astraltrader
06-03-2008, 02:53
Battle of Tsushima Straits: May 1905
Prelude to Conflict.
The seeds for this shock victory by the Imperial Japanese Navy over what was the then World`s 3rd or 4th largest naval power can be traced back to
the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, which was won in ruthless fashion by a swiftly created and modernized Japanese Army.
The result of this conflict left the Japanese with a foothold on the Chinese Mainland, along with Taiwan and perhaps the most coveted prize of all - the strategically sited deep-water harbour at Port Arthur in Manchuria.
Unfortunately Russia had her eyes set on firmly on Port Arthur to fullfill a long held desire to possess a harbour free from ice all the year round and which would cement her place as a power in the Pacific Ocean...
In 1895 Japan was forced by an alliance of France, Germany and Russia to cede much of its gains from the 1894 Sino-Japanese War back to China and to an independent Korea.
Russia, using its diplomatic power among western nations, forced China to sign a lease giving Port Arthur back to Russia, which the Japenese were forced to relinquish. The Boxer Rebellion of 1900 had left Russian "peace-keeping" troops in China, and Russia seized on a pretext to use them to occupy and fortify Port Arthur.
As well as this a powerful Naval Squadron was swiftly dispatched there.
The loss of face felt by the Japanese over this was huge. People in Japan began to voice outrage over the lack of response from her Government as well as from her armed forces. Tensions remained high from 1901 on, and although negotiations were in progress, and Japan arranged a treaty with Britain securing British aid if a power other than Russia became involved, the crisis turned into a stalemate. Japan began to make threats.
Instead of taking this threat seriously Russian Government and in particular her Naval Ministry seriously underestimated Japan's will and capability to wage modern war.
1904
In February 1904 tensions boiled over, and Japan launched what amounted to a surprise attack against the Russian fleet on February 6. The attack succeeded in damaging several Russian ships, but left much of the Russian force intact. Japanese naval activity for the next several months concentrated on preventing the escape of the Russian fleet by means of a blockade. Her forces were led by Admiral Togo.
The Russian naval forces lay dormant and did not engage the Japanese, resulting in unopposed Japanese troop landings in Korea. The Russian Generals and Admirals were both hesitant and weak.
Then the Russians were revitalised by the arrival of Admiral Stepan Makarov and they were able to achieve some degree of success against the Japanese. However, Admiral Makarov's flagship battleship Petropavlovsk struck a mine, which resulted in the death of the admiral...
Makarov's successors failed to challenge the Japanese Navy; as a consequence, the Russians were effectively bottled up in Port Arthur. By May, the Japanese had landed forces on the Liaodong Peninsula and in August began the siege of the naval station. In August, the Russian leadership finally decided to sortie the First Pacific Squadron and link up with the Vladivostok Squadron and then challenge the Japanese. However, both squadrons of the Russian Pacific Fleet were dispersed at the battles of the Yellow Sea and Ulsan on 10 August and 14 August 1904 respectively.
On August 10 the Russians made a break for it. Admiral Togo in his flagship the Battleship Mikasa led the Japanese squadron that confronted the Russians. The Japanese crossed the Russian "T", meaning that they could use all of their guns while the Russians could only fire their forward batteries. In spite of superior Russian numbers, the Japanese prevailed and forced the Russian fleet back into Port Arthur with severe losses. The admiral of the Russian fleet was killed by a shell from Mikasa, which itself suffered significant damage.
The Russian Pacific Fleet was no more - four battleships, two cruisers, and fourteen gunboats – most sunk in shallow water - fell to the Japanese.
The Tsar fortified with advice from his cousin the German Kaiser issued orders
to re-establish land and sea power in the region.
These led to the Russian Baltic Fleet being renamed the Second Pacific Squadron, placed under the command of Vice Admiral Zinovi Petrovitch Rozhdestvenski and joined by several 1880s vintage cruisers under Admiral Nebagatov along with a fleet of transports.
1905
In a feat of seamanship overshadowed by his subsequent defeat, Rozhdestvenski led this huge fleet more than 18,000 nautical miles around the top of Russia and via the North sea, arriving in the Pacific months later. His goal was to land his troops at Vladivostok, the only Russian port available. Japanese Admiral Togo knew this, and deployed ships to watch the three possible approach routes.
The Russian fleet was sighted when two trailing hospital ships were discovered by a Japanese cruiser fleet in the mist-shrouded waters of the Tsushima Strait on the evening of 26 May, 1905. On the afternoon of 27 May, 1905, the Russians joined battle deployed in a line running from south-south-west to north-north-east; the Japanese fleet from west-north-east. The Russian fleet totaled 45, including 12 battleships and 8 cruisers, joined by destroyers and support vessels. The Japanese fleet included 4 battleships. Seeing the way the fleets lay, Admiral Togo took a risk and ordered his fleet to turn in sequence, which enabled his ships to take the same course as the Russians, though hazarding each battleship in turn. This aggressive move startled the Russians, and was possible only due to the high proficiency of the Japanese crews.
Rozhdestvenski's flagship Knyaz Suvorov opened fire first, followed by Admiral Togo's flagship, the battleship Mikasa. The two lines of battleships stabilized their distance at 6,200 meters and exchanged gunfire. The Japanese rate of fire was terrific, estimated by one observer at more than 2,000 heavy rounds per hour. Furthermore, the Japanese used a new explosive formula in their shells, firing at the upper works of the Russian vessels and causing fire to break out all over any ships that were hit. Their accuracy astounded the Russians. One Russian officer, Captain Semenoff, remembering an hour-long skirmish with a Japanese ship in which few shells had hit, took out his notebook to jot down the places and times of impact. Within seconds, he wrote, "I had not only never witnessed such a fire before, I had never even imagined it. Shells seemed to be pouring on us incessantly, one after another."
The Japanese ships could reach 16 knots, but the Russian fleet could reach only 8 knots, in part hampered by their trailing transports. Togo was able to use this speed, and the hard-earned competence of his crews, to outmaneuver the Russians, "crossing the T" twice to cause further damage. Efficient Japanese use of a new weapon, the torpedo, added to the toll. At one point 30 Japanese destroyers launched a massed torpedo attack, releasing 74 torpedoes into the churning waters and immediately destroying the Russian battleship Sisoy Veliky and two cruisers.
Admiral Rozhdestvenski was knocked out of action with a shell fragment in his skull. A few of the ships and commanders fought bravely, at times in situations where a damaged Russian vessel, cut off, was surrounded by many Japanese foes. But in short order, although the battle continued into the night, the Russians lost the battleships Suvarov, the Oslyabya, the Alexander III, and the Borodino. Five other battleships under Admiral Nebagatov were forced to surrender the next day. Three cruisers made it to the United States naval base at Manila and were interned. In the end, only two Russian destroyers, both damaged, and a small support vessel arrived in Vladivostok.
The final toll reflected the magnitude of the Japanese victory. The IJN lost 117 dead, 583 injured, and three torpedo boats. The Russians lost 4,380 dead, 5,917 injured, more than 4,000 captured, and their Pacific, Baltic and Reserve fleets had ceased to exist as significant forces."
Consequences of Japanese Victory
U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt hosted the peace conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and the treaty was signed on 6 September 1905. Russia withdrew from Manchuria, recognized Korea as a Japanese sphere of influence, agreed to allow Japan to lease the Liaotung Peninsula and gave Japan control of the South Manchuria Railway in that area, ceded Sakhalin Island south of the 50th Parallel, and gave Japan certain fishing rights.
Roosevelt recognized the birth of a new tiger in the East. He wrote in 1906, in a private letter: "In a dozen years the English, Americans and Germans, who now dread each other as rivals in the trade of the Pacific, will each have to dread the Japanese more than they do any other nation…if we try to treat them as we have treated the Chinese, and if at the same time fail to keep our navy at the highest point of efficiency and size—then we shall invite disaster."
It is ironic that this amazingly accurate prediction of the capabilities of the Japanese military should be forgotten by the leading Western Powers so quickly. A mere 35 years later this would come down on them with a vengeance
The reaction of the Japanese public was one of betrayal. The precept of fukoken kyohei (rich country/with strong army) was the basis of what they felt was the new power of their country. Their feeling that the treaty had robbed them of rightful gains, and that the civilian ministers had erred, while the military had triumphed, was a factor in the growth of the movement that would eventually overwhelm the Meiji government and create the military dictatorship that led Japan into World War II.
Japan now had sea superiority to support its moves into Korea, Manchuria and elsewhere. For the next three decades, the major western powers were dealing with World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the rebirth of Germany, and gradually receded from the Asian stage. Yamamoto rose to command the Japanese fleet, the lessons of Tsushima and Port Arthur guiding his military philosophy. And the stage for the economic, political and military forces that led to the next Pacific War was set.
Prelude to Conflict.
The seeds for this shock victory by the Imperial Japanese Navy over what was the then World`s 3rd or 4th largest naval power can be traced back to
the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, which was won in ruthless fashion by a swiftly created and modernized Japanese Army.
The result of this conflict left the Japanese with a foothold on the Chinese Mainland, along with Taiwan and perhaps the most coveted prize of all - the strategically sited deep-water harbour at Port Arthur in Manchuria.
Unfortunately Russia had her eyes set on firmly on Port Arthur to fullfill a long held desire to possess a harbour free from ice all the year round and which would cement her place as a power in the Pacific Ocean...
In 1895 Japan was forced by an alliance of France, Germany and Russia to cede much of its gains from the 1894 Sino-Japanese War back to China and to an independent Korea.
Russia, using its diplomatic power among western nations, forced China to sign a lease giving Port Arthur back to Russia, which the Japenese were forced to relinquish. The Boxer Rebellion of 1900 had left Russian "peace-keeping" troops in China, and Russia seized on a pretext to use them to occupy and fortify Port Arthur.
As well as this a powerful Naval Squadron was swiftly dispatched there.
The loss of face felt by the Japanese over this was huge. People in Japan began to voice outrage over the lack of response from her Government as well as from her armed forces. Tensions remained high from 1901 on, and although negotiations were in progress, and Japan arranged a treaty with Britain securing British aid if a power other than Russia became involved, the crisis turned into a stalemate. Japan began to make threats.
Instead of taking this threat seriously Russian Government and in particular her Naval Ministry seriously underestimated Japan's will and capability to wage modern war.
1904
In February 1904 tensions boiled over, and Japan launched what amounted to a surprise attack against the Russian fleet on February 6. The attack succeeded in damaging several Russian ships, but left much of the Russian force intact. Japanese naval activity for the next several months concentrated on preventing the escape of the Russian fleet by means of a blockade. Her forces were led by Admiral Togo.
The Russian naval forces lay dormant and did not engage the Japanese, resulting in unopposed Japanese troop landings in Korea. The Russian Generals and Admirals were both hesitant and weak.
Then the Russians were revitalised by the arrival of Admiral Stepan Makarov and they were able to achieve some degree of success against the Japanese. However, Admiral Makarov's flagship battleship Petropavlovsk struck a mine, which resulted in the death of the admiral...
Makarov's successors failed to challenge the Japanese Navy; as a consequence, the Russians were effectively bottled up in Port Arthur. By May, the Japanese had landed forces on the Liaodong Peninsula and in August began the siege of the naval station. In August, the Russian leadership finally decided to sortie the First Pacific Squadron and link up with the Vladivostok Squadron and then challenge the Japanese. However, both squadrons of the Russian Pacific Fleet were dispersed at the battles of the Yellow Sea and Ulsan on 10 August and 14 August 1904 respectively.
On August 10 the Russians made a break for it. Admiral Togo in his flagship the Battleship Mikasa led the Japanese squadron that confronted the Russians. The Japanese crossed the Russian "T", meaning that they could use all of their guns while the Russians could only fire their forward batteries. In spite of superior Russian numbers, the Japanese prevailed and forced the Russian fleet back into Port Arthur with severe losses. The admiral of the Russian fleet was killed by a shell from Mikasa, which itself suffered significant damage.
The Russian Pacific Fleet was no more - four battleships, two cruisers, and fourteen gunboats – most sunk in shallow water - fell to the Japanese.
The Tsar fortified with advice from his cousin the German Kaiser issued orders
to re-establish land and sea power in the region.
These led to the Russian Baltic Fleet being renamed the Second Pacific Squadron, placed under the command of Vice Admiral Zinovi Petrovitch Rozhdestvenski and joined by several 1880s vintage cruisers under Admiral Nebagatov along with a fleet of transports.
1905
In a feat of seamanship overshadowed by his subsequent defeat, Rozhdestvenski led this huge fleet more than 18,000 nautical miles around the top of Russia and via the North sea, arriving in the Pacific months later. His goal was to land his troops at Vladivostok, the only Russian port available. Japanese Admiral Togo knew this, and deployed ships to watch the three possible approach routes.
The Russian fleet was sighted when two trailing hospital ships were discovered by a Japanese cruiser fleet in the mist-shrouded waters of the Tsushima Strait on the evening of 26 May, 1905. On the afternoon of 27 May, 1905, the Russians joined battle deployed in a line running from south-south-west to north-north-east; the Japanese fleet from west-north-east. The Russian fleet totaled 45, including 12 battleships and 8 cruisers, joined by destroyers and support vessels. The Japanese fleet included 4 battleships. Seeing the way the fleets lay, Admiral Togo took a risk and ordered his fleet to turn in sequence, which enabled his ships to take the same course as the Russians, though hazarding each battleship in turn. This aggressive move startled the Russians, and was possible only due to the high proficiency of the Japanese crews.
Rozhdestvenski's flagship Knyaz Suvorov opened fire first, followed by Admiral Togo's flagship, the battleship Mikasa. The two lines of battleships stabilized their distance at 6,200 meters and exchanged gunfire. The Japanese rate of fire was terrific, estimated by one observer at more than 2,000 heavy rounds per hour. Furthermore, the Japanese used a new explosive formula in their shells, firing at the upper works of the Russian vessels and causing fire to break out all over any ships that were hit. Their accuracy astounded the Russians. One Russian officer, Captain Semenoff, remembering an hour-long skirmish with a Japanese ship in which few shells had hit, took out his notebook to jot down the places and times of impact. Within seconds, he wrote, "I had not only never witnessed such a fire before, I had never even imagined it. Shells seemed to be pouring on us incessantly, one after another."
The Japanese ships could reach 16 knots, but the Russian fleet could reach only 8 knots, in part hampered by their trailing transports. Togo was able to use this speed, and the hard-earned competence of his crews, to outmaneuver the Russians, "crossing the T" twice to cause further damage. Efficient Japanese use of a new weapon, the torpedo, added to the toll. At one point 30 Japanese destroyers launched a massed torpedo attack, releasing 74 torpedoes into the churning waters and immediately destroying the Russian battleship Sisoy Veliky and two cruisers.
Admiral Rozhdestvenski was knocked out of action with a shell fragment in his skull. A few of the ships and commanders fought bravely, at times in situations where a damaged Russian vessel, cut off, was surrounded by many Japanese foes. But in short order, although the battle continued into the night, the Russians lost the battleships Suvarov, the Oslyabya, the Alexander III, and the Borodino. Five other battleships under Admiral Nebagatov were forced to surrender the next day. Three cruisers made it to the United States naval base at Manila and were interned. In the end, only two Russian destroyers, both damaged, and a small support vessel arrived in Vladivostok.
The final toll reflected the magnitude of the Japanese victory. The IJN lost 117 dead, 583 injured, and three torpedo boats. The Russians lost 4,380 dead, 5,917 injured, more than 4,000 captured, and their Pacific, Baltic and Reserve fleets had ceased to exist as significant forces."
Consequences of Japanese Victory
U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt hosted the peace conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and the treaty was signed on 6 September 1905. Russia withdrew from Manchuria, recognized Korea as a Japanese sphere of influence, agreed to allow Japan to lease the Liaotung Peninsula and gave Japan control of the South Manchuria Railway in that area, ceded Sakhalin Island south of the 50th Parallel, and gave Japan certain fishing rights.
Roosevelt recognized the birth of a new tiger in the East. He wrote in 1906, in a private letter: "In a dozen years the English, Americans and Germans, who now dread each other as rivals in the trade of the Pacific, will each have to dread the Japanese more than they do any other nation…if we try to treat them as we have treated the Chinese, and if at the same time fail to keep our navy at the highest point of efficiency and size—then we shall invite disaster."
It is ironic that this amazingly accurate prediction of the capabilities of the Japanese military should be forgotten by the leading Western Powers so quickly. A mere 35 years later this would come down on them with a vengeance
The reaction of the Japanese public was one of betrayal. The precept of fukoken kyohei (rich country/with strong army) was the basis of what they felt was the new power of their country. Their feeling that the treaty had robbed them of rightful gains, and that the civilian ministers had erred, while the military had triumphed, was a factor in the growth of the movement that would eventually overwhelm the Meiji government and create the military dictatorship that led Japan into World War II.
Japan now had sea superiority to support its moves into Korea, Manchuria and elsewhere. For the next three decades, the major western powers were dealing with World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the rebirth of Germany, and gradually receded from the Asian stage. Yamamoto rose to command the Japanese fleet, the lessons of Tsushima and Port Arthur guiding his military philosophy. And the stage for the economic, political and military forces that led to the next Pacific War was set.