Russian Naval History
SIR, —A glance at " Dahl " should have shown Miss Mitchell that no word chuka exists in the Russian language. Shchuka, on the other hand, means " Pike," just as Lin stands for "Tench " and Delfin for " Dolphin," all fish-names such as are customarily given to submarines. I have 'it on good authority that the initial letter shch has been seen on the conning- towers of boats of the Shchuka class, which establishes the connection beyond reasonable doubt, pace " Jane," " Brassey " and the, late Mr. Francis McMurtrie. As regards ship-names, use of the P.C.G.N. table is certainly not responsible for palpable errors such as Malutka, Komsolka, Perekok, Perekov, Tzesarevich, &c., apart from simple nonsenses such as Bakinski, Rabotchi and Sverdlov (ex-Yakob).
Miss Mitchell's final point may have more substance, though this is surely a matter of individual opinion. My own is that neither the author nor Mr. Maisky have done justice to the first winter of the Russian war, so quickly forgotten or ignored, when Englishmen and Russians, ashore and afloat, worked side by side for a common cause in face of abnormally difficult conditions of ice and weather.—Yours faithfully, RICHARD CHANCELLOR.
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