Tsushima 1905: Death of a Russian FleetA highly illustrated study of the naval campaign of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 05, focusing on the decisive battle of Tsushima. Japan was closed to the world until 1854 and its technology then was literally medieval. Great Britain, France and Russia divided the globe in the nineteenth century, but Japan was catching up. Its army and navy were retrained by Western powers and equipped with the latest weapons and ships. Japan wanted to further emulate its European mentors and establish a protectorate over Korea, yet Japanese efforts were blocked by Imperial Russia who had their own designs on the peninsula. The Russo-Japanese War started with a surprise Japanese naval attack against an anchored enemy fleet still believing itself at peace. It ended with the Battle of Tsushima, the most decisive surface naval battle of the 20th century. This gripping study describes this pivotal battle, and shows how the Japanese victory over Russia led to the development of the dreadnought battleship, and gave rise to an almost mythical belief in Japanese naval invincibility. |
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1st Division 1st Pacific Squadron 2nd Division 2nd Pacific Squadron 3rd Pacific aboard Almaz armed merchant cruisers armoured cruisers Asahi attack Battle of Tsushima Britain Chemulpo Combined Fleet crew Cruiser Division damage destroyers Division Rear Admiral Dmitri Donskoi fire flagship Folkersam gunboat guns harbour Hatsuse Imperial Japanese Navy Imperial Russian Navy Independent Cruiser Squadron Izumrud Japanese battleships Japanese cruisers Japanese destroyers Japanese fleet Kniaz Suvorov Korea Korietz Liaodong Peninsula Makarov Manchuria Maru Mikasa Nebogatov Novik Oslyabya Peresvyet Perouse Strait Petropavlovsk Pobeda Port Arthur protected cruisers reach Vladivostok Retvizan Rozhestvensky Rurik Russian 2nd Pacific Russian battleships Russian cruisers Russian fleet Russian Pacific Fleet Russian ships Russian warships Russo-Japanese Russo-Japanese War sank scuttled Sea of Japan sinks Sisoi Veliky sortie St Petersburg steam sunk Togo Togo’s torpedo boats Torpedo boats Number Torpedo-boat Division Lieutenant-Commander Tsesarevich Tsushima Strait USNHHC vessels Vice Admiral Vitgeft Vladimir Monomakh Vladivostok Vladivostok Independent Cruiser Yashima Yellow Sea