The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 changed the history of warfare forever, ushering in
a new era of conflicts in which naval battles became central to the fate of the struggle.
Its ending had long-term consequences, becoming another factor that made the first and the
second world wars inevitable. In this video, which was voted on by our patrons and youtube
sponsors, we will cover the naval portion of this war with a focus on the battle of
Tsushima.
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In 1868 Japan entered a modernization period called the Meiji Restoration. In the same
year the Imperial Japanese Navy was formed, showing that Japan was now vying for naval
dominance in the region. Lacking industrial capacity, Japan relied on Britain in the development
of a modern navy. European superpower Russia was also eager
to increase its presence in the Pacific. It had strong navies in the Baltic and Black
seas, but lacked a base in the East. In 1860 Russia acquired Vladivostok from China and
turned it into a naval base in 1871. Russia also started building the Trans-Siberian Railroad
to link Moscow with Vladivostok in 1891. And although Vladivostok was in a prime position
to exert naval power, it wasn’t a warm water port, which Russia desperately needed.
Meanwhile, China, which was reeling from defeats at the hands of the European powers, bought
two battleships from Germany in 1885. That threatened Japan, as it lacked financial resources
to acquire its own. In 1893 Japan ordered two battleships from Britain, but the war
between China and Japan erupted in 1894, so Japan had to rely on its cruisers.
To the shock of the entire world, Japan won the war in less than a year, managing to destroy
one of the Chinese battleships and capturing another. The Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895
transferred Korea into the Japanese sphere of influence, while China had to pay war reparations
and also ceded control of Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan. The latter was crucial,
as this peninsula was home to the strategically crucial naval base of Port Arthur. Control
over this port solidified Japanese power in the Yellow sea.
Russia couldn’t allow this and enlisted diplomatic support from France and Germany.
All three threatened Japan with war in what was later called the Triple Intervention.
The Russian battleship Nikolai I steamed towards the Japanese port of Nagasaki, and as Japan
still had no battleships, it was forced to relinquish control of Liaodong and Port Arthur.
A year later Russia secured a 25-year lease on this territory from China and finally gained
a warm water port. Japan was humiliated and that created strong
revanchist desires. Four more battleships were ordered from Britain. Both sides participated
in the quelling of the Boxer rebellion in China, but that made the situation worse,
as Russia increased its military presence in Manchuria, and Japan considered it a threat.
Other European powers were wary of the increased Russian presence in Asia, especially Britain,
which entered an alliance with Japan in 1902. All that made the war inevitable. By 1903
Japan created a fleet based at Sasebo with six battleships, 10 cruisers and 40 destroyers.
Meanwhile Russia had seven battleships, eight cruisers and 25 destroyers at Port Arthur.
At this point we should mention the absolute importance of the battleships. It was expected
that the naval conflicts of this period would be decided by these engines of war. Unlike
Japan, Russia was able to build its own battleships, yet the technology used was mostly British,
French and German, so neither side had a clear technological advantage and a duel between
battleships would boil down to the experience and talent of the officers and crews. Ironically,
this war would the first and the last naval conflict decided by battleships, as in a decade
submarines and airpower would change the balance of power yet again.
In 1904 Japan demanded that Russia demilitarize Manchuria. Russia refused and on February
6th Japan severed diplomatic relations. Tsar Nikolai immediately ordered the commander
of the fleet at Port Arthur, Admiral Stark, to not fire the first shots, so that Japan
would be seen as the aggressor. On February 8th Japan declared war, however, according
to Russian sources, the declaration reached Petersburg on the next day, so Russia considered
the attack on the 8th to be in violation of the rules of war.
Commander of the Japanese fleet, admiral Togo, knew that he needed to neutralize the Russian
fleet at Port Arthur as soon as possible, as the Russian fleets in the Baltic and Black
seas would be able to reach the Asian theatre in 4 months. Conversely Russian strategy was
deliberately passive, as they just needed to defend around Port Arthur and wait for
the reinforcements. On the night of February 8th Togo made his
first move. At midnight his destroyers closed in and launched torpedoes against the Russian
battleships. Two of them – Tsesarevich [tsehsuh’revich] and Retvizan received heavy damage and were
towed to be repaired. Togo hoped that the Russians were now panicking
and at noon on the 9th moved his fleet within range. Unfortunately for him, the Russians
were ready and his ships were fired upon by both the enemy ships and the coastal batteries.
His ships were not able to withstand that and 20 minutes later he ordered them to turn
back. The Blockade of Port Arthur had begun. On
March 7 Admiral Stark was replaced by Admiral Makarov. Togo decided to try a new tactic:
On March 22 two of his battleships were sent to the south-west side of the Liaodong Peninsula,
where they could not be seen by Russian coastal batteries and started bombarding the enemy
fleet, dealing some damage before the Russians managed to relocate their batteries and fired
back. Meanwhile the situation on land changed, as
Japanese troops were now in the striking distance of Port Arthur, so Togo needed to seal it
off to prevent the escape of the Russian navy. On April 12th Japanese destroyers placed 50
mines close to the harbor mouth. Makarov spotted them and attempted a sortie with 2 battleships
and 4 cruisers. This was an ambush, as suddenly 5 of Togo’s battleships appeared from the
mist and opened fire at the Russians, and the latter had to head back to the safety
of the port. However, the battleship Petropavlovsk [petra’pavlofsk] struck a mine and sank,
along with Makarov. Another battleship – Pobieda - also hit a mine, but was able to make it
into the port. Untested rear admiral Vitgeft was appointed the new commander.
His approach was more passive and that allowed the Japanese to land an army to the northeast
of Port Arthur on May 5th, basically cutting the Russians off. Togo resumed skirmishes
and in response Vitgeft started mining off possible bombardment positions. That worked
out, as on May 15th Japanese battleships Hatsuse and Yashima struck mines and sunk.
In June the Russians finally repaired Retvizan, Tsesarevich and Pobieda. They needed to break
out in order to get to Vladivostok and on June 23rd, the whole squadron sailed out of
the harbor. Togo couldn’t allow the Russians to escape. Initially his squadron moved parallel
to the Russians out of the firing range, but gradually closed the distance and started
a long-range duel. Although Vitgeft had the numbers on his side, he ordered his ships
to sail back to port. Despite all the attempts to delay the Japanese
land forces, by August 7th they were shelling Port Arthur’s harbor, damaging Retvizan
yet again. Finally, on the 10th a direct order from the Tsar forced Vitgeft to attempt another
escape to Vladivostok. Togo was not prepared for this, as part of his navy was assisting
the ground campaign. Still over the next few hours Togo managed
to build up his fleet. In the battle that would be later be known as the battle of the
yellow sea, Japanese used their cruisers as they would do with the battleships, closing
in fast in order to use the smaller caliber guns. Togo crossed the T multiple times despite
enemy fire, maximizing the use of his guns. All the Russian battleships were damaged and
Vitgeft was forced to return to Port Arthur, covered by the dramatic charge of Retvizan.
In December Japanese land troops captured the hill overlooking the city, and started
firing directly towards the Russian ships. Most of them were sunk. On January 2nd 1905
the city fell and the majority of the Russian Pacific navy was gone.
Meanwhile, in May of 1904 the Russians decided to send two more squadrons from the Baltic
and Black seas in order to help the Pacific fleet. The new fleet commanded by Rozhestvensky
managed to depart in October and was in Indochina by May of 1905. Rozhestvensky had 7 old and
4 new battleships, alongside 6 cruisers and 9 destroyers. His plan was to move directly
to Vladivostok via the Tsushima straits. That gave Togo ample opportunity to repair his
ships at Masan and place his radio equipped scout ships in a fashion that would allow
him to learn about the inevitable Russian counter attack.
By the time the Second Pacific Squadron reached the battle scene it was in poor condition.
On top of their low morale, the Russians did not have an opportunity to perform proper
maintenance on their ships. On the night of May 26th, 1905, the Russian
fleet attempted to pass the Tsushima strait in a thick fog, but was detected by the Japanese.
At 04:55 am Captain Narukawa of the Shinano Maru sent a wireless message to Togo, head
of the Japanese Navy and informed him about the Russian fleet nearby. This was a new technology
at the time and it enabled the Japanese to block the Russians very quickly. At 13:49
the engagement began. The Japanese Combined Fleet consisted of 5 battleships, 26 cruisers,
21 destroyers and 43 torpedo boats. The Russians started firing on the leading
Japanese battleship Mikasa, but the Japanese response on the flagship Knyaz Suvorov [K’nyaz
SU’vorofv] was more precise. By 14:45 Admiral Togo was able to cross the Russian T. This
meant that the Japanese fleet was in a perpendicular position to the northward moving Russian Fleet,
allowing him to fire broadsides, while the Russians could only reply with their forward
turrets. This was possible due to superior speed of the Japanese ships, which could sustain
15 knots, while the Russian ships were able to reach only 14 knots in short bursts. In
the first hour of the battle the Japanese were able to sink the battleship Oslyabya
[Os’lyabia] and significantly damage two others.
Another battleship tried to break through towards Vladivostok. Admiral Togo maneuvered
to change the engaged side. Part of his fleet took a course away from the Russian fleet
and then turned around to fire on the left side of the Russian ships, which enabled the
Japanese ships to have the same firepower as in the beginning of the battle. At the
same time the battleship Borodino, leading the Russian column, approached the Russian
cruisers protecting the transports. Cruiser Aurora, legendary for its later role in the
Russian revolution was among them. Aurora was able to survive the fierce Japanese attack.
After 3 hours of heavy battle the line of the Russian fleet was broken and disorganized.
Rozhestvensky was heavily injured and surrendered command to Rear Admiral Nebogatov [nee’bo’ga’tov].
He wouldn’t know about this until an hour later.
The Japanese fleet took a parallel course with the Russians and managed to cross the
Russian T again. Within 20 minutes of this engagement two Russian battleships were sunk.
The Russian fleet was devastated and the battle was effectively over. But Admiral Togo aimed
for complete victory over Russians in the Pacific, and thus sought to continue to chase
the remainder of the Russian fleet aiming to reach Vladivostok.
21 destroyers and 37 torpedo boats were employed to achieve complete victory over the Russians.
Destroyers attacked the Russian vanguard, while the torpedo boats attacked from the
east and south of the Russian fleet. The Japanese were able to surround the Russians and cause
panic among their ranks. The night attacks had put a great strain on the Russians, as
they had lost two battleships and two armoured cruisers, while the Japanese had only lost
three torpedo boats. In the morning of May 28th Rear Admiral Nebogatov
ordered the six remaining ships under his command to surrender.
Japan was able to succeed in the Battle of Tsushima thanks to its more evolved gunnery,
faster pace and better use of the wireless telegraph, along with tactical superiority.
Russia suffered a heavy defeat with a loss of all its battleships and most of its cruisers
and destroyers, while the Japanese Navy lost only 3 torpedo boats. The Russians lost 4,380
killed and 5,917 captured, including two admirals, while Japan lost 117 men.
The Battle of Tsushima effectively ended the Russo-Japanese war in favour of Japan. For
the first time in a very long period an Asian power defeated a European powerhouse. This
weakened the prestige of the Russian Empire, which was one of the key triggers of the Russian
revolution in 1905. Meanwhile, Japan solidified its place as a force to be reckoned with in
the Pacific and Far East.
Thank you for watching our video on the Russo-Japanese war. It is often difficult to convey everything
in a short video, so we decided to start a Kings and Generals podcast. If you want to
learn more about the situation in Russia and Japan prior and after this conflict, you can
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