The Boss

Commander of the Russian Second Pacific Squadron, Zinovi Petrovich Rhozdestvensky. Likely this photo was taken after Tsushima as his beard has been trimmed. Contemporary photos show him with a long white beard, as befitting a Tsarist senior military officer.

Rhozdestvensky's early career was blighted. Allegedly, he invented a battle with a Turkish gunboat, which he claimed to have sunk. Later research proved no such battle took place.

He was gunnery specialist and commander of the Baltic Fleet in 1904.

There's no doubt he was a hard driver with a blistering temper. He had no problem firing a live round across the bows of any of his command who displeased him. He was prone to episodes of despair, however, and who could blame him? He'd shut himself away for days on end - particularly at Nossi Be where the fleet paused on its journey around the world.

He was given almost an impossible set of orders - to sail the Baltic Fleet around the world and beat the Japanese. It was a bold move by the Russians, but also displayed breathtaking arrogance.

The Tsar constantly referred to the Japanese as 'little yellow monkeys' who needed to be 'tamed.' The Russo-Japanese War was going to be a 'short victorious war' to divert Russia from its problems. Proconsul in the Far East, Alexiev, was a champagne diplomat and vacillator but Russia's most experienced military commander, Kuropatkin, described the war as 'folly.' He should have been listened to.

Russian Intelligence wildly underestimated both the size and efficiency of the Japanese armed forces. They took no heed of the circumstances of the Japanese defeat of the Chinese in 1894. The Japanese attacked without a formal declaration of war - an obvious lesson. Port Arthur was virtually undefended while Russia poured millions into the civilian port of Dalny - a strategic mistake.

After Port Arthur's loss, Rhozdestvensky should have been recalled or his fleet made to wait at Cam Ranh Bay. But the Admiral was being pushed on by an Admiralty living in a fantasy. The Tsar needed a victory, no matter how unlikely that was going to be.

The decision to encumber the Admiral with Nebogatov's third squadron showed the Russian autocracy was dominated by military thinking, not naval. Increasing numbers by swelling your fleet with old and obsolete hulls might make some military sense but was a crazy idea at sea. Inferior troops could be left to hold a strong position while your elite units used in maneuvre. No such option exists in a naval battle. Your slowest ships set the speed of the fleet - and Rhozdestvensky was held to 9 knots by his auto sinkers and transports. That handed Togo the freedom to maneuvre.

Rhozdestvensky was criticised for steering his first division across the bows of the second to get at Togo's point of turn. In hindsight, it was the best chance he had of damaging the Japanese. With Suvorov disabled and the Admiral unconscious, it was all over after 15 minutes and it was his subordinates who tried to recover the situation.

After the debacle, Rhozdventsky, now in poor health with a scrap of iron in his head, fiercely defended Nebogatov and those of his captains who surrendered. Risking the firing squad himself, he took all the responsibility upon himself and ultimately influenced the Tsar to get them released. He died soon after in 1909.

Don

Danish Nobleman

Boyarin (Noblemen) 3rd rank protected cruiser built in Denmark in 1902. She was at Port Arthur and sank after striking a mine early on in the siege.

Don

A Bad Hand

Orel. The fourth ship of the Borodino class seemed to have been dogged by ill-luck from the outset. Revolutionaries sabotaged her engines by tipping iron filings into the bearing cases before she set out with Rhozdventsky. Orel broke down at least four times on her journey around the world.

Named after a fortress town in Southern Russia. Orel's crew consisted of more agents provocateur than the rest of the fleet put together.

Following the Battle of Tsushima, she was found by the Japanese abandoned with white flags at her mastheads on the morning of the 28th. Her crew were in the boats, drifting nearby. Orel was towed back to Japan for extensive repairs including the removal of one of her decks to improve stability.

Mystery still surrounds her tame surrender. Her captain was tried by courts marshal and, in his defense, claimed he had no confidence in the crew. He and Admiral Nebogatov were sent to prison, but their sentences were commuted after three years or so.

Although she was unable to raise steam when the Japanese came upon her, the suspicion is that her own crew sabotaged her to prevent the captain from continuing the fight.

Don

The Baltic Bard

Bayan (Bard or Poet) Armoured cruiser. By this, the fourth class of armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy, they were starting to get it together. Four were built, Bayan, Admiral Makarov, Bayan II, and Pallada II.

Bayan was with the first Pacific Squadron in 1904 and was sunk, raised, and incorporated into the Japanese Navy. The name was shifted to the third vessel of the class and, I suspect, the photo above is the second Bayan. Pallada II must not be confused with the earlier Pallada of the Aurora class, again, bottomed at Port Arthur.

The Bayans were designed from the outset as fleet scouts rather than commerce raiders, as the three previous classes were. The first two were built in France and, although two thirds the displacement, were just as powerful as Gromoboi and faster.

Bayan became the IJN's Aso and served on under the Japanese flag until 1930.

All three survivors served in the Baltic in WW1. Pallada II was torpedoed in 1914 by U-26. Bayan II and Makarov fought at the Battle of Moon Sound, participated in the famous Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet and were scrapped in Germany in 1922.

Pallada was named after the Greek Goddess, Pallas Athena - Makarov after Admiral Stepan Makarov who went down in the Petropavlovsk.

Don

Baltic Battler

Dimitri Donskoi, below as a trailer sailer with modified ship rig, about 1898. Square rigged, she could hoist lateens on all three masts if needed. Above, her running rigging had been stripped, about 1900, and here she wears Rhozdventsky's livery.
The Donskoi's final battle was remarkable for such an old ship. She'd been built in 1888 and was by no means in the peak of fitness for the battle of Tsushima. Nevertheless, she made an heroic final stand - holding off Japanese torpedo boats - until late on the 29th, when her crew blew her up to avoid capture.

The name Dimitri Donskoi is still held in high esteem and the modern Russian navy named one of the surviving 'Akula' class, ballistic missile submarines in her honour. (ie, 'Typhoon class' by NATO nomenclature)

Don

Coastal Flatiron

General Admiral Ushakov, a coast defence ship forming part of Admiral Nebogatov's third Battleship Squadron at Tsushima. They were variously dubbed, 'auto sinkers' or 'flatirons,' because of their low freeboard, beamy raft bodies.

Nebogatov had three of them, and not a lot was expected of them. Commander Klado, who sold the idea of their inclusion to the Russian Admiralty, opined they would be useful for 'diffusing Japanese fire' - tough break for the poor crews who had to provide target practice for Togo.

In any case, their old fashioned 305mm guns hadn't the elevation to compete in range with Togo's battleships. They did their best, particularly early on, and Nebogatov was a determined customer with crews who, in the main, had never gone to sea before.

Ushakov, reputably, landed a hit on one of Kamimura's armoured cruisers, the Nisshin, and set it on fire.

They were small ships, even for their day, fractionally under 5000 tons, with shallow drafts for defending harbours and river mouths. Built in 1895, a triple expansion engine pushed them along at 15 knots - if they were lucky.

Ushakov became detached from the squadron during the night of the 27th May and refused to surrender when called on by Togo. She took three damaging hits, two below the waterline and one above, and, blazing from end to end, opened her seacocks and sank herself.

Her sisters, Seniavin and Apraxin, surrendered and were taken into service by the Japanese.


Note: All images in this blog were published before 1st January 1954 and so considered in the public domain according to Russian Copyright Law.

Don

Baltic Oddity

The Navarin, 3rd battleship of the 2nd Division, 2nd Russian Pacific Squadron of Admiral Zinoviev Rhozdventsky - lost to Japanese floating mines, Tsushima Strait, the night of 27th May, 1905.

Navarin was built in the early 1880s, Galernyy Yard, St Petersburg, Imperial Russia. Her designers modeled her on HMS Trafalgar, built late the previous decade.

Navarin and Sissoi Veliki sailed with the fleet on the mistaken belief the Japanese under Admiral Togo Heichiro had 6 modern battleships. Navarin was sent to make up the numbers - nothing more.

Ironically, Togo had been whittled down to four following the loss of two of his battleships to Russian mines outside Port Arthur. It was Togo who worried the Russians outgunned him and therefore made the dubious decision to flesh out the battlefleet with his armoured cruisers.

Don

Colonial Policeman

Yes, the Koryetz (Korean) on the beat. She's shown late 19th century with a French courtesy flag at her mainmast.

It's a fairly typical example of a late 19th century colonial gunboat - the sort built to enforce European colonial laws and domination in the 'uncivilised' areas of the world.

The Koryetz and her sisters were built in Denmark from the late 1870s/ late 1880s. She was equipped with two 8" black powder cannon - limited in range - for knocking down native forts and such. She had a shallow enough draft to go up large rivers and a good spread of sail for those times when coal was in short supply. Was she a steamer with auxiliary sails or a sail boat with an auxiliary steam engine? Either way, those hybrids had the same problem when it came to arming them with guns.

The best place for a gun is on the deck with as wide a field of fire as possible. With a sailer, shrouds, stays and ratlines are going to get in the way of your swivel gun or turret. The Koryetz's answer to this problem was to have two and move them outboard on sponsons (a kind of outrigger) This gave each a 180 deg arc, port and starboard, but, of course, they couldn't be used together as firing across the deck will blow away all those shrouds, etc. Therefore, a two gun ship becomes a single gun ship when firing broadside - inefficient.

Firing end on - possible with guns on sponsons - will likely damage your jib stays and other rigging for'ard.

This problem was why the old sailer/ steamers clung to the broadside, ie, short barreled, seried guns firing through traps in the hull. Swivel guns on the maindecks got in the way of all those sails and ropes.

But, short barreled guns, particularly those firing through traps, only had a short range. There was only limited elevation possible - unless you made the traps so large you exposed the crew - so they fired in a flat trajectory.

This worried large colonial powers, such as Britain, because, her ships were needed to cross oceans and therefore, until steam became more reliable and efficient, Royal Navy ships had to carry sails. These constraints didn't bother those countries whose ships only needed to leave the harbour and cruise for a day up the coast. Those vessels didn't have to carry sails and, so, they could afford to place their guns wherever they liked.

Turrets were the obvious choice and, with the breechloader, they could have as big a calibre as could fit on the hull. British yards made a couple of turret ships for the Dutch in the 1860s, that horrified the British Admiralty.

The Dutch ships carried shell guns on revolving turrets (2 guns) that potentially would've happily blown holes in ships like HMS Warrior on the displacement of a harbour tugboat. Unfettered by sails, they relied on steam alone and their uncluttered decks allowed the turret a whopping 230degs of arc.

Unlike Civil War monitors, the Dutch ships were seagoing and, if Britain and Holland had been at war, could've sailed up and down the coast of Britain sinking whatever they chose. Not a pleasant thought for a country dependent on its sea trade.

But Britain had the services of William White - the finest naval architect of his generation. The French had Dupuy de Lome, the Italians, Bernedetto Brin and together they revolutionised the steam warship - more on these later.

Don

The famous Aurora

Aurora, of the Pallada class, and another of Enkvist's cruisers at the battle of Tsushima. Here she is shown during - my guess - 1927, after she'd been awarded the Order of the Red Banner. On the stern can be seen the Soviet ensign in use between 1923 and 1935.

Her sisters Pallada and Diana were at Port Arthur. Pallada was sunk, raised and taken into the Japanese Navy. Diana escaped the Battle of the Yellow Sea to intern herself at Saigon under the French.

Aurora was interned along with Oleg and Zhemchug by the Americans in Manila following Tsushima in accordance with international treaties. She had a fairly innocuous record after that until October 1917.

Her refusal to follow the orders of the Provisional Government is credited with starting the Russian Revolution. Reputedly, she fired on the Winter Palace in Petrograd - although they're now widely believed to have been blanks.

She's now parked by the banks of the river Neva in St Petersburg as a museum ship.

Don

Oslyabya

Oslyabya, of the Peresviet class. She was a Tsushima ship - flagship of the Second Battleship Division under Vice Admiral Felkerzam. Felkerzam had succumbed to an angina attack days before the battle and he was packed in ice in a box in his cabin.

Rhozdventsky didn't release the news of Felkerzam's death in case it caused a loss of morale. That meant the Oslyabya's captain, Vladimir Ber, was de-facto admiral, as the others of the division looked to the flagship for orders.

If you look at the prow you can see what looks to be a bowsprit. Actually, it was a bow chaser gun that fired through clamshell doors - a perfectly useless place to put a gun, a hangover from fighting sail. Japanese Battleship Asahi hit her there with a 12" shell and likely detonated the magazine. Oslyabya sank very quickly - the first steel battleship to be sunk by gunfire alone.

Probably - I'm guessing here - the explosion blew out a large portion of her bottom beside disintegrating her bow section. The momentum of the ship pushed her down until there was enough flooding to cause her to capsize.

Don

Baltic Jewel

Izumrud (Emerald) the other of Russia's fast, German-built, 3rd rank protected cruisers. They were a development of the Novik, and were really light cruisers. This is certainly the best photo of seen of either, and its Germanic lines are seen to advantage.

Arguably, the Russian Admiralty displayed a willingness to innovate in a lot of things. Not, unfortunately, in it's appalling corruption and nepotism. The Admiralty mirrored all that was rotten in the Russian autocracy, however, not quite to that of the army.

Russia was always seen as a land power first. Although the Russian navy was founded by Peter the Great, and so gave little away in antiquity and tradition, it had nothing on, say, the British, Spanish or Portugese. Japan's Imperial Navy was only in existence 70 years, yet it defeated the Chinese, Russians, took Tsingtao off the Germans, bloodied the US Pacific Fleet in its own harbour, wiped out a combined British, Dutch, American and Australian squadron off Java and generally caused mayhem for a year and a half until taken down by ridiculously long odds.

Russian ships of the line slaughtered a Turkish fleet of Frigates and Sloops at Navarino? Big deal - the Turks were anchored in a bay, for Allah's sake, it was a turkey shoot! (ahem)

In the Crimean war, Russia found its coastlines fatally vulnerable. A British/French fleet led by Admiral Napier ranged at will along the coast of Russian Finland, sinking anything with a Russian flag. British Marines took the island fortress of Bomarsund right under the Russian Baltic fleet's noses, while Russian warships cowered in harbour.

In the Black Sea, British and French warships came and went at will, landing soldiers and bombarding Russian forts, while the Black Sea fleet sat anchored at Sevastopol.What was the problem?

Many!

First, although Russia had a lot of forests, they grew the wrong sort of timber for which to build ships. The US had the same problem, lack of seasoned oak, and built their's from spruce instead.

Secondly, Russians didn't take to the sea in vast numbers and there was a lack of trained seamen. This problem got worse the higher up the ladder one went. It's no accident that senior Russian Naval officers frequently had surnames transliterated from German, Swedish, Finnish, Courland, etc. The Admiralty frequently filled out the ranks of senior naval staff by poaching them from elsewhere.

Russian ships were frequently made in Finland, who DID know how to build them.

Lastly, steam! The British and French arrived in the Crimea in a fleet powered by auxiliary steam engines. Russia's sailing fleet had no chance against even the modest horsepower of those early marine engines. The Brits and French merely chugged into positions, regardless of wind, where the Russian ships of the line couldn't bear.

The French also showed up with something that changed the whole nature of the ballpark, an armoured 'floating battery.'

Even firing hot shot, the Russian coastal batteries could make no impression against the sloped armour of the French.

Steam and armour shook the Naval fraternity to its very foundations. In 1862/5, river fleets of armoured ships were battering away at each other in the American Civil War. HMS Warrior, the first warship built completely of iron, slid down the slipway in answer to the French armour-on-teak Gloire - and Franco British relations improved markedly. French inventor Paixhans invented the explosive shell gun for marine use and relations went sour again.

The Americans preferred their Dahlgrens, firing a heavy ball designed to splinter iron, but improved ranges, rifling, steel Harveyised armourplate, rendered the massive Dahlgren to history.

The Russians did their best to remedy the hand they were dealt. The Russian Navy lacked an ice free port and could only train its crews 4 months of the year. It lacked the industrial infrastructure of Britain and France and had to rely a lot on purchasing overseas the engines and technology it needed to build a modern fleet.

Like the Confederate States Navy, however, it tried its hand at out-innovating the competition.
The Russian Admiralty decided it needed shallow draft turret ships to defend habour mouths and rivers. They came up with the Popovkas - truly a bold idea!

The Popovkas were completely round like manhole covers. This gave the two turrets 360 degrees of fire. Unfortunately, they were well nigh unmanageable in anything except upriver with a strong current. Otherwise, they spun around like tops - great concept, bad idea!

Until the 1880s, Russia had a coastal fleet of large monitor type vessels. Towards the end of the 19th century, however, the French took a deep interest in Russia's military potential.

It was self interest, of course, and France needed an anvil at Germany's back for its long term goal of righting the wrongs of the Franco-Prussian War - to whit, the recovery of Alsace-Lorraine.

France poured loans and technology into Russia's industrial infrastructure and railway network - so it could mobilise her armies more quickly, of course! Russian warships began to slide down the slipways in ever increasing numbers, often reflecting French ideas on how they should be built. Russian battleships were heavily built up, like their French cousins. They were fussy and complicated and took twice as long to build as British ones - just like French warships.

Russians liked to build a lot of unnecessary stuff into their ships - to make the lives of the effete Russian aristocratic officers more comfortable. Officers quarters were plush, Edwardian salons where the champagne flowed freely. A lot of wooden appointments is a bad idea in a ship of war in the days of explosive shells!

The Japanese saw that too and developed shells containing mercury fulminate and a handful of manganese. They called them 'shimose' shells and they equipped them with instantaneous fuses so they turned into a fireball the moment they hit anything. Suvorov, Alexander III, Borodino and Orel caught fire pretty much the moment Japanese shells began to rain on them at Tsushima. The Russian gunners abandoned their guns, as anyone would, rather than be roasted.

Unfortunately, Russian shells had been carted all the way around the world, through the tropics, and were starting to deteriorate. Despite poor expectations, Russian accuracy was pretty good at the beginning of the battle, but many of the shells were duds. Observers on Suvorov saw a shell hit the Japanese battleship Shikishima square on the turret, to see it break up - bummer!

One that did explode smacked into Togo's Mikasa right behind the foremast and very nearly blew the Japanese Admiral off his bridge. The Japanese ships were not invulnerable and Vitgeft's squadron knocked them around a bit at the battle of the Yellow Sea.

But Togo knew what he was doing and had crossed his Ts, which is what he did at Tsushima - sailing right around the van of the Russians, concentrating on Rhozdventsky's best ships, a good 7 knots faster. In all, a 15 minute bombardment was all that was needed to decide the matter. The rest of the day was concerned with mopping up.

It wasn't that the Russians were that bad or their ships that poor. Ok, both ships and crews were inferior to the Japanese, but a few better tactical decisions might well have swung things the other way. Alas, Rhozventsky was concussed and his flagship a ruin and Nebogatov, his second in command, was too far back to realise he was now in charge.

Vladimir Ber, Oslyabya's captain and de facto Vice Admiral of the second division, went down with his ship early on and no-one on Sissoi Viliki or Navarin thought to give some orders. There was muddle in command, probably a result of Rhozdventsky's autocratic style, and order was restored, of sorts, only at dusk when Nebogatov finally realised he was in charge. All too late because the Russian first division was already toast.

Following Tsushima, Russia built more ships, of course. There was the 'intermediate dreadnoughts' Andrez Pervozanni, Pavel I and Ioann Zlaloust. Oblukhov, the Russian gun makers, gave them a 60 cal 12" gun - the most powerful afloat at the time. Then there were their dreadnoughts, the Ganguts, long, gangley turbine ships with four, triple 12" turrets ranged along their centrelines. This gave them a potential broadside of twelve 12" guns - in the days when such things mattered. Their only problem was they took so long to build. Like French dreadnoughts, they found the competition had moved on by the time her builders signed them off. The Imperatritsas, their next class of dreadnoughts, chose the same turret arrangement - and a 600 foot long hull.

Russia built no more battleships because the revolution happened and by the time they had the cash to get back in the game, the battleship era was fading and there seemed little point.

The Russo-Japanese war saw a European power humiliated by an emerging Asiatic power. Conventional, racist, Eurocentric opinion was that it shouldn't happen. Only the British were pleased - after all, anything to tame the Russian bear and they rather admired the 'plucky little Japs.' Besides Russia, the least pleased were the Americans, for they now had to reckon on an Empire perilously close to 'their' Philippines - an Empire that was soon to introduce the fast battleship (albeit with 14" guns) fractionally before the British, 'Queen Elzabeths.' Furthermore, an empire that came out of the 1st World War with extensive possessions well out into the Pacific - and rather too close to Hawaii for comfort.

Don

Another of Essen's cruisers

Bogatyr, Russian protected cruiser of the second rank. This was one of Admiral Essen's Vladivostok cruisers that didn't show at the battle of Ulsan because her captain had ran her onto rocks outside harbour.

Built in 1902 by Vulkans of Stettin, Germany, they were actually early light cruisers and pretty good for its day. Her sister Oleg was torpedoed by a British CMB in 1919. Two others served in the Black Sea and were incorporated into the Soviet Navy, with suitable revolutionary names, Pamiat Merkuria and Komintern.

Bogatyr was repaired and served on until broken up in the '20s.

Don

Old Crock

Oh, dear! The Vladimir Monomakh was already obsolescent when she was built in the early 1890s. It proved the Russians weren't in the game and needed foreign technology if she wanted a modern navy. She was built originally with a full ship rig (sails) to save coal - standard world practice until the late 1870s.

Monomakh shouldn't really have been included in Rhozdventsky's inventory, but for some reason, joined Enkvist's armoured cruiser squadron.

Enkvist left her to guard the supply ships when he fled the battle of Tsushima. Monomakh's captain instead decided to follow the rest of the fleet as they tried to make Vladivostok. Miraculously, she caught up during the final stages of the battle. Likely the Japanese considered her not worth sinking and so let her go.

After dusk on the 27th May 1905, the Japanese battle squadron drew off and let loose the destroyers to clean up the surviving Russian fleet. At that time, Orel was a smoking ruin, unable to steam, Suvorov had capsized, as had Alexander III, and Borodino blown up.

Admiral Nebogatov was trying to gather the remnants about him to continue the run to Vladivostok, but the surviving Russians were in a poor state.

Battleship Sissoi Veliki and cruiser Admiral Nakhimov were torpedoed and sunk with heavy loss of life. The next to go was poor old Monomakh, sunk by a single Japanese torpedo.

The Russian destroyers all got battered about, trying to protect the battleships. In the end, only Biedovy, Grozny and Bravy survived the night, Biedovy giving out late the next afternoon.

The next morning Navarin sailed into drifting mines laid by Japanese destroyers and sank. Orel, adrift, ran up white flags and the crew took to the boats. Nebogatov was left with Nikolai I, Seniavin, Ushakov and Apraxin.

All, but the Ushakov ran up white flags when they found their old fashioned guns hadn't the range to beat off Togo. Ushakov took a vote among the crew and refused to surrender - she went down colours flying after a two hour hammering.

The last to go was the old Dimitri Donskoi, an armoured cruiser of similar age to the Monomakh. Her captain beached her on Takeshima Island to prevent her being torpedoed and fought her there for three days. Eventually, with all ammunition gone, her crew walked ashore after setting charges.

Don

Ugly Duckling

Svietlana, an ugly armoured cruiser built in Denmark about 1897 for the rapidly expanding Russian Fleet. She was one of Enkvist's cruisers at the Battle of Tsushima and here she wears the colour scheme of the Second Pacific Squadron. Likely the photo was taken before the fleet set out in October 1904.

Svietlana tried to follow Rear Admiral Enkvist when he fled late in the battle. Unfortunately, she'd taken hits that had damaged her engines and was unable to keep up. Her captain, therefore stood off to draw the pursuing cruisers of Japanese Rear Admiral Kamimura away from Enkvist's surviving squadron.

But Kamimura was called away by Togo, in any case, to round up the Russian supply ships. Therefore, Svietlana staggered off towards Tsushima Island in the hope she might slip past the Japanese and make Vladivostok.

Alas, Dewa's cruiser's caught her and requested her surrender. Svietlana would have nothing of that and their ensued an unequal fight with no less than four Japanese. After Svietlana fired off her remaining ammunition, she opened her Kingston valves and sank herself.

Most of her crew were picked up by the Japanese, who regarded them as heroes for fighting their ship to the last.

Svietlana was a tough ship, despite her antiquated appearance, but her speed turned out to be her biggest problem. Her old fashioned 'extended ram' bows, reminiscent of French practice of the time, resulted in an 'ugly duckling' appearance. But, she performed better than some of her more modern squadron mates.

Don

An Overview

This is Port Arthur Manchuria taken sometime at the end of the 19th century. It was the focus of the Russo-Japanese War, now rather an obscure conflict in history. The war came about as a result of colonial rivalry between Tsarist Russia and an emerging Japanese Empire.

By the close of the 19th century European powers and the US had carved up 'concessions' for themselves from the corpse of the decaying Chinese Empire. The prize was trade, or exploitation, and political influence and domination.

Korea had long been a Chinese province and a place of turmoil. Japan had also longed to include it in ts dream of empire. Korea was rich in natural resources, particularly timber, Japan was not - do the math.

Russia was also developing the resources of the Far East and longed to possess Korean forests south of the Yalu River. They were constructing the Eastern end of the Trans Siberian Railway and completing an arm into China, known as the Manchurian Railway.

In 1894 Japan fought a brief war with China and smashed the woeful Chinese fleet. The Japanese squadron was commanded by Admiral Togo Heichiro, perhaps one of the greatest admirals of the era.

Japan took possession of Port Arthur, at the head of the Laotung Peninsular that juts out into the Yellow Sea, A conference of European powers lead by Germany and Russia forced Japan to hand it back to China. Russia then did a quick deal with the Chinese and gained a lease to the port. Japan smelled a rat.

Tensions simmered until 1904, when Japanese torpedo boats launched a surprise attack against the Russian Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur. Under cover of this diversion, Japanese troops landed at Chemulpo, the port of Seoul, and quickly occupied most of Korea.

Port Arthur withstood a seige of 180 days during which the Russian Pacific Squadron was gradually destroyed. On land, the Japanese Army crossed the Yalu river and invaded Manchuria, shunting the Russian army out of the way in a series of battles.

Meanwhile, Russia decided to send most of the Baltic Fleet down to Port Arthur's relief. This involved a journey of 16,000 kilometres along which there were no Russian bases for which to coal the fleet. The Geman Kaiser stepped in and offered the services of the Hamburg Amerika Line in the form of 64 colliers. Thus the Russians were provisioned, sometimes at sea directly from the colliers - the first time this had ever been achieved.

It was a motley fleet the Russians sent - virtually all of the available ships of the Russian Navy that could fight. It was a wonder they made it to the Far East at all. Unfortunately, by the time they arrived, Port Arthur had fallen and there was nothing to relieve.

The result was the Battle of Tsushima, fought in the straits between Japan and Korea, and the Russian fleet under Admiral Rhozdventsky was crushed by the Japanese fleet, led by Admiral Togo. A small cruiser and two destroyers were the only vessels to make it to the Russian Fleet base at Vladivostok.

Three cruisers escaped to Manila to be interned by the Americans, but the rest of the fleet were either captured or sunk. Not since Trafalgar had a fleet been so comprehensively beaten.

On land the Japanese drove the Russian army from its positions at Mukden, completing its utter victory on land and sea.

Some dignity was restored to the Tsar by the peace. The Treaty of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, became a victory of sorts for the Russian Empire. Sergei Witte led the Russian delegation and he was a cunning old fox. He also had the sympathy of the American sponsors, who didn't want the Japanese to gain too much.

Japan gained Port Arthur and Laotung Peninsular and 'special status' in Korea. Manchuria was handed back to China with the right of Japanese companies to set up shop. Japan gained half of Sakhalin, a sparsely populated wasteland that nobody really wanted. Japan had demanded billions in reparations, but she received not a kopek from the Russian treasury.

Japan was furious she hadn't gained Korea nor received any gold. She was deeply in hock to British financiers and the economy spiraled into a deep recession for the next five years. Eventually, when no-one was looking, in 1910 she invaded Korea for good and remained there until expelled by the Soviet Army in July 1945.

In Russia, rebellions broke out in 1905 and units of the Black Sea Fleet, all she had left, mutinied. Father Gapon's hunger march was crushed brutally by semi-regular Cossack Cavalry and St Peter's Steps in Odessa ran red with the blood of workers protesting against their conditions.

The Russian Autocracy was running out of steam.

Don

Petropavlovsk

Admiral Makarov's flagship, Russia's most capable commander in 1904, blew up after striking a mine.

Don

History and the Future

I call this shot, 'The History and the Future,' because it depicts the Russian battleship Retvizan and, in the foreground, the USN's first submarine, USS Holland (SS1)

The Retvizan was built by Cramps of New York to a US design adapted to Russian requirements. The name is a transliteration of the Swedish 'Ratvisa', a two decker captured by the Russians in the 17th century.

The Retvizan spent her life in the Far East. She struck a mine early on during the siege of Port Arthur, repaired, and took the line during the Battle of the Yellow Sea. Retvizan shared the fate of the rest of the Port Arthur squadron, being repaired by the Japanese to serve in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Retvizan was highly regarded in her day, considered one of the best of the Russian battleships, and one the Japanese chose not to hand back to the Russians when they became reluctant allies in 1914.

This photo was likely taken during the ceremony handing over the Retvizan to her new owners, the Imperial Russian Navy in 1903.

Don

And at Vladivostok

At Vladivostock we had the gallant cruiser squadron of Admiral Essen. Mention must be made of these brave ships to complete our Russian view of the Naval part of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904/5.

Forefront is the Gromoboi (Thunderer) one of the better of the Russian armoured cruisers. To the right is the Rossiya and they both appear to be wearing wartime colour schemes. Missing is the Rurik, named after one of the semi legendary Varangian founders of ancient Muscovy.

These three armoured cruisers caused a fair bit of panic in Japan, owing to their interception of Japanese supply ships bound for Korea. However, Vitgeft left them in the lurch following Yellow Sea.

They'd been ordered to meet the Russian squadron from Port Arthur as it made its attempt to reach Vladivostok - culminating in the Russian defeat at Yellow Sea.

Rear Admiral Kamimura caught them off Ulsan, Korea, and there ensued a running fight.

Rurik was the oldest and slowest and was soon in trouble. Eventually, Essen made the hard decision to leave Rurik to its fate, thereby preserving the rest of the squadron.

Rossiya was the worst knocked about of the two survivors and repairs were never finished until after the end of the war.

Don

Postcard from Port Arthur

Not, of course, Janis Joplin's home town but Port Arthur, Manchuria. This was taken by the Japanese and shows the Poltava, of the Petropavlovsk Class, bottomed in the shallow anchorage. As before, the Russians scuttled her to use as static artillery during the long siege.

Poltava, Retvizan, Peresviet and Pobieda was used in this way. Just before the surrender, Sevastopol, another 'Petropavlovsk', sailed out for a final foray - scuttling after she'd shot off her remaining ammunition. Petropavlovsk had hit a mine and exploded earlier in the siege, taking wth her Admiral Makarov, and Tsessarevitch interned herself at Tsingtao following Yellow Sea.

The Russians lost seven battleships during the siege of Port Arthur. Unknown to them, the Japanese had lost Yashima and Hatutse to Russian mines. 7 to 2, but the Japanese only started with six.

Rhozdventsky sailed out of Libau with Kniaz Suvarov, Imperator Alexander III, Borodino, Orel, Oslyabya, Sissoi Viliki, and Navarin. At Nossi Be, Madagaskar, she was joined by Imperator Nikolai I, Admiral Apraxin, Admiral Ushakov, and General Admiral Senyavin. On paper this seemed overwhelming, but the reality was far different

Only five of the Russian battleships were in any way modern. The first division, the Borodinos, were top heavy and suffering teething troubles. Generally, the crews were poorly trained and, in some of the ships, downright rebellious. Orel had been sabotaged by revolutionaries in harbour and her engines continually gave trouble.

Oslyabya of the second division, was undergunned for a battleship of the day. Sissoi Veliki and Navarin were old and slow.

Rear Admiral Nebogatov of the third division was in an even worse position. His ships were the 'auto sinkers,' left behind originally as having no fighting value. Nikolai I was a coast defence ship, never designed to travel out to sea, built in the 1880s. The other three were turret ships, of a similar type to American Civil War monitors of the 1860s. They were only ever designed to protect harbour mouths from the sort of deprivations suffered by the Russians during the Crimean War.

Rhozdventsky only ever considered his first division as having any worth. Ironically, it was Nebogatov's old crocks that performed best of all overall, of the Russian fleet. It was the auto sinkers that knocked out Togo's two Italian built armoured cruisers, Nisshin and Kasuga. Seniavin was credited with blowing Nisshin's rear main turret over the side in the early stage of the Battle of Tsushima.

Don

Overexposed

Overexposed a little, but still plainly a Russian battleship of the Borodino class. In fact, it's Rhozdventsky's flagship Kniaz Suvarov. Possibly taken at Libau, modern Leipaja, from whence the Russian Second Pacific Squadron departed on October 1904. It's in the RSPS's colours of black hull, canary yellow funnels with black caps.

Japanese Admiral Togo concentrated fire on the Suvarov at the outset of the Battle of Tsushima. Seven heavy hits from the first salvo took out its steering gear, foremast and observation platform, and disabled most of the command crew with a hit on the base of the armoured conning tower. Rhozdventsky was heavily concussed and he and second officer Bogdanov and aide Verner Kursel took refuge in a starboard 6" turret just below the bridge. From there he was rescued by the Destroyer Biedovy while Bogdanov and Kursel remained to fight the ship to the last.

Heavily on fire, with no power and all the funnels down, Kursel fought off Japanese destroyers with a single 75mm QF gun until Suvarov rolled over from repeated torpedo hits about 7pm on the 27th May 1905. Reportedly, at least one Japanese destroyer was sunk during the final engagement.

Don

What wreck?

An old Chinese man probing for shellfish at Port Arthur about early 1905. Scarcely noticed behind him is the wreck of the Russian battleship Peresviet. What struck me is the total unconcern. Here, the Japanese and the Russians were fighting over his home and could he give a shit?

The Peresviet was wrecked by Japanese 11" howitzers. The Russians beached her so they could use her guns as static artillery. She was later repaired and used by the Japanese as a training ship.

Don

In Memory of Azov

Pamiat Azova or, 'In Memory of Azov,' commemorating a famous battle against the Turks. Here she is seen at Kronstadt sometime late 19th century. The design represents contemporary ideas of the 1880s.

By 1919 she'd changed her name to 'Dvina' and was the Torpedo School Ship of the Russian Baltic Fleet.

In that year, the 'foreign intervention' period of the Russian Civil War was winding up to full swing. Finland had declared her independence from Russia and the former Tsarist Commander of the Finnish Military District, Marshal Mannerheim , had taken control.

Mannerheim had asked German troops to expel the Red Guards from his country in 1918 and, following the Armistice in November, British Naval and Air Units had established themselves along the coast of the Gulf of Finland. From there seaplanes and Coastal Motor Boats began to harry the Red Fleet.

First to go was the Oleg, then guardship of the Reds. CMB-9 of the Royal Navy hit her with a single torpedo causing her to roll onto her side in shallow water.

The next night a more concerted effort was made by the Royal Navy's light forces. A number of CMBs managed to break through into the main anchorage. Dvina was lit up like Christmas tree - basically, now serving as an accomodation ship. A torpedo struck her below the torpedo room and she blew up with heavy loss of life.

Battleship Andrez Pervozanni got hit with another torpedo, and the Dreadnought Petropavlovsk, which settled upright on the bottom of the shallow anchorage.

By then the Red Destroyers had woken up and there was a confused fight between Gavriil, Azard and Valentin versus the British torpedo boats. One of the British CMBs blew up spectacularly, hit by Gavriil, and the other Red Destroyers got two more.

That was the last raid by the British against Kotlin Island. Shortly, Finland was to reach a treaty with the Bolsheviks and, in return for independence, expelled all foreign forces. The RN retreated to the Gulf of Riga - too far for operations by light forces.

In Estonia, White General Yudenich's British supported anti-Bolshevik army was crushed by the Reds in early 1920. At the vanguard of Trotsky's Red Army were the Cadets of Kronstadt carrying Dvina's battered ensign.

Don

The Packet of Woodbines

A beautiful photo of the Askold - another of Russia's German- built fast protected cruisers of the 1900s. Here, she wears the colours of the First Pacific Squadron - white hull and superstructure, red funnels and black caps. Later, she was painted in Vitgeft's wartime scheme, variously described as 'rusty dark brown' or 'dark olive green.'

Askold was present at Yellow Sea and fled with Tsessarevitch to Tsingtao to be interned by the Germans for the duration of the war.

Later, she turned up in the Mediterranean as Russia's contribution to the Dardenelle's campaign of 1915. The British dubbed her 'a packet of Woodbines' after a particularly vile brand of cigarettes (noted for their slimness and packets of five) on account of her five, slim, narrow funnels.

In 1917 she was based at Murmansk in the Arctic when the revolution broke out. There, the British took her over and incorporated her into the Royal Navy as HMS Glory IV. She was offered back to the Russians in the 1920s but she was in such poor condition that the Soviet Navy didn't want her. Consequently, she was sent to the breakers, in Germany.

Don

Zhemchug

Photos of the Zhemchug and Izumrud are very rare, but I have one of each. This is Zhemchug dressed in Rhozdventsky's colour scheme of black hull and canary yellow funnels with black caps. It must date it between October 1904 and May 1905.

Zhemchug fled with Enkvist to Manila after Tsushima to be interned by the Americans. It remained in the Far East till the 1st World War.

Zhemchug joined the hunt for the German raider SMS Emden in the Indian Ocean during October/December 1914. She was at Penang when the Emden slipped in disguised as a British cruiser. Zhemchug barely got off a shot before she was demolished by several German salvos and a torpedo from the Emden's midships underwater tube.

Her Captain was tried for negligence and given three years in the slammer.

Don

The Novik

Famous name in the Russian Navy - the Novik. Here she is wrecked off Korshakov Bay, Sakhalin, following the Battle of the Yellow Sea.

The Novik was built in Germany and caused something of a sensation at the time. Officially, she was designated a 'third rank protected cruiser' but, actually, she represented the first generation light cruisers. She was fast for the day and reasonably well-armed.

The guns were sited inefficiently, like so many warships of the day, but the Russians considered her so successful they built two improved copies, the Izumrud and Zhemchug.

Following the Yellow Sea battle, Novik made off, heading for Vladivostok. Unfortunately, she chose to go East of Japan and so needed to coal to make her destination. Off Sakhalin, she was caught by Admiral Dewa's cruiser squadron, who both outranged and outgunned her.
She was too battered to be worth salvaging.

Don

Chemulpo (or In'chon)

And here's where it all began - the Russo - Japanese War of 1904/5. This photo was taken from HMS Talbot, a British warship on a visit to Korea.

The lead ship is the Russian cruiser Varyag followed by the Gunboat Koryetz. The Koryetz had set off first, as she could barely make 9 knots on a still day. The Varyag followed and soon caught her up despite being only capable of 15 knots due to the poor state of her boilers.

The Koryetz soon found her old fashioned 8" deck gun hadn't the range to get close to the Japanese and so took shelter behind an island. It used 'prism brown' gunpowder, which emitted clouds of smoke obscuring her gunlayers.

The Varyag stood heroically on, but her gunfire was described as 'wildly inaccurate.' Uriu recorded no hits on his squadron, although the Russians claimed otherwise. Varyag's main guns were mostly mounted in open positions on her maindeck and even Japanese near misses had a terrible effect on the gun crews. Early on, observation positions on the upper bridge were wiped out and Varyag's gunlayers were mostly firing blind through the smoke.

Her Captain wounded, Varyag turned around and headed back, after some 90 of her crew had been killed. In hindsight, the battle achieved nothing for the Japanese troops had already landed. For the Russians, at least they could claim they didn't go meekly into the night.

The Varyag was raised by the Japanese to become 'Soya' in IJN service. Later on, on the eve of the first World War, the IJN sold her back to the Russians.

Upon the outbreak of the revolution she was in Britain waiting for a refit and taken over by the Royal Navy. Consequently, she was wrecked on her way to the breaker's yard about 1922.

Varyag's bravery is still commemorated by the modern Russian Navy. Although the story has been somewhat embroidered over the years, nevertheless it stands as a brave attempt by the Russian Navy against impossible odds.

As an aside, there's a story to the effect that the Russian Ambassador to Seoul prevented the Varyag and Koryetz from retreating to the relative safety of Port Arthur until it was too late. From then on, civilian officials were prevented from making tactical military decisions by order of the Tsar.

Don

US Cruisers, 1904

This one got me all excited. It was labeled 'US Cruisers 1904' but the first vessel was clearly a Russian battleship of the 'Peresviet' class. You can make out the slab sides and high freeboard - not characteristics of US warships of the era.

Closer inspection of the four piper behind reveals it was indeed US built, but for the Russian Navy not the USN. It is the protected cruiser Varyag (Viking), of great historical significance.

In February 1904, at Chemulpo (modern Inchon) Korea, Japanese Admiral Uriu fired the opening shots of the Russo-Japanese war. Varyag and Gunboat Koryetz (Korean) were ordered by the Japanese to leave port. The Russians obliged, even though they were heavily outgunned.

Consequently, Varyag was badly damaged and returned to port to be scuttled, along with other Russian vessels (Koryetz and merchantman Sungari)

I can't tell whether the battleship is Pobieda or Peresviet, both of whom were based at Port Arthur, Manchuria. The two were practically identical.

The photo was almost certainly taken at Port Arthur between 1903/04, as Varyag spent her entire service life in the Far East.

The Peresviet class was a domestic design and were ugly vessels. To save weight they were given 10" guns, rather than the 12", which was then standard. They had a full waterline belt of Harvey armour and a good turn of speed. Nevertheless they were overweight as built - as with most Russian battleships of the period.

Of the class, Oslyabya served with Rhozdventsky and was the first steel battleship in history sunk by gunfire alone. A Japanese shell set off a 3" forward magazine and opened the bows out like a clamshell. She sunk in a little over three minutes.

Peresviet and Pobieda served in the First Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur and took their place in the battle of the Yellow Sea. Both survived to be grounded at Port Arthur and used as static artillery against the advancing Japanese troops. Consequently, they were wrecked by Japanese 11" howitzer batteries, captured after the surrender of the port, raised and served on in Japanese colours.

They were regarded as tough ships by the Russians, despite Oslyabya's early exit from the Battle of Tsushima. The fact that Peresviet and Pobieda took such a pounding and were still salvageable tends to support that.

By contrast, the Borodinos, spearheading the Russian attempt to relieve Port Arthur, displayed inherent instability when put to the test. The Orel, captured after Tsushima, had a deck removed by the Japanese to reduce her tendency to roll heavily in even a light swell. Being overweight, the armour belt was frequently submerged allowing water to flood in through shellholes in the unarmoured part of the hull. Imperator Alexander III and Kniaz Suvorov both capsized during the battle and the Borodino had a 12" magazine detonated by a Japanese shell. (Perhaps suggesting a weakness in the armour over the magazines)

Tessarevich and Borodino class battleships were built to French designs and, by contrast to British design philosophy, had high superstructures, high freeboard and full fighting tops. In an attempt to reduce topweight, they reintroduced the tumblehome hull from the days of Nelson.

In the days of fighting sail, the tumblehome was to prevent boarding, creating a large gap between maindecks that couldn't easily be crossed. But, in the steam era, where battles were fought at ranges greater than 6000 yards, there's no fighting advantage in the tumblehome. The big gun required a stable platform for accuracy not one that rolled like a log.

Don

Almaz

This is cool. This is the Almaz (Diamond) a survivor of the Battle of Tsushima. Originally it was built as a yacht for the Russian Grand Admiral. It had a reasonable turn of speed for the time, around 24 knots, and it was thought it'd make a comfortable flagship for Rhozdventsky.

But the Commander of the Second Pacific Squadron preferred the battleship Suvorov and Almaz was given to Admiral Enkvist's cruiser squadron.

Towards the end of the battle, Enkvist took the cruisers Oleg, Aurora and Zhemchug (Pearl) and made for Manila. Almaz, along with the destroyers Grozny and Bravy made for Vladivostok to bring news of the disaster to the Russian fleet. Izumrud (Emerald) tried to follow but was wrecked on the coast of Korea.

Almaz was too lightly armed and Rhozdventsky had no useful role for it. He had two despatch vessels, the proto light cruisers Izumrud and Zhemchug, which were far more capable ships.

On the night of the 27th May, 1905, Almaz ran into Japanese cruisers and there was a brief engagement. However, the only three survivors of the battle escaped in the dark after taking heavy damage.

Don

http://storiesonline.net/auth/Katzmarek

Above is a link to one of my story sites. I have about 40 stories there ranging from 'shorties' to some of novella length.

I'm a compulsive writer but, some could've benefited from more introspection. I treat it as a learning experience - figuring I'm not going to improve if I don't chance my arm.

One day. perhaps, I'd like to make a living writing, but, I'm realistic at the same time. I write for the joy of it and a little reader feedback.

Don

Tessesarevich

Here's one of my prized images. It's of the Russian battleship Tessesarevich at Tsingtao following the battle of the Yellow Sea 1904.

Admiral Vitgeft had been standing on the bridge when a Japanese shell vapourised him. All that was recovered were his boots. The bridge damage is not shown in the photo but the funnels are riddled with splinter damage.

Of note is the tumblehome design of the hull - a characteristic of this class and the next, the Borodinos.

Don

Intro

Actually, I'm not very good at introductions. Just what do you reveal of 53 years of existence? I was born - that seems obvious - and I was brought home from the hospital in a neighbour's 1927 Essex - that's unimportant.

I lived for a time in the Hutt Valley - unless you were born in that part of the country, hardly riveting stuff. I attended school - nothing exceptional - and moved to the big city. Actually, a bigger city, since Americans would hardly call Wellington big.

I worked for a time at a number of jobs - yawn - including factories, a bank, and 'temporary construction worker.' I got married, had kids, got divorced, found someone new, split, found someone else, got married, had more kids.

Between times I went back to school and graduated a teacher. When that gig went sour I drove buses and became the Union President. Presidenting has it's use by date and I went back to driving.

Also between times, I found myself on several overseas escapades. 1980 it was Sweden - 1984 it was Sandanista Nicaragua - '86 I was in Palestine.

You may decide now I'm a recalcitrant leftie and leave. That's Ok, because I don't want you anyway. My intention is not to use this blog as a political pamphlet and I can't be bothered with 'angels on the head of a pin' arguments that won't make a blind bit of difference to anyone's prejudice.

Yes, I'll state now for the record that I was a member of several 'Communist' groups throughout my life. At the moment, I'm not affiliated to anyone or anything.

I am against the war in Iraq and, unlike a lot of folks, was always against it.

My wife is part Iranian - which part I'm unsure - but, that doesn't mean I share the views of the Ayatollahs. She is a Shi'ite Moslem, but I'm not. That doesn't mean we don't get along, nor explains why we do. After 17 years together, we must be doing something right.

I'm an Atheist, but that doesn't mean I don't support my wife in her faith. I cook Middle Eastern dishes and attend feasts as an honoured guest at the Islamic Centre. That's cool because I get to socialise with some neat people, eat really nice food, and don't have to pray or read the suriah.

Of course I've done some less than enviable things in my life. Probably nothing that anyone my age hasn't done, perhaps, except get involved in crime.

The problem was drugs, or, the inability to purchase sufficient for my needs without augmenting my income. I defrauded thousands and I was pretty darned good at it - at least for a few years. In the end, I couldn't keep that many pots on the stove and balls in the air. I was driven by despair and it was inevitable I was going to get caught sooner or later.

The end came quite dramatically - like something you've seen on every silly cop show on telly. The villain walks out between two burly detectives - a look of defiance and scorn on his face. Defiance and scorn is pretty much all you have left and stands between you and humiliation.

At those times you count your friends carefully. Twenty five letters of support arrived on the judge's desk, twenty five! They were signed by company managers, IT specialists, community workers, counselors - all personal friends who stood by me. That, my friends, is truly humbling.

I did my time and moved away - up here to rural Manawatu, New Zealand. Ex cons don't find jobs, despite the propaganda, and theft and fraud are the least recommendations to hand a prospective employer. Some eight years later I have a job - as a gardener and groundsman - a car, a house and a big mouth.

A week ago they offered me shares in the company - truly a vindication and a sign that my past has been put to rest.

I even have a laptop - a MacBook - and a young family.

Regretably, my wife, partner and lover has developed Huntingdon's Disease. We've known for about 15 years she had the gene, but, we hoped she'd develop symptoms at such an old age it scarcely mattered anymore. Sadly, at 44, HD has bagged her.

She can still keep working, at present, although part time. Fatigue prevents her from doing a full day. Her courage is amazing and would I display such calm acceptance in the face of such a terrible disease.

There you go - just a fraction of an intro.

Don