The cruisers regained Vladivostok on the 20th, after scattering a quantity of merchant shipping. On June 12 the Russian ships left the port, evaded Kamimura, and sank three Japanese transports in the Straits of Korea, the majority of the troops on board perishing.
Port Arthur, as the only icefree harbour provided with docks which could receive this fleet, had even greater value than it possessed as the base and refuge of the fleet already in Eastern waters.įor some time the four powerful Vladivostok cruisers had been making their existence felt by raids from that harbour, and a Japanese squadron under Admiral Kamimura was keeping them in check.
If Russia was to regain command of the sea, a fleet must be organised in Europe and sent to the Far East. The Japanese succeeded in laying mines secretly in the channels generally used by the enemy's ships, and, on April 13, the battleship JPetropdvlovsk, in returning to port, was sunk by a mine, with Admiral Makaroff and about 600 men on board, while a second battleship, the Pobieda, also struck a mine and was injured. Thus, before any formal declaration of war had taken place, more than half the Russian naval strength in the Yellow Sea had been put out of action, and, at a cost of six men killed and 45 wounded, the command of the sea which was the foundation of the Japanese plans was, for a time at least, assured.Įarly in March 1904, the arrival from Europe of Admiral Makaroff, an able and energetic officer, had infused new vigour into the Russian fleet, which began to leave the shelter of the harbour. The arrival of Togo's main fleet brought on a general engagement, in which four more Russian ships were seriously injured. There it was surprised during the early hours of the 9th by the Japanese mosquito flotillas, and two battleships and a first-class cruiser were badly damaged by torpedoes. The entrance to that harbour was difficult of navigation, and, to be ready for emergencies, the Russian fleet had a week before moved into the roadstead. Meanwhile, on this same eventful morning of February 9 Togo had been busy at Port Arthur. On 06 February 1904, four battalions at peace strength, so as to avoid the stir of mobilisation, were embarked at Sasebo and, escorted by seven cruisers and twelve torpedo boats under Admiral Uriu, sailed for Chemulpo, while the main fleet under Admiral Togo made for Port Arthur.ĭuring the forenoon of February 9, the Russian ships Variag and Koriete, on Uriu's summons, gallantly came out to meet the Japanese fleet and were overwhelmed. Vladivostok is icebound until the end of April, while Port Arthur was the only icefree port which Russia held in the Pacific. The necessary prelude to offensive Japanese operations on land was the command of the sea, which involved an attack on the main Russian fleet at Port Arthur.
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Statecraft had secured for Japan the military advantage of the initiative, and left her free to prosecute an offensive campaign, since Russia could not collect sufficient transports in the Pacific for any serious expedition against the Japanese islands. It was necessary to send out naval reinforcements from Europe in sufficient strength to avoid defeat in detail, and the preparation of a fleet for such a voyage was a matter of many months. Seven battleships, four first-class and two second-class cruisers were at Port Arthur, four first-class cruisers at Vladivostok, and one at Chemulpo. Thus, on paper, Russia's battle fleet was slightly superior but it was divided. Russia had seven battleships, nine first-class, two second-class, and six third-class cruisers. Japan had six first-class and one second-class battleships, six first-class cruisers, besides two purchased in Europe which reached Japan about a week after hostilities began twelve second-class and thirteen third-class cruisers. The Japanese statesmen and soldiers knew that for their purpose the measure of Russia's strength was not the vast array which impressed Europe, but the number of ships and soldiers which she could deliver and maintain in what was to be the theatre of war. On the next day, the first orders for mobilisation were issued in Japan. In view of Russian military movements actually in progress, on February 5, diplomatic relations with Russia were severed. On January 13,1904, Japan agreed to regard Manchuria as outside her sphere of influence, but required in exchange, as an irreducible minimum, that Russia should give a similar undertaking as to Korea. Czarist Fleet in the Russo-Japanese War - 1904-1905
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