The Tsushima battle of 1905 of the Russian Pacific Flotilla with the Imperial Fleet of Japan suffered a crushing defeat. As a result of the naval battle, the Russian squadron was defeated and destroyed. Most of the warships of Russia were torpedoed by Japanese sailors and scuttled with crew members. Some ships announced their surrender, only four ships returned to the shores of their native harbor. The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) ended with a major military defeat of the Russian fleet off the coast of Tsushima Island (Japan). What are the causes of the defeat and was a different outcome possible?
Military and political situation in the Far East
The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 began with a sudden attack by the combat destroyers of the Japanese fleet on Russian ships stationed on the Port Arthur raid. As a result of the torpedo attack, two heavy artillery ships and one surface ship were damaged. The history of the Far East includes many military operations. All of them were aimed at seizing and redistributing spheres of influence on this site of Russian land.
Japan's desire to dominate Northeast China and the Korean Peninsula was fiercely supported by England and the United States of America. The small allies of Russia, such as France, Germany and others, supported the Russian Emperor Nicholas II in every possible way in the matter of preserving the Russian territories. However, in crucial strategic moments, they nevertheless tried to adhere to neutrality. The assistance of the Allies appeared only when it corresponded to their commercial interests.
Strategic decision making
Constantly increasing attacks by the Japanese of Port Arthur, the main base of the Pacific Fleet of Russia, forced Emperor Nicholas II to take decisive measures. The decision was made in July 1904. To the weakened Pacific squadron for the defeat and destruction of the Japanese fleet was sent from Kronstadt squadron under the leadership of Vice Admiral Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky.
Already on the way, the Baltic ships find out that Port Arthur is taken, and all the ships in the raid are flooded. The Pacific flotilla is destroyed. Such is the maritime history of the Russian Far East. Nevertheless, Nicholas II decides to continue the path of the imperial fleet to the shores of Japan. To strengthen the attacking squadron from the
Baltic Sea , a detachment of warships of Rear Admiral N. I. Nebogatov was sent.
Unequal forces of opponents
The course of the Tsushima battle could be predicted by the number of units of the warring parties. Vice Admiral Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky entered the Pacific Flotilla:
- 8 heavy artillery ships (armadillos) squadrons versus 4 Japanese;
- 3 coastal guard battleships against 6 enemy ships;
- 1 cruiser battleship against 8 units of the Japanese Imperial Navy;
- 8 cruisers versus 16 Japanese cruisers;
- 5 against 24 auxiliary military courts of Japan;
- 9 Russian versus 63 Japanese destroyers.
The obvious military advantage of the Japanese admiral Heihachiro Togo speaks for itself. The experience of warfare of the Japanese fleet exceeded the Russian one in all respects, despite the fact that the history of naval battles in Russia was much richer. Japanese combat shooters skillfully mastered the art of hitting an enemy’s target over long distances, with one target from several ships. The Russian fleet did not have such experience. The main occupation of that period was the imperial parades of marine equipment, which were held annually on the orders of Emperor Nicholas II.
Errors and miscalculations of the Russian admiral
The strategic objective of the sea campaign of Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky was to capture the Sea of Japan. This condition was made by Emperor Nicholas II. However, Z. P. Rozhestvensky saw the following as his operational goal: to break through into Vladivostok by any forces, ignoring the possible losses of his fleet. It is possible that to bypass the Japanese islands from the east would be a strategically correct decision, and the Tsushima naval battle would not have taken place.
But the naval commander chose a different, shorter path. It was decided to go through the straits. The Korean Strait, connecting the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, encircles the island of Tsushima, which, in turn, has two paths: the western passage and the eastern (Tsushima Strait). It was there that the Japanese admiral Haytatiro Togo was waiting for Russian sailors.
All walkways blocked
The commander of the Japanese fleet chose the strategically correct plan for possible hostilities. A patrol chain of ships was organized between the islands, which could notify the commander of possible maneuvers and the approach of Russian ships. At the approaches to Vladivostok, the Japanese prudently put up minefields. Everything is ready for battle. Japanese ships of the Tsushima battle awaited the approach of Russian ships. The commander of the Pacific Fleet refused naval reconnaissance, fearing the discovery of his squadron by enemy reconnaissance cruisers.
Early in the morning, the Tsushima battle, the date of which was May 14, 1905, began.
The obvious outcome of the main battle of the Russo-Japanese War
To send such a motley armada across three oceans seemed to many to be crazy. On this doomed campaign, veterans with worn-out mechanisms, winding hundreds of thousands of nautical miles, and the latest, hastily completed, unsuccessful ships, were sent. Sailors always regard their ships as inanimate intelligent beings. The battleships with the names of eminent commanders seemed to intentionally not want to go to imminent death.
They got stuck on the descent during the slip, drowned right at the factory walls during the repair, ran aground, as if they were giving clear warning signs to their crews.
How not to believe signs?
At the beginning of 1900, the assembly model of the battleship Emperor Alexander III burned down in the workshop. The launch of this ship was marked by the fall of the flagpole with the imperial standard and was accompanied by human casualties.
The battleship “Orel” sank in the civilian harbor, and later several times ran aground, catching up with the squadron in the Gulf of Finland. The battleship "Glory" in general could not send on a campaign.
However, no premonitions were unknown to the high command. September 26, 1904 in Revel (formerly Tallinn) held the highest imperial review. Nicholas II went around all the ships and wished the sailors to reach Port Arthur and join the first squadron of the Pacific Fleet to jointly master the Sea of Japan. A week later, seven battleships, a cruiser, destroyers forever left their native shores. A 220-day trip to Japanese shores with a length of 18 thousand nautical miles has begun.
Unseen circumstances
The main problem faced by the squadron command is the problem with fuel. Under international maritime law of that time, warships of a belligerent could only enter ports of the neutral side for a day. England, which owned most of the loading stations along the squadron, closed its ports to Russian warships.
The supply of the squadron with coal, provisions and fresh water had to be organized right at sea. For repair, a special workshop "Kamchatka" was equipped, equipped with artisan volunteers. By the way, they also shared the fate of sailors. In general, the implementation of a strategic operation of this magnitude deserves the highest rating.
The hardest coal loading on the high seas, the unbearable tropical heat when the temperature in the boiler rooms reached 70º Celsius, the fierce storm at Cape Good Hope - all this did not stop the squadron. None of the ships turned back.
Round the world trip through three oceans
The Russian squadron, like a ghost loomed on the horizon, rarely approaching ports and harbors. The whole world watched her move. International telegraph and telephone lines were overloaded. Correspondents and reporters guarded the squadron along the entire route:
- Port Said (Egypt);
- Djibouti (East Africa);
- Aden (Yemen);
- Dakar (Senegal);
- Conakry (Guinea);
- Cape Town (South Africa).
But all attempts were unsuccessful. The first long parking was in the bay of Masiba (Madagascar). Rear Admiral D.G. von Felkersam’s cruising detachment joined the short route through the Suez Canal. During the exercises in Madagascar, Admiral Z. P. Rozhdestvensky was convinced of the inability of his subordinates to accurately shoot and correctly maneuver.
However, this did not surprise anyone. The crews were formed mostly from recruits and fines. Two months later - a jump across the Indian Ocean. Infinitely tired squadron was met by Chinese fishermen in the straits near Singapore, the Vietnamese in Kamran. The last sea caravan could be seen from Jeju Island by Korean divers for pearls. The Tsushima battle will begin very soon, the date of the death of the squadron was approaching.
The first salvo on the enemy
At 13 hours and 40 minutes, the flagship battleship “Prince Suvorov”, led by Captain 1st Rank V.V. Ignatius, went down to the north-east 23 course. Nine minutes later, his guns opened fire on the Japanese squadron, and another two minutes later flashed flashbacks volleys. Tsushima naval battle began. For most crews, the outcome was clear in Petersburg.
From a letter from the commander of the battleship of the Guards crew “Emperor Alexander III”, Captain 3rd rank N. M. Bukhvustov: “You wish us victory. Needless to say, as we wish her. But there will be no victory. At the same time, I guarantee that we will all die, but we will not give up. ” The commander kept his word and died along with the full composition of the battleship.
Tsushima battle, briefly about the main thing
At 14 hours 15 minutes, exactly thirty-five minutes after the start of the battle, the Oslyabya battleship, led by 1st-rank captain V.I. Baer, with a strong nose stick and a huge fire on the rosters rolled out of service and fell to the port side . Ten minutes later, he disappeared under water, leaving only wooden debris and people floundering in the water.
A few minutes after the Oslyabya’s death, one after another, ships torpedoed by Japanese sailors went out of order.
By 16 o’clock, the battleship “Prince Suvorov”, which was badly mutilated by Japanese shells, failed. Resembling a flaming island, he repelled enemy attacks for about five hours. In the last minutes, the Russian sailors fired from the only surviving three-inch and rifles. The battleship received seven torpedo hits and went under water.
A little earlier, it was possible to remove Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky with headquarters on the destroyer "Violent". In total, 23 people were evacuated. No one else was saved. He commanded a squadron battleship and killed on it the captain of the 1st rank, the talented artist-marine painter Vasily Ignatius.
In general, during the Russo-Japanese War, two remarkable artists died, both graduates of the naval corps and, by strange coincidence, full namesakes. The second artist is Vasily Vereshchagin, who drowned along with the battleship Petropavlovsk off the coast of Port Arthur. Then, at the same time, Admiral S.O. Makarov, who won many naval battles of Russia and was the glory and pride of the Russian fleet, also died. Following the flagship “Prince Suvorov”, the Russian imperial fleet lost:
- "Sisoy the Great" under the command of Captain 1st Rank M. P. Ozerov;
- the battleship "Navarin", led by Captain 1st Rank Baron B. A. Fitingof;
- the cruiser "Admiral Nakhimov", which was subordinate to the later captured Captain 1st Rank A. A. Rodionov;
- squadron battleship Admiral Ushakov, commander of which was Captain 1st Rank V. N. Miklukhin (the ship was the last of the Russian squadron);
- "Admiral Senyavin", headed by the captain of the 1st rank S. I. Grigoriev, who was captured by the Japanese.
The tragedy continues
The Tsushima battle of 1905 carried away more and more the Russian sailors and their ships into the depths of the sea. Another deadly mutilated battleship went under water with all the crew on board. Until the last minute in people - from the commander to the stoker - there was a hope that it would be possible to overcome this terrible Tsushima battle (1905) and the Russian coast would appear on the course of the north-east 23. The main thing is to survive. Many died with this thought. Russian sailors on the following armadillos watched the scene of the death of their comrades. They whispered with black lips from the burning: "Rest their soul, Lord."
The battleship “Emperor Alexander III”, and a little later “Borodino”, died with the entire crew. Miraculously, only one sailor escaped. The outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion. The Tsushima battle of 1905 made us think about the invincibility of the Russian fleet. The next morning, after the night torpedo attacks, the remains of the Russian squadron were surrendered to the Japanese by Rear Admiral N. I. Nebogatov. Subsequently, Admiral Nikolai Ivanovich Nebogatov was sentenced to ten years in prison by decision of the Naval Court of his Imperial Majesty.
The fate of the commander
The commander of the destroyer "Wild", who saved Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky, was the captain of the 2nd rank Nikolai Nikolayevich Kolomiytsev. The fate of this man is very amazing. Before the Russo-Japanese War, he was a prominent hydrograph, traveler, explorer of Taimyr, commander of the icebreaker Yermak. He participated in the Russian polar expedition of Baron Edward Toll. Returning to Russia after Tsushima, where he proved to be one of the best commanders of the Russian fleet, N. N. Kolomiytsev commanded various ships. In World War I he became vice admiral. In 1918 he was arrested by the Bolsheviks and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. In most Soviet-era publications, biographical notes about N. N. Kolomiytsev end with the words: "He died in Petrograd, presumably in 1918." In 1972, his name was assigned to a new hydrographic vessel. Only very recently it became clear that Nikolai Kolomiytsev fled to Finland in 1918. Later he fought on the Black Sea on the side of Baron Wrangel. Then he moved to France, and died in the United States under the wheels of a military truck at the end of 1944. Thus, the ship "Nikolai Kolomiytsev" was the only vessel in the Soviet fleet bearing the name of the White Guard admiral and emigrant.
Historical reference
From the lists of military fleets of that time, two ships of the Tsushima battle participant survived to this day. This is the well-known cruiser Aurora and the Japanese battleship Mikasa, the flagship of Admiral Heihatiro Togo. The armored "Aurora" under Tsushima fired at the enemy about two thousand shells, receiving, in turn, twenty-one hits. The cruiser was seriously damaged, sixteen people from its crew, including the commander, captain of the 1st rank E.R. Egoriev, were killed, another 83 people were injured. Unable to move forward, the Aurora, along with the cruisers Oleg and Zhemchug, disarmed in Manila (Philippines). According to some military experts, participation in the Tsushima battle gives more reason to the cruiser Aurora to serve as a memorial than the famous single shot in October 1917.
In the city of Yokosuke, the battleship Mikasa stands as a museum ship. On it for a very long time on the anniversary of Tsushima there were meetings of veterans, participants in the Russo-Japanese war. The Japanese relate to this historical monument with great reverence.
Memory of the Fallen Sailors at Tsushima
Of the 36 units of the Russian squadron, three came to Vladivostok. The messenger ship Almaz, destroyers Grozny and Bravy. Most of the ships and 5 thousand sailors found eternal peace at the bottom of the Korean Strait near the islands of Tsushima and Dazhelet. The graves of Russian sailors who died from wounds in captivity are still carefully preserved by the Japanese in Nagasaki. In 1910, a snow-white Church of the Savior on Waters, dedicated to the victims of Tsushima, was built in St. Petersburg with folk money and widow's contributions. The temple did not last long, until the mid-30s. The Russo-Japanese War, the Tsushima Battle - these two terms will forever remain in the eternal memory of the Russian people.