Battle of Tsushima in 1905. Sea battle in the Sea of Japan. Tsushima Strait

The Battle of Tsushima in 1905 of the Russian Pacific Flotilla with the Imperial Navy of Japan suffered a crushing defeat. As a result of the sea battle, the Russian squadron was destroyed and destroyed. The bulk of the Russian warships were torpedoed by Japanese sailors and flooded with crew members. Some ships announced their surrender, only four ships returned to the shores of their native harbor. The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) ended with a major military defeat of the Russian fleet off the coast of Tsushima Island (Japan). What are the reasons for the defeat and was there another outcome of the events?

Military and political situation in the Far East

The Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905 began with a sudden attack of Japanese destroyers' destroyers on Russian ships on the roadstead of Port Arthur. As a result of the torpedo attack, two heavy artillery ships and one surface ship were damaged. The history of the Far East has many military operations. All of them were aimed at capturing and redistributing spheres of influence on this section of the Russian land.

Japan's desire to dominate in Northeast China and on the Korean peninsula was fiercely supported by England and the United States of America. Russia's small allies, such as France, Germany and others, supported the Russian Emperor Nicholas II in every way in preserving Russian territories. However, in decisive strategic moments, they nevertheless tried to maintain neutrality. Assistance to the Allies was manifested only when it suited their commercial interests.

Making a strategic decision

Constantly intensifying attacks by the Japanese of Port Arthur, the main base of the Pacific Fleet of Russia, forced Emperor Nicholas II to take decisive action. The decision was made in July 1904. To the weakened Pacific squadron for the defeat and destruction of the Japanese fleet was sent from Kronstadt squadron under the leadership of Vice Admiral Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky.

Already on the way, the Baltic ships learn that Port Arthur is taken, and all the ships on the roads are flooded. The Pacific flotilla has been destroyed. This is the maritime history of the Russian Far East. Nevertheless, Nicholas II decides to continue the path of the imperial fleet to the shores of Japan. To reinforce the attacking squadron from the Baltic Sea , a detachment of combat ships of Rear Admiral NI Nebogatov was sent.

Unequal forces of opponents

The course of the Tsushima battle could be predicted by the number of combat units of the opposing sides. In the Pacific Flotilla Vice-Admiral Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky included:

• 8 destroyers of heavy artillery ships (battleships) against 4 Japanese;
• 3 coastal guard battleships against 6 enemy ships;
• 1 cruiser battleship against 8 units of the Japanese Imperial Navy;
• 8 cruisers against 16 Japanese cruisers;
• 5 against 24 auxiliary military vessels of Japan;
• 9 Russian against 63 Japanese destroyers.

The apparent military advantage of Japanese Admiral Heyhachiro Togo speaks for itself. The experience of fighting the Japanese fleet was superior to Russia in all respects, despite the fact that the history of sea battles in Russia was much richer. Japanese fighting arrows skillfully owned the art of defeating the enemy's goal at long ranges, and one goal from several ships. This experience of the Russian fleet was not. The main occupation of that period was the imperial reviews (parades) of naval equipment, which were annually carried out by order of Emperor Nicholas II.

Mistakes and miscalculations of the Russian admiral

The strategic task of the naval expedition of Admiral ZP Rozhestvensky was to seize the Sea of Japan. This condition was set by Emperor Nicholas II. However, ZP Rostovskiy saw his operational goal as follows: by any means, without reckoning with the possible losses of his fleet, to break through to Vladivostok. It is possible that to bypass the Japanese islands from the east would be a strategically correct solution, and the Tsushima naval battle Would not have taken place.

But the naval commander chose a different, shorter route. It was decided to go through the straits. The Korean Strait, which connects the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, circumambulates the island of Tsushima, which in turn has two paths: the western passage and the eastern (Tsushima Strait). It was there that the Russian sailors were waiting for the Japanese Admiral Heytiro Togo.

All passages are blocked

The commander of the Japanese fleet chose a strategically correct plan for possible combat operations. Between the islands a sentinel chain of ships was organized, which could alert the commander about possible maneuvers and the approach of Russian ships. On the approaches to Vladivostok, the Japanese prudently put up minefields. Everything is ready for battle. Japanese ships Tsushima battle expected the approach of Russian ships. The commander of the Pacific Fleet refused to navigate intelligence, fearing the discovery of his squadron enemy reconnaissance cruisers.

Early in the morning the Tsushima battle, the date of which was May 14, 1905, began.

The obvious outcome of the main battle of the Russo-Japanese War

To send such raznoshostnuyu armada through three oceans to many seemed insanity. In this doomed campaign, veterans with worn-out mechanisms, winding hundreds of thousands of nautical miles, and the newest, hastily completed, unsuccessful ships were sent. Sailors always refer to their ships as inanimate intelligent beings. Battleships with the names of eminent generals as if specifically did not want to go to an imminent death.

They were stuck on the descent at the slip, they drowned right at the factory walls during the repair, ran aground, as if they were giving obvious warning signs to their crews.

How can you not believe the signs?

In the beginning of 1900 in the workshop the assembly model of the battleship "Emperor Alexander III" burnt down. The descent to the water of this ship was marked by the fall of the flagpole with the imperial standard and was accompanied by human casualties.

The battleship "Eagle" sank in the civil harbor, and later several times ran aground, catching up with the squadron in the Gulf of Finland. The battleship "Glory" in general and could not send to the campaign.

However, no forebodings were known to the high command. September 26, 1904 in Reval (the former Tallinn) held the highest imperial review. Nicholas II walked all the ships and wished the sailors to reach Port Arthur and connect with the first squadron of the Pacific Fleet for joint mastery of the Sea of Japan. A week later, seven battleships, a cruiser, destroyers forever left their native shores. The 220-day trek to the Japanese shores with the length of 18 thousand nautical miles began.

Unseen circumstances

The main problem faced by the command of the squadron is the fuel problem. Under the international maritime law of that time, the warships of the belligerent side could enter the ports of the neutral side only for a day. England, which owned most of the loading stations on the route of the squadron, closed its ports for Russian warships.

Supplying the squadron with coal, provisions and fresh water, it was necessary to organize directly into the sea. For repair was equipped with a special workshop "Kamchatka", staffed by artisans volunteers. By the way, they also shared the fate of the military sailors. In general, the implementation of a strategic operation of this magnitude deserves the highest evaluation.

The heaviest loading of coal in the open sea, the unbearable tropical heat, when the temperature in the boiler rooms reached 70º Celsius, the severe storm at the Cape of Good Hope - all this did not stop the movement of the squadron. None of the ships turned back.

A trip around the world through three oceans

The Russian squadron, like a ghost looming on the horizon, rarely approaching ports and harbors. The whole world followed its movement. The international telegraph and telephone lines were overloaded. Correspondents and reporters watched the squadron along the whole route:

• Port Said (Egypt);
• Djibouti (East Africa);
• Aden (Yemen);
• Dakar (Senegal);
• Conakry (Guinea);
• Cape Town, South Africa.

But all attempts were unsuccessful. The first long-term parking was in the bay of Mashiba (Madagascar). There also joined the cruiser detachment of Rear Admiral DG von Felkerzam, who passed a short way through the Suez Canal. During the exercises in Madagascar, Admiral ZP Rozhdestvensky was convinced of the inability of his subordinates to shoot accurately and properly maneuver.

However, this surprised no one. Crews were formed for the most part from recruits and punishers. Two months later, a jump across the Indian Ocean. Infinitely tired squadron was met by Chinese fishermen in the straits near Singapore, Vietnamese in Cam Ranh. The last marine caravan could see from the island of Jeju Island Korean divers for pearls. Very soon the Tsushima battle will begin, the date of the death of the squadron was approaching.

The first volley on the enemy

At 1340 hours the flagship battleship "Prince Suvorov" led by captain 1st rank V. V. Ignatius lay down on the course of the north-east 23. Nine minutes later his guns opened fire on the Japanese squadron, and two minutes later the flashes of response flashed Volleys. The Tsushima sea battle began. Most of the crew was clear in St. Petersburg.

From the letter of the commander of the battleship Guards crew "Emperor Alexander III" captain 3rd rank N. M. Buhvustov: "You wish us victory. Needless to say, as we wish it. But there will be no victory. At the same time and I guarantee that we will all die, but we will not surrender. " The commander kept his word and was killed along with the full battleship.

Tsushima battle, briefly about the main

At 14.15, exactly thirty-five minutes after the start of the battle, the Oslabya battleship headed by Captain 1st Rank V. I. Baer, with a strong nose-off and a huge fire on the rostra, rolled out and fell to the left side . Ten minutes later he disappeared under the water, leaving only wooden fragments and people floundering in the water on the surface.

A few minutes after the death of "Oslabya" one by one the ships that were torpedoed by Japanese sailors went out of order.

By 16 o'clock the battleship "Prince Suvorov", which was severely disfigured by Japanese shells, was out of order. Recalling the flaming island, he repelled enemy attacks for about five hours. In the last minutes Russian sailors fired from the only surviving three-inch and rifles. The battleship received seven torpedo hits and went under the water.

A little earlier managed to remove Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky with the headquarters for the destroyer "Wild". A total of 23 people were evacuated. No one else was able to save. Commanded a squadron battleship and died on it captain 1st rank, a talented marine painter Vasily Vasilyevich Ignatius.

In general, during the Russo-Japanese war two remarkable artists were killed, both graduates of the naval corps and by strange coincidence full namesakes. The second artist is Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin, drowned with the battleship "Petropavlovsk" off the coast of Port Arthur. Then at the same time Admiral SO Makarov, who won many naval battles of Russia and was the glory and pride of the Russian fleet, perished. Following the flagship Prince of Suvorov, the Russian Imperial Navy lost:

• "Sisoy the Great" under the command of Captain 1st rank M.P. Ozerov;
• Battleship "Navarin", led by the captain of the 1st rank, Baron BA Fitingofom;
• The cruiser Admiral Nakhimov, who was later subordinate to captive captain 1st rank AA Rodionov;
• The battleship "Admiral Ushakov", commander of which was the captain of the 1st rank VN Miklukhin (the ship died the last of the Russian squadron);
• "Admiral Senyavin" led by Captain 1st Rank SI Grigoriev, who was captured by the Japanese.

The tragedy continues

The Battle of Tsushima in 1905 more and more took to the sea abyss of Russian sailors and their ships. Another mortal mutilated battleship went under the water with all the crew on board. Until the last minute, in people, from the commander to the stoker, there was a hope that it would be possible to overcome this nightmarish Tsushima battle (1905) and the Russian coast would appear on the course of the north-east. The main thing is to survive. Many have perished with this thought. Russian sailors on the battleships following them saw off the scene of the death of their comrades. They whispered in black from the burning of their lips: "God rest their soul, Lord."

The battleship "Emperor Alexander III" perished with the whole crew, and later "Borodino". Only one sailor survived by miracle. The outcome of the battle was predetermined. The Battle of Tsushima in 1905 made us think about the indestructibility of the Russian fleet. The surviving remnants of the Russian squadron survived the night torpedo attacks were handed over to the Japanese by Rear Admiral NI Nebogatov. Subsequently, Admiral Nikolai Ivanovich Nebogatov was sentenced to ten years in prison by decision of the Naval Court of his Imperial Majesty.

The fate of the commander

The commander of the destroyer "The Wild", who saved Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvensky, was Captain 2nd Rank Nikolai Nikolaevich Kolomiytsev. The fate of this man is very amazing. Prior to the Russo-Japanese War, he was a prominent hydrographer, traveler, explorer of Taimyr, commander of the icebreaker Ermak. He participated in the Russian polar expedition of Baron Eduard Tol. Returning to Russia after Tsushima, where he proved himself to be one of the best commanders of the Russian fleet, NN Kolomiytsev commanded various ships. In the First World War became vice-admiral. In 1918 he was arrested by the Bolsheviks and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. In most of the publications of the Soviet period, biographical notes on NN Kolomiytsev end with the words: "He died in Petrograd, presumably in 1918". In 1972 his name was given to a new hydrographic vessel. Only recently it turned out that Nikolai Kolomiytsev fled to Finland in 1918. Later fought on the Black Sea on the side of Baron Wrangel. Then he moved to France, and died in the United States under the wheels of a military truck in late 1944. Thus, the ship "Nikolai Kolomiytsev" was the only vessel in the Soviet fleet, bearing the name of the White Guard admiral and emigrant.

Historical reference

From the lists of the military fleets of that time, two ships of the participant of the Battle of Tsushima survived to the present day. This is a well-known cruiser "Aurora" and the Japanese battleship "Mikasa", the flagship of Admiral Heyhachiro Togo. The armored deck "Aurora" under Tsushima released about two thousand shells on the enemy, receiving, in turn, twenty-one hits. The cruiser was seriously damaged, sixteen people from its crew, including the commander, captain 1st Rank E. R. Yegoryev, were killed, 83 more people were injured. Unable to go forward, the Aurora along with the cruisers "Oleg" and "Pearl" disarmed in Manila (Philippines). According to some military experts, participating in the Battle of Tsushima, gives more grounds for the cruiser "Aurora" to serve as a memorial than the famous single shot in October 1917.

In the city of Yokosuka as a ship-museum there is a battleship "Mikasa". On it for a very long time on the anniversary of Tsushima there were meetings of veterans, participants of the Russo-Japanese war. The Japanese treat this monument of history with great reverence.

Memory of the deceased sailors under Tsushima

Of the 36 units of the Russian squadron, three arrived in Vladivostok. The ship "Almaz", torpedo boats "Grozny" and "Brave". Most of the ships and 5,000 sailors have found eternal peace at the bottom of the Korean Strait near the islands of Tsushima and Evenlet. The graves of Russian sailors, who died of wounds in captivity, are still carefully preserved by the Japanese in Nagasaki. In 1910, a snow-white church called Spas-na-Vodah dedicated to the victims of Tsushima was built in St. Petersburg for people's money and widow's contributions. The church did not last long, until the mid-1930s. Russian-Japanese war, Tsushima battle - these two terms will forever remain in the eternal memory of the Russian people.