retained, mounted fore and aft, but instead of placing them in turrets, the turret armour was fixed to the deck, forming what is known as a "barbette," or breastwork, over the upper edge of which the gun fired.
But as the Java was fast gaining upon her, the Constitution made a virtue of necessity, and shortened sail, placing herself under the lee bow of the Java, so that in close action, the crew of the Constitution might fight like men behind a rampart, while the crew of the Java stood at their guns en barbette.
The weather had changed, and was now bright and comparatively warm, the atmosphere so clear that even comparatively small objects were clearly visible. The Mikasa opened the ball by firing a sighting shot from one of the 12-inch guns in her fore barbette, and at the same moment the Russian ships were seen to be getting under way.
The carronades were placed en barbette; but a falling of the surface of the rock enabled the men to cover even their heads, by stepping back a few feet. The danger would be much the greatest to those whose duty it would be to reload.
In addition to this belt the ship is protected by an armored deck of 3½ in., while the barbette gun towers are protected with 15¾ in. steel armor with a hood of 2½ in. to protect the men against machine gun fire.
But we were by no means getting things all our own way, for when the fight had been raging for about half an hour, the Mikasa was struck upon her fore barbette by a 12-inch shell which shook the ship from stem to stern as it exploded, and put the barbette, with its two 12-inch guns, out of action for a time through the jamming of its turning machinery.
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