Tsar Michael The Great 12a - February 1904
Wednesday, 21-Feb-01 01:45:06
193.237.181.124 writes:
from 'Ragnarok At Sea - A Naval History of the Twentieth Century'
by Prinz Adalbert von Hohenzollern, Konigsberg 1950'
Major Actions of The Russo-Japanese War of 1904
February
In some ways the first action outside Port Arthur could be seen as a continuity, beginning with the clash of the destroyers on the first evening, and finishing with the
disengagement of the Japanese battlefleet on the morning of the next day. Admiral Togo clearly saw the attack by his main battleline as an integral part of the plan that was to
have begun with the crippling of the major Russian warships as they lay at anchor in the outer roads. Had the destroyers got through the Russian patrols and launched their
torpedoes accurately and en masse then there is little doubt that a significant part of Russia's strengh in the Far East would have been knocked out in that one first blow. The
Japanese battleline on the next day was intended to finish off the job. Hence the continuity.
Of course, things did not work out that way. Admiral Makarov's arrival had brought new energies into the Russian Pacific Fleet, and his appointment of the accomplished
Bezobrazov to the battleship division in place of the aristocratic Prince Ukhtomskii had brought freshness to the immediate defences of the port. Bezobrazov built on his
superior's reforms and instituted procedures that were almost immediately to prove their worth. Similarly, Admiral Makarov's insistence that the coastal defence guns be brought
back to full operational capacity was again to be vindicated almost at once.
As the darkened Japanese destroyers attempted to creep in through the blackness of the night, the patrolling Russian destroyer, Vnushitelni chanced upon one. Failing to receive
a reply to its challenge it opened fire. Soon, the other Russian destroyers were firing on indistinct targets in the darkness. The coast defence batteries opened up in noisy
support, and soon the fray was joined by the ship-of-the-watch, the battleship Pobieda, and also by the Retvisan, flagship of Admiral Bezobrazov.
Three Japanese destroyers were able to get close enough to launch their torpedoes, two of which struck home, damaging the cruiser Pallada and causing the battleship Poltava
to beach herself. The Japanese cruisers came close to cover the withdrawal of the destroyers, but by now heavier ships of the Russian force had added their fire to the melee.
The cruiser TsuShima had her bridge destroyed by surprisingly accurate fire from the Retvisan, and the cruisers persuaded to withdraw. In attempting to give chase to the
Japanese destroyers, the Russian destroyers were in turn driven off by the Japanaese cruisers, the Lieutenant Burakov suffering a hit on her bridge which killed her captain and
all there. The stricken destroyer did, however, manage to limp back to the safety of Port Arthur.
The next morning, Russian observers sighted Japanese warships outside the harbour. These proved to be minelaying craft and their attendant destoyers. The light cruiser Novik,
under the command of Captain von Essen, and several destroyers led by the Burni, one of those to have only recently arrived from Europe, sped out to engage them. Again the
coast defence batteries, perhaps eager to prove to Admiral Makarov that they were fully repentant, opened fire on the Japanese. The surface ships did likewise, though few hits
were achieved at the great range at which they did so. The Japanese began to withdraw, and the Russian force divided, half following the Burni and half the Steregushchi, whilst
the Novik ploughed an independent course in pursuit of a lone Japanese destroyer which attempted to break out to the West.
Whilst the Novik was securing the eventual death of her first victim, the Japanese cruisers which had covered the previous night's enterprise returned in support of the embattled
destroyers and mine-laying craft. They were met by a reckless charge of several further Russian warships which had up-anchored and left the inner harbour. Robert Wiren is a
name that has gone down in history; on the first day of the war he made sure that people would be aware of both himself and his ship,, the armoured cruiser Bayan. With the
flagship of cruisers, the Askold of Admiral Reitzenshtein, in her wake, and joined by the veteran Dmitri Donskoi, and the Pallada, little-affected by the torpedo damage of the
previous night, the Bayan led a charge at the Japanese cruisers.
Though the Japanese outnumbered the Russians they were caught manoevring for position and their formation thrown off by the speed and unexpected ferocity of the Russian
action. The exchange of gunfire was inconclusive, a few hits on either side being scored, but the Russians had disrupted the Japanese cruisers' ability to give proper fire support
to their retreating destroyers, and in addition had rendered the scouting duties of either Japanese force beyond their immediate capacity.
Thus when Admiral Togo brought the main Japanese battleline onto the scene he was lacking for a complete understanding of the situation. His cruisers were in disarray, his
destroyers retreating, and behind the Russian cruisers the main battleline of Admiral Makarov was hauling out of harbour. Admiral Togo had all seven battleships of the
Japanese fleet with him - his flagship Mikasa, her near-sisters Asahi , Shikishima and Hatsuse, the earlier Fuji and Yashima, and the veteran ex-Chinese Chin Yen. In opposition
to this Admiral Makarov was able to bring out his flagship Petropavlosk, her sister Sevastopol, the Peresviet and Tsesarevitch. The Retvisan and Pobieda, both of which had
been taking on ammunition, were hurriedly attempting to join the fleet, whilst the Poltava was beached at the entrance to the harbour, her guns manned in case any enemy craft
should attempt entry.
Admiral Togo, however, lacked complete intelligence on the Russian situation. What he did know was that their fighting spirit clearly had not been broken by the attack of the
previous night and that no major enemy warships appeared to be absent. Exact details were missing, the reports from his scouting forces confused at best. Seeing his advance
units already in the melee of combat, and with the main Russian battleline exiting harbour he chose to disengage after a few desultory exchanges of fire, and withdrew the
Japanese fleet away to the South.
The first fleet-sized engagement of the war thus ended inconclusively. Neither side had suffered any serious losses, but the Russians had retained mastery of the seas before Port
Arthur. The Japanese had failed to wrest this prize from them, but that was not to stop them trying time and time again
Jon' N. Davies