Ch 32 - The Russo-Japanese War

Surprise, Surprise

Japanese forces opened hostilities in Korea and Manchuria by landing troops at Inchon while simultaneously launching a naval attack against the Russian East Asia Squadron at Port Arthur.

Throughout the final months of peace in East Asia, Russia and Japan, not to mention most of the Western nations with vested interests in the region, behaved as if China and Korea did not exist. From the outset, Japan had made it clear they could not be reasonably expected to abrogate their right to protect their own vested interests in Korea. Russia's annexation of Chinese territory in Manchuria and Japanese maneuvering for a stronger foothold on the peninsula put Korea in a dangerous vise with no hope of outside help.

In Port Arthur, Vice Admiral Stark had to be contented with ordering routine exercises, since the East Asian Squadron had been directed not to conduct offensive operations against the Japanese. On the evening of February 4, 1904, he signaled ships in the roadstead to "Prepare to repel torpedo attacks." His inert, uninformed ship captains misinterpreted the order to mean yet another training exercise was underway. Two destroyers were sent twenty miles out to sea on patrol as warning pickets. If they spotted anything suspicious they were to return and report to Vice Admiral Stark aboard his flagship, the Petropavlosk. The "exercise" was called off later that evening, but only the torpedo boat crews learned of the cancellation.

The Japanese Imperial Navy's Combined Fleet steamed out of Japan on a dual-purpose mission;  first, to destroy the Russian Pacific Fleet at Port Arthur and Vladivostok and, second, to support the landing of Imperial Army troops and equipment on the Korean and Liaodong peninsulas. The 1st Fleet, under command of Vice Admiral Togo Heihachiro, Commander-in-Chief, was ordered to take the Russian East Asia Squadron at Port Arthur. The 2nd Fleet, under command of Vice Admiral Kamimura Hikonojo, had orders to target the Russian Pacific Fleet at Vladivostok. The 3rd Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Kataoka Shichiro, had orders to escort Japanese shipping and support landing operations for the Imperial Army.

Japanese intelligence information placed Vice Admiral Stark's fleet at anchor in the roadstead just outside the harbor entrance to Port Arthur. In planning his attack, Admiral Togo doubted the Russian ships would still be there after Prince Ito's recall, but if they were, he meant to take full advantage of that fact if at all possible.

Midway through the Yellow Sea, while the main battle fleet pressed northward to Port Arthur, the Japanese 3rd Fleet left the protective cover of Togo's 1st Fleet and turned toward Korea's west coast to provide support for the main event, landing the men and equipment of General Kuroki Tamemoto's 12th Division at Inchon in preparation for the occupation of Seoul.

Rear Admiral Uriu Sotokichi's 2nd Squadron steamed northeastward into the ten-mile long channel that marked the approach to Inchon and the intended landing zone for General Tamemoto's 12th Division. Just before noon, about three miles from Inchon, the Japanese spotted a group of ships riding at anchor;  the Talbot (British), the Pascal (French), the Elba (Italian) and the Vicksburg (American). Also present were the Russian armored cruiser Varyag and the gunboat Korietz, which had been dispatched to Korean waters on special duty at the disposal of the Russian Consul in Seoul. Rear Admiral Uriu felt that if the two Russian ships stayed where they were, they presented no danger to the troop landing. If they chose to attack the transport ships however, the Japanese had more than enough firepower to destroy them both.

Rear Admiral Uriu directed the cruisers Chiyoda, Takachiho and Asama, along with four torpedo boats to escort the three transport ships up the channel and cover the troop landings. Uriu moved his flagship, the Naniwa, and the two armored cruisers Niitaka and Akashi to a point just west of the channel entrance.

General Kuroki's 12th Division and tons of equipment disembarked at Inchon throughout the afternoon and long into the night, well within sight of the two Russian warships. The two ships represented the only Russian military force between Kuroki's troops and the Korean capital. To the surprise of Japanese keeping close watch on the unwelcome visitors, the crews aboard the Varyag and Korietz seemed casual, relaxed and remarkably unconcerned with events ashore.

After completing the troop landings the following morning, the Japanese withdrew from Inchon's harbor, all except the cruiser Chiyoda. The Chiyoda's captain delivered an ultimatum from Admiral Uriu to Captain First Rank Vsevolod Rudnev aboard the armored cruiser Varyag. Admiral Uriu demanded he withdraw from the harbor by noon. Messages were also delivered to the captains aboard each of the four foreign vessels present requesting they move their ships to a safer anchorage.

Captain Rudnev, faced with the overwhelming force of Admiral Uriu's 2nd Squadron, decided not to let himself be trapped and ordered his ship to engage the Japanese cruisers to the southwest. Just after noon, Captain Second Rank Beliaev ordered the gunboat Korietz down the channel, steaming slowly under the big guns of Japanese cruisers. Because of the sad state of repair of so many Russian ships, the Varyag could barely make two-thirds of its maximum speed. Soon after passing the struggling gunboat, the Japanese cruiser Asama opened fire on Captain Rudnev's ship with its 8-inch guns. Firing from a relatively safe distance beyond the range of the Russian's wildly inaccurate return fire, Japanese gunners inflicted heavy damage on the Varyag and casualties on both ships. The two battered vessels limped back to Inchon's harbor and took refuge among the remaining neutral warships. Once there, Captain Rudnev ordered both ships scuttled.

Admiral Togo's main fleet arrived within striking distance of Port Arthur at around 6 o'clock on the evening of February 8, 1904, where it remained, well out of sight. The admiral knew that the Russian Baltic Fleet was already preparing for its voyage to the Far East. He had to successfully destroy the East Asian Squadron at Port Arthur to guarantee the security of communication and supply lines between Japan Korea and China, a goal that was vital to the upcoming Imperial Army operations in Manchuria. The destruction or neutralization of the East Asian Squadron had to be completed as soon as possible to allow sufficient time for repairs and training before the arrival of the Russian Baltic Fleet.

Naval planners gave Admiral Togo three options:  a night torpedo assault if the Russian ships were anchored outside Port Arthur;  sinking ships or laying mines in the channel to the harbor entrance to blockade the port facility;  indirect naval gunfire from beyond the range of Russian coastal guns to draw the Russian ships into a fleet engagement in the Yellow Sea. Based on intelligence gathered from local spies in and around Port Arthur, Togo believed that Russian garrisons and coastal defenses would be fully alerted for a naval attack and that several Russian battleships had already left the harbor. He didn't know it at the time, but his intelligence was faulty. The Russians had no clue of what was coming.

Admiral Togo proposed to deliver a night destroyer attack on any Russian ships found in the roadstead. He would keep his capital ships beyond the range of coastal guns and any potential minefields to provide forward cover for landing operations underway at Inchon. At an evening meeting with destroyer captains aboard his flagship Mikasa, he created two attack groups. The First Flotilla, assigned to attack Port Arthur, included eleven ships from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Destroyer Divisions. The Second Flotilla, tasked with attacking Talien Bay at Dairen, included eight ships from the 4th and 5th Destroyer Divisions.

Togo gave the officers in each division the charts and current intelligence necessary for their mission and ordered them to attack that very night. As for the tactical details of the two-pronged assault, Admiral Togo left that to his division commanders. Before dismissing the meeting, Togo reminded his officers that concealment was paramount. He told them to screen their faint stern lights, prevent funnel sparks that could give away a ship's position and steam at maximum speed only at the moment of attack.

Nineteen 350-ton destroyers of Japan's Imperial Navy soon got underway in the winter darkness. Eleven destroyers headed directly for Port Arthur, while eight destroyers steamed toward the harbor facilities at Dairen, where Admiral Togo believed some of the Russian ships had gone. Togo turned the remaining ships of his First Squadron seaward, intending to follow up the night assault with a fleet attack at daybreak.

Under cover of darkness, the destroyers steamed northward through a driving snowstorm. At about 10:30 p.m., one of the Japanese destroyers sighted the running lights of Vice Admiral Stark's two picket destroyers heading directly toward their position. Quickly changing course, the Japanese formation split up, leaving the two Russian destroyers to steam blindly through the gap, blissfully ignorant of the Japanese presence. The destroyers Oboro and Ikazuchi collided with each other during the rapid evasive maneuvering, which damaged the Oboro's bow. The three Japanese divisions lost contact with each other, but the 1st Destroyer Division continued on course and soon spotted the rotating beacon of the 14 meter high lighthouse atop the western edge of the 466 meter summit of Laotieshan ("Old Iron Mountain"). As the 1st Destroyer Division approached Port Arthur, the Japanese could see the searchlights from Russian ships sweeping the water.

Vice Admiral Stark had no knowledge that diplomatic relations with Japan had broken off two days earlier and his command lay fully exposed outside the harbor entrance, resting peacefully at anchor in three separate lines running east to west in the outer roadstead. Shortly after eleven o'clock that night, the leading destroyers of the Japanese assault force closed on Port Arthur. The probing lights of the battleship Retvizan and the cruiser Pallada, acting as searchlight guards, came plainly in view. With open hostilities less than an hour away, Vice Admiral Stark was entertaining the Port Commandant and Rear Admiral Vilgelm Karlovitch Vitgeft, Chief of the Naval Department at Port Arthur, aboard his flagship, the Petropavlosk.

At about 12:20 a.m., the Japanese destroyers reduced speed and quietly approached the roadstead unobserved under a moonless sky. They closed to a range where they could just make out the outlines of several large ships. At that point, the flotilla commander gave the order to attack. The dark sea churned as the destroyers got up to full speed in a headlong rush towards their targets.

As the searchlight aboard the armored cruiser Pallada swept seaward, a watch officer aboard the battleship Retvizan spotted two of the onrushing attackers and immediately ordered the crew to battle stations. At 12:28 a.m., in the time it took the sleeping gun-crews to awaken and stumble to their weapons, the lead Japanese destroyer closed on the Retvizan. At a range of about seven hundred yards the destroyer fired a single torpedo that blew a six-foot hole in the port-side of the battleship just ahead of the forward gun turret. Plunged into sudden darkness, the Retvizan quickly began taking on water. The second destroyer, steaming down the wake of the lead ship, fired a torpedo toward the Pallada, then turned away at high speed.

Within ten minutes the armored cruiser Pallada sounded the alarm. Because of the order for a "training exercise" earlier that evening however, the captain was unsure whether the destroyers were friend or foe. Contributing to the confusion was the fact one of the attacking destroyers appeared to display the identification number of a Russian torpedo boat scheduled to take part in the exercise. Even with its crew at battle stations, the Pallada's gunners hesitated to open fire. Six more torpedoes were launched in rapid succession, only two of which found their mark;  one struck the Pallada, punching a seven-foot hole amidship and detonating a number of 12 pound shells;  the second torpedo hit the battleship Tsarevitch some 80 feet forward of the stern on the port side, damaging the ship's steering gear. By the time Russian guns finally went into action, the Japanese vanguard had already turned about and was heading seaward at high speed.

The Japanese caught the Russian Far East Squadron by total surprise and attacked an anchored fleet sitting with its lights burning, its guns unmanned, having full navigational facilities available, and no booms or torpedo nets deployed. The roadstead was ablaze with searchlights and shell bursts from the wild and furious fire erupting from the Russian ships. By the time the 2nd and 3rd Destroyer Divisions arrived at Port Arthur, the element of surprise was gone. Each of the destroyers attacked individually instead of by division.

The Russians, now wide awake, responded to each of four attempts made by the Japanese to launch torpedoes against the moored ships with an ever increasing intensity of gunfire. The mountainous splashes of exploding shells and an occasional hit had the further effect of intimidating even the most daring ship captain from venturing too close. The blinding searchlights and bitter icy wind that swept the exposed bridges of the destroyers blurred vision, numbed thought and made targeting increasingly difficult. Although the destroyer Sazanami did manage to close to within 800 yards of its target, the ferocity of the battle forced later attackers to launch torpedoes from a near maximum range of about 1,600 yards. The bow-damaged destroyer Oboro, the last to arrive at Port Arthur, made the last torpedo run at 2:00 a.m. and missed. Because the destroyers had no radio contact with Togo's main fleet, the limited success of the initial attack was not reported until much later that night.

Just as it had done to China ten years earlier, without an ultimatum or declaration of war, Japan struck the first blow. The war was underway. The initial assault against Port Arthur was audacious in concept, but the results were hardly worth the effort. Sixteen torpedoes were fired. Except for the earlier three hits on the Retvizan, the Pallada and the Tsarevitch, no further torpedo hits were made and no ships were sunk. Still, the Japanese took two of the best Russian battleships out of action for weeks and badly damaged one of its armored cruisers.

The Retvizan and Tsarevitch managed to get up steam after the surprise attack, but they had taken on so much water from torpedo damage that both ended up hard aground. The Pallada managed to maneuver under its own power to shallow water close to shore where it was anchored. Initial results were disappointing to the Japanese, but the psychological effect of the torpedo attack had a significant impact on Russian morale. Two ships of the line were out of commission and there were no drydock facilities at Port Arthur that could handle them. To men already suffering low morale under the inept leadership of Vice Admiral Stark, the entire episode was seen as a Russian disaster.

At dawn on the morning of February 9, Admiral Togo brought the main Japanese fleet into position off Port Arthur. Unwilling to press for a close-in attack and place his ships at great risk, Togo opened fire at near maximum range to avoid the reach of Russian shore batteries. Neither side inflicted much damage to the other during the morning exchange and casualties were light. The Russians managed to bring the Tsarevitch and Pallada under tow and placed the damaged ships into slipways for repairs. The wounded battleship Retvizan remained grounded at the mouth of the ship channel and resisted all efforts to refloat it. The ship was not moved into the harbor for almost a month.

Once Admiral Togo realized the Russians were not going to leave the protective umbrella of their shore-based guns, he broke off his engagement and retired to his war anchorage north of Inchon. From there, he ordered patrolling cruisers and destroyers to keep close watch on events at Dairen and Port Arthur.

The indecisive naval battle gained Japan the opening advantage by effectively sealing the East Asia Squadron in Port Arthur and forcing the Russians into a defensive posture. Of greater value, the first twelve hours of the Russo-Japanese War provided Japan with an invaluable piece of information. The fact that the East Asia Squadron refused to leave the protection of its shore guns made it more than evident they had no intention of taking the offensive against Admiral Togo on the open sea. Two days later, on February 10, 1904, Japan declared war on Russia .

Vice Admiral Stark bore the full blame for Russia's lack of preparedness. Once the Admiralty in St. Petersburg got word of the Port Arthur squadron's lack of training and preparation, they decided to send Russia's most capable and efficient naval officer to the Far East to assume Vice Admiral Stark's command and straighten things out.

Vice Admiral Stefan Ossipovitch Makarov took command of the East Asian Squadron on March 8, 1904. His reputation as an inspired and effective naval leader dated back to the 1878 Russo-Turkish War and he had authored a scholarly book on marine surveying and naval tactics that had a large following. It was rumored that even Admiral Togo had a copy of Makarov's book.

Vice Admiral Makarov's arrival produced an almost immediate change in the morale and operational capability of the Russian fleet. He brought not only skilled shipfitters and mechanics to expedite ship repairs, but news that a Russian relief squadron was enroute from the Baltic Sea. His "can do" personality and his "colossal energy" quickly erased the apathy and depression at Port Arthur. Realizing that his forces were inferior to Japan in every respect except in the number of battleships, Makarov stepped up training, accelerated repairs, overhauled security precautions and, in short order, infused a new energy and fighting ability into the East Asian Squadron.

Unlike his predecessor, Makarov intended to pursue an offensive strategy and challenge Japan for command of the Yellow Sea. He told his senior officers that his new policy would be to carefully conserve his ships and resources until reinforcements arrived. In the meantime, the fleer would attack the Japanese as best they could and wear down their strength.

It was not long before the watchful Japanese noticed a major change had taken place at Port Arthur. Admiral Togo realized he could no longer leisurely cruise nearby waters unchallenged. Now, whenever Japanese warships approached the area, Makarov quickly dispatched ships out to meet them and each time the Japanese would retire. For the first time in his long career, Togo confronted an opponent whose qualifications for command equalled his own.

As Vice Admiral Stefan Makarov became more successful in his efforts to turn around the East Asian Squadron, Admiral Togo found it increasingly difficult to thwart the rising Russian aggressiveness. Ever watchful for any opportunity, patrolling Japanese cruisers took note of the fact that the Russians followed certain fixed courses through the outer roadstead and vicinity whenever they sailed from or entered Port Arthur. The Japanese correctly guessed it was to avoid Russian-laid minefields. Togo then devised a clever plan wherein his destroyers would sow mines at night along these sailing tracks, then try to entice the Russian battleships out of the harbor with close-in daylight destroyer reconnaissance patrols supported by his cruisers further out to sea.

The Russians had seen nothing of the Japanese fleet for nearly two weeks. Suspicious that something was amiss, Admiral Makarov ordered all his destroyers out of Port Arthur on the evening of April 12 on a patrol some 60 to 70 miles eastward near the Elliot Islands to search for the Japanese. The protected cruiser Askold would steam out the next morning to cover their return. The cruiser was chose because it was the only five-funneled warship in the Far East and could be easily recognized without any signals, even in the dark.

That same evening, under a heavy overcast in weather that varied between drizzle and a light rain, a Japanese mining detachment carefully laid two separate minefields at either end of the outer roadstead where Russian ships had always been spotted moving under the 6 to 7 mile umbrella of their coastal gun batteries. One field would catch the Russians if they steamed eastward, the other would catch them if the steamed west around the Laotieshan lighthouse.

At 10:30 p.m., lookouts aboard the armored cruiser Diana, anchored in the roadstead, spotted what they thought might be ships about 2 miles distant to the southeast, just beyond their searchlight's beam. The light rain rendered their field of view somewhat opaque, but the shadowy outlines "sometimes lay motionless, sometimes moved backwards and forwards on the same spot." Unable to identify the vessels, Admiral Makarov decided they were probably his own destroyers just "pottering about in front of Port Arthur." In a somewhat prophetic statement to the Diana's captain, Makarov said, "Note the bearing and distance very carefully. If these turn out not to be our boats, we must certainly search the place very carefully tomorrow. Possibly something unpleasant for us has been dropped there."

With his trap set, Togo waited. At 4:15 a.m. on the morning of April 13, several smoke columns from the returning Russian destroyers appeared on the eastern horizon. During the night, several of the ships got separated from the patrol. At 5:25 a.m., distant gunfire rumbled across the roadstead and flashes of gunfire could be seen to the southeast. The Russians could not tell who was firing at whom, but from the sound they assumed it was a destroyer battle.

As it happened, the Russian destroyer Strashny got separated from the patrol during the night and, while trying to find its sister ships, encountered six Japanese destroyers. The Strashny joined up with the Japanese and continued to steam with them throughout the night. At first light, the Japanese discovered their unwelcome visitor and a desperate battle began at very close quarters.

The cruiser Askold was not yet ready for sea, so Admiral Makarov ordered the armored cruiser Bayan out of Port Arthur. The cruiser Diana also set out to sea, but without orders. By the time the Bayan reached the area, the Strashny had sunk and the Japanese destroyers had turned away to the south. Captain Wiren immediately positioned the Bayan to cover the rescue of survivors from the Strashny. Sitting still in the water with its boats lowered, the armored cruiser made a tempting target for Admiral Dewa's four cruisers steaming at high speed from the south.

By the time the cruisers Askold and Novik had joined the Diana to cover the rescue, the destroyer patrol had safely entered the harbor and the Bayan was underway back to Port Arthur. At about 7:15 a.m., the battleship Petropavlosk steamed out of the harbor, followed by the battleship Poltava. Captain Wiren signaled what he had seen and that he wasn't sure if he had saved everyone in the water. Vice Admiral Makarov ordered his ships into a single line formed on the Bayan, which led the squadron back to the spot where the Strashny had been sunk.

At 8:00 a.m., as the Russian warships Bayan, Petropavlovsk, Poltava, Askold, Diana, and Novik steamed southward in line ahead formation, Admiral Dewa's cruisers appeared out of the morning mist to the south. Having drawn the Russians nearly 15 miles outside the roadstead at Port Arthur, after a short, long range exchange of gunfire, Admiral Dewa suddenly turned his ships southward in a feigned retreat. The rest of the East Asian Squadron was now steaming out of Port Arthur.

At 8.40 a.m., an advancing battle group of six Japanese battleships and two heavy cruisers appeared out of the mist along with Admiral Dewa's four armored cruisers and headed straight for the Russian line. Admiral Makarov, realizing he was outnumbered and outgunned, ordered his ships to turn back toward Port Arthur. Within twenty minutes, the Japanese closed to within approximately 7,500 yards of the cruiser Novik, steaming at the tail of the Russian line. The Novik's 6-inch guns were sighted and trained on the lead Japanese battleship, just waiting for orders to commence firing. The orders never came.

Just after 9:30 a.m., when the Russians steamed within range of their coastal guns, the Japanese suddenly broke off the chase, turned to the west and slowly steamed behind the Laotieshan lighthouse as if to commence their usual shore bombardment. The Russian ships began their usual "figure eight" approach into Port Arthur, without a second thought as to the previous night's activity. The harried morning action had blurred all thought of the suspicious shadows seen last night precisely along the path the Russians were now following. Worse, no one remembered to search that area, as Admiral Makarov had ordered, to see if "something unpleasant for us has been dropped there."

According to Vladimir Semenoff, a sailor aboard the cruiser Diana, at 9:43 a.m., just two miles outside the harbor entrance, a loud explosion rocked the battleship Petropavlosk as it struck a floating Japanese mine. The battleship Poltava also struck a mine, but was not seriously damaged. Within moments, a second explosion tore the Petropavlosk nearly in half. As the massive ship began to sink, the cold sea water flooding the engine room caused its boilers to explode in a flash of steam and flames. Within a minute the ship was gone. Vice Admiral Stefan Makarov, 32 other officers and some 600 sailors died in the explosions. The loss was disastrous for Russia.

On April 17, the East Asian Squadron was renamed the 1st Pacific Squadron and Rear Admiral Vilgelm Vitgeft, Chief of the Naval Department at Port Arthur, was appointed temporary commander to replace Admiral Makarov. He had none of Makarov's fighting spirit and the Japanese had no reason to fear the man. The severe psychological impact of the loss of Admiral Makarov and Admiral Vitgeft's decision to put the Russian squadron in a strictly defensive posture had the immediate effect of sealing the harbor at Port Arthur. Never again would the Russians assume an aggressive stance in the Yellow Sea. The 1st Pacific Squadron would not attempt to leave the anchorage again until directly ordered to do so.

From the glowing reports received from his patrolling destroyers, Admiral Togo came to the belief that his purpose had been achieved. The Russians were bottled up in Port Arthur and Japan had complete command of the Yellow Sea. There was an almost palpable sense of relief in Tokyo when Togo reported this situation. With the fate of the Russian navy at Port Arthur sealed, Japan felt an expanded sense of freedom, a freedom to concentrate its attention on the more important matter of Korea.