On May 14-15, 1905, in the Tsushima Straits near Japan, an entire
Russian fleet was annihilated, its ships sunk, scattered, or
captured by the Japanese. In the deciding battle of the
Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese lost only three destroyers but the
Russians lost twenty-two ships and thousands of sailors. It was the
first modern naval battle, employing all the new technology of
destruction. The old imperial navy was woefully unprepared. The
defeat at Tsushima was the last and greatest of many indignities
suffered by the Russian fleet, which had traveled halfway around
the world to reach the battle, dogged every mile by bad luck and
misadventure. Their legendary admiral, dubbed "Mad Dog," led them
on an extraordinary eighteen-thousand-mile journey from the Baltic
Sea, around Europe, Africa, and Asia, to the Sea of Japan. They
were burdened by the Tsar's incompetent leadership and the old,
slow ships that he insisted be included to bulk up the fleet.
Moreover, they were under constant fear of attack, and there were
no friendly ports to supply coal, food, and fresh water. The level
of self-sufficiency attained by this navy was not seen again until
the Second World War. The battle of Tsushima is among the top five
naval battles in history, equal in scope and drama to those of
Lepanto, Trafalgar, Jutland, and Midway, yet despite its importance
it has been long neglected in the West. With a novelist's eye and a
historian's authority, Constantine Pleshakov tells of the Russian
squadron's long, difficult journey and fast, horrible defeat.
General
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