Name: 海軍傳奇--對馬之戰 (Naval Legends - Battle of Tsushima)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T05:57:24.000Z
Duration: 17 min 46 s
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endured tragedies and enjoyed victories…

they went down in history due to the bravery of their crews…

they are the ships that deserve to be called

In a Japanese town Yokosuka, 62  miles  away from Tokyo,

Battleship Mikasa is permanently anchored.

And four thousand marine miles away from her,

cruiser Aurora is anchored in one of the quays   of the Neva River in St. Petersburg

Although these ships belong to different types  and their stories are very different,

there is a common moment in their biography:

both ships participated in a major naval battle, the Battle of Tsushima,

that was the culmination of the Russo-Japanese War

In 1895, Japan defeated China and occupied the Liaodong Peninsula

where a warm-water seaport, Port Arthur was located.

This port was very important for the Russian Empire.

Russia used military and political pressure to make Japan renounce that peninsula,

and later signed a contract of lease of that territory with China for 25 years.

Using the opportunity of the Yihetuan Movement,  also known as the Boxer Rebellion,

Russia expanded into Manchuria and Korea.

The Japanese were very worriedby the expansion policy

and decided to start preparations to reinforce their fleet.

Within seven years, the Japanese fleet was reinforced  by four new cruisers and four battleships.

Battleship Mikasa, built in British dockyards,

became the most powerful new ship of the Land of the Rising Sun.

Cruiser Aurora was built in Russia during the same period.

This was just a small part of a large scale program  aimed at enhancing the country's military potential at sea:

But they failed to fully implement the program:

on February 9, 1904, Japanese ships attacked Russian fleet near Port Arthur.

They also attacked Cruiser Varyag and Gunboat Korietz in the Korean port Chemulpo

From the first days, this war was unfortunate for Russia:

Varyag and Korietz were sunk, and the Russian Pacific Squadron

was blocked in Port Arthur by the Japanese fleet.

After a little while, Battleship Petropavlovsk tripped a mine and sank

with the Fleet Commander—Vice Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov

on whom high hopes were placed—on board.

Later the battle in the Yellow sea developed  and though the Japanese suffered significant losses,

they didn't let the Russian ships break through to Vladivostok

Due to all of this, the Japanese fleet dominated in the theatre of war.

In April 1904, Russia started the formation of the Second Pacific Squadron:

for the first time in the history of the world fleets, a menacing unit of over 30 warships of different classes and age

from Libau (now Liepaja) to Port Arthur,  round Africa and crossing the Indian Ocean.

Overall, about 20,000 miles were covered—

this is almost the length of the equator.

The conditions were very severe as we didn't have any naval bases.

And we didn't have allies to help us throughout the voyage…

During this unprecedented crossing, the Russian seamen heard about the loss of the First Squadron

and were reinforced with ships under the command of Rear Admiral Nebogatov

With this lineup, the Second Pacific Squadron entered the Korea Strait.

Its Commander—Vice Admiral Rozhestvensky— decided to take a shortcut to break through to Vladivostok…

Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky was born in 1848.

He had experience commanding a number of Russian ships,

he knew naval diplomacy perfectly well, he was the right person in the right place…

To understand his role, you need to know a lot

and experience the bridge of a Headquarter ship in that moment.

The Russian fleet didn't even try to hide: Rozhestvensky simply declared war.

He even gave up on reconnaissance because he was sure that Japanese warships would meet them in the Korea Strait.

Soon ships from the combined fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy

They pursued a parallel course and were commanded by Vice Admiral Togo Heihachiro

who appointed Battleship Mikasa to be the Headquarter ship.

Togo Heihachiro was born into a Samurai family of Kagoshima

When he was 18 years old, he participated

in the Anglo-Satsuma War as one of Samurai.

Then, after the establishment of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy,

he enrolled there to study the theory of naval science.

Selected from the lower Samurai class, Togo quickly progressed in life

and managed to attain a high rank whilst fighting several battles.

He knew the real nature of war from his experience.

When Admiral Togo was assigned to the commander  of the combined fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy,

Emperor Meiji asked his Navy Minister:  “Is Togo good enough for this position?”

"Yes, because he has a great deal of personality  and is known as a very lucky guy".

The Emperor was satisfied with that comment.

Overall composition of the participants' forces before the Battle of Tsushima.

The Second Pacific Squadron of the Russian Empire:

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海軍傳奇--對馬之戰 (Naval Legends - Battle of Tsushima)

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