Page:The Development of Navies During the Last Half-Century.djvu/122

In the meantime where was Tegethofif? He had heard of the intended attack on Lissa while at Fasano, but distrusted its reality until, on the 19th, he received news which cleared away his doubt on the matter. He therefore sailed with his whole squadron that afternoon, bent on attacking the enemy and frustrating his purpose. Whether Persano heard that night of his departure I do not know, but on the morning of the 20th he prepared to renew the attack and land his troops, as if deeming no interference possible. At eight A.M., however, one of his look-out vessels signalled 'suspicious fleet in sight' And what a condition he was in to meet even a less powerful squadron than his own. He had materially contributed to put the two fleets on an equality. One of his ironclads had been so knocked about the day before that she was practically useless, two others were out of reach, making a diversion elsewhere, and his unarmoured vessels were encumbered with the landing appliances, and unable to cope effectively with the Austrian vessels of the same nature. Persano hastily collected his uninjured ironclads and advanced to meet Tegethoff, whose squadron was now plainly visible. The fighting formation he adopted was single line ahead, so that his squadron presented a long line extending over 2 miles. The Austrian squadron bore down in three divisions, each forming an obtuse angle and composed of seven ships. The divisions were about 1000 yards astern of each other, Tegethoff led in the ’Ferdinand Max.' This formation was more compact than the single line, but one difficult to maintain when