course to position his battleships on the left flank of the leading Russian ships. During this maneuver, Knyaz Suvorov opened fire at the , flagship of Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō at 14:05, at a range of . Mikasa began to return fire after the Japanese ships had finished their maneuver and was joined by the battleship and the armored cruiser as the Japanese battleships split their fire between Knyaz Suvorov and Oslyabya. Around 14:20, the battleship joined the others firing at Knyaz Suvorov, which had been set on fire by hits from the other ships. At 14:35, splinters entered the conning tower, killing her helmsman and wounding Rozhestvensky and the ship's captain; splinters from another shell again wounded Rozhestvensky so he drifted in and out of consciousness. Shortly afterwards, flames made the conning tower untenable so that the ship had to be steered from her auxiliary-control position. Around 14:52, another hit jammed the steering gear after a four point turn to starboard had been ordered and caused the ship to make nearly a full circle before she could be steered by her engines. Splinters from numerous shell hits shredded water hoses and made it much more difficult to put the numerous fires out. By this time, Knyaz Suvorovs aft 12-inch gun turret had been destroyed by an explosion that blew its roof off onto the quarterdeck, her forward funnel had fallen down, and her mainmast had been shot away. Knyaz Suvorov never regained her position in the battle line and was engaged at short range by Mikasa and the battleship as well as five cruisers of Vice Admiral Kamimura Hikonojō's 2nd Division between 15:20 and 15:35. Mikasa and two of the cruisers fired one torpedo each at her during this time, but none of them hit the ship. At 15:39, the cruiser fired a pair of torpedoes and claimed one hit although no change was visible in Knyaz Suvorovs condition. Chihaya was hit by one shell just above the waterline during her attack that forced her to make emergency repairs. Around 15:40, the British observer aboard Azuma recorded that Knyaz Suvorov was down by the bow with a heavy list to port and was covered by thick gray smoke from the forecastle to the mainmast. By this time, the ship's forward 12-inch gun turret had been knocked out, but some smaller guns were still in action. The Japanese 5th Destroyer Division