The Battle of Tsushima was a decisive, naval engagement of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). It took place in the Tsushima Strait, between the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. It was fought between the Russian Second Pacific Squadron, under Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky, and the Japanese Combined Fleet, led by Admiral Togo Heihachiro, on May 27 and 28, 1905. It was the geopolitical rivalry between Russia and the Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea that had led to this armed conflict in 1904, and this naval battle was the most important one. The result was a thorough Japanese victory over the Russians.
The Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet was composed of 5 battleships, 23 cruisers, 20 destroyers, and 16 torpedo-boats. Admiral Togo was the commander in chief and he was on battleship Mikasa, the flagship. On May 26, 1905, these warships sailed in a single column, with Mikasa leading them in front, as a spearhead, into the Tsushima Strait, where they would wait for the Russians. Behind the flagship, and next in line, came the battleships Shikishima, Fuji, and Asahi, with the armored cruisers and torpedo-boats stringing out behind in a long line. Although it was a pre-dreadnought battleship, Mikasa was an advanced war vessel, which had been built in the United Kingdom by the British ship-building firm Vickers.
The Second Pacific Squadron, on the other hand, was the Russian Baltic Fleet that had been reinforced; it consisted of 11 battleships, 9 cruisers, and 9 destroyers. The Russian commander, Zinovy Rozhestvensky, led the expeditionary force on the battleship Knyaz Suvorov, the flagship. This fleet had left the Baltic port of Reval (today Tallin - Estonia) on October 16, 1904. Their mission was to break the Japanese blockade of Port Arthur (today Lushunkou - China), and join the Far East Russian fleet stationed on the port of Vladivostok.
By the time the Russian Second Squadron reached the East China Sea, Port Arthur had already fallen in Japanese hands on January 2, 1905. Thus, the Russian commander decided to keep on sailing to Vladivostok. In order to reach this port, the Russians had two alternative routes; they could go through either the Korea Strait or the Tsushima Strait. Admiral Rozhestvensky chose the latter one to sail through, simply because it was wider, with more space to maneuver around if his fleet was attacked as his Borodino-class battleships were three knots slower than the Japanese vessels.
Summary
At around 04:00 hours, on the morning of May 27, 1905, a Japanese auxiliary scout cruiser Sinanu Maru discovered the presence of the Russian fleet looming in the mist in the Tsushima Strait. At 13:30 hours, the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet was able to watch the enemy vessels; he had laid a trap for the Russians. As three Japanese ships maneuvered around to lure the enemy, the Russians opened fire and moved in pursuit. However, the Japanese battleships armor withstood the shell impact without perforation and damage. Admiral Togo's warships had already taken position and waited, then they fired their 305-mm naval guns on the Russian vessels.
In this first daylight encounter, the Russian battleship Oslyabya was hit hard several times and was seriously damaged and then it sank. A couple of hours later, the Russian battleship Borodino would also be struck hard by shells fired from the Japanese battleship Fuji; there was an explosion, and then it sank, too. Not only were the Japanese battleships and armored cruisers able to deliver lethal blows on the Russian fleet, but also the torpedo-boats were able to sink Russian vessels. The Battle of Tsushima raged on through the night. The Russian flagship, the battleship Knyaz Suvorov would also be sunk by the Japanese.
By the end of the battle on May 28, a total of 6 Russian battleships and 14 cruisers and destroyers had been sunk, with 5,000 dead sailors and officers. The Russians also suffered the loss of 7 more capital ships, which were captured by the Japanese. Meanwhile, Admiral Togo lost only three torpedo-boats and 117 men. It would take years for the Russian Navy to recover from this defeat.
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| Above, the Japanese battleship Mikasa; the flagship during the Battle of Tsushima. |
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| A map showing the exact location of the Battle of Tsushima, marked in red. |
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| Above, the Russian battleship Orel, which was captured by the Japanese. Notice a 12-inch gun was torn off during the fighting. |