Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) was an extremely bloody conflict that grew out of the rival imperialist ambitions of Russia and Japan in Manchuria and Korea. The war was fought principally over possession of the town of Port Arthur (aka Lushun and Ryojun) and the Liaodong Peninsula, plus the railway from the port to Harbin.

War

Campaign of 1904

Port Arthur, on the Liaodong Peninsula in the south of Manchuria, had been fortified into a major naval base by the Russians. The Japanese needed to control the sea in order to fight a war on the Asian mainland, so their first military objective was to neutralize the Russian fleet at Port Arthur. On the night of February 8, the Japanese fleet under Admiral Heihachiro Togo opened the war with a surprise torpedo attack on the Russian ships at Port Arthur, badly damaging two Russian battleships. The attacks developed into the Battle of Port Arthur the next morning. A series of indecisive naval engagements followed, in which the Japanese were unable to attack the Russian fleet successfully under the land guns of the harbor and the Russians declined to leave the harbor for the open seas, especially after the death of Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov on April 13. These engagements provided cover for a Japanese landing near Incheon in Korea, from which they occupied Seoul and then the rest of Korea. By the end of April, the Japanese army under Kuroki Itei was prepared to cross the Yalu river into Russian-occupied Manchuria.

Related Topics:
February 8 - Heihachiro Togo - Torpedo - Battle of Port Arthur - Stepan Osipovich Makarov - April 13 - Incheon - Seoul - Kuroki Itei - Yalu

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In counterpoint to the Japanese strategy of gaining rapid victories to control Manchuria, Russian strategy focused on fighting delaying actions to gain time for reinforcements to arrive via the long Trans-Siberian railway. On May 1, the Battle of the Yalu River, in which Japanese troops stormed a Russian position after an unopposed crossing of the river, was the first major land battle of the war. Japanese troops proceeded to land at several points on the Manchurian coast, and fought a number of engagements driving the Russians back on Port Arthur. These battles, including the Battle of Nanshan on May 25, were marked by heavy Japanese losses attacking entrenched Russian positions, but the Russians remained passive and failed to counterattack.

Related Topics:
Trans-Siberian railway - May 1 - Battle of the Yalu River - Battle of Nanshan - May 25

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At sea, the war was just as brutal. After the February 8 attack on Port Arthur, the Japanese attempted to deny the Russians use of the port. During the night of February 13-14, the Japanese attempted to block the entrance to Port Arthur by sinking several cement-filled steamers in the deep water channel to the port. But the steamers sank in too deep water for it to be effective. Another attempt to block the harbor entrance on the night of May 3-4, with blockships also failed. In March, the energetic Vice Admiral Makarov took command of the First Russian Pacific Squadron with the intention of making plans to break out of the Port Arthur blockade. By then, both sides began a policy of tactical offensive minelaying by laying mines in each others ports. This was the first time in warfare that mines were used for offensive purposes. In the past, mines were used as purely defensive purposes by keeping harbors safe from invading warships. The Japanese minelaying policy was effective at restricting the Russian movement of its ships outside Port Arthur when on April 12, 1904, two Russian battleships, the flagship Petropavlosk and the Pobieda ran into a Japanese minefield off Port Arthur, both striking mines. The Petropavlosk sank within an hour, while the Pobieda had to be towed back to Port Arthur for extensive repairs. Makarov died on the Petropavlosk by choosing to go down with his ship. But the Russians soon learned the Japanese policy of offensive minelaying and decided to play the strategy too. On May 15, 1904, two Japanese battleships, the Yashima and the Hatsuse, were both lured into a recently laid Russian minefield off Port Arthur both striking at least two mines. The Yashima sank within minutes taking 450 sailors to their deaths, while the Hatuse sank under tow a few hours later. On June 23, a breakout attempt by the Russian squadron, now under the command of Admiral Vitgef failed. By the end of the month, Japanese artillery were already putting shells into the harbor.

Related Topics:
February 8 - April 12 - 1904 - Petropavlosk - Pobieda - May 15 - Yashima - Hatsuse - June 23

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Japan began a long siege of Port Arthur, which had been heavily fortified by the Russians. On August 10, 1904, the Russian fleet attempted to break out from Port Arthur and proceed to Vladivostok, but they were intercepted and defeated at the Battle of the Yellow Sea. The remnant of the Russian fleet remained in Port Arthur, where they were slowly sunk by the artillery of the besieging army. Attempts to relieve the city from the land also failed, and after the Battle of Liaoyang in late August, the Russians retreated to Mukden (Shenyang). Port Arthur finally fell on January 2, 1905, after a series of brutal, high-casualty assaults.

Related Topics:
Siege of Port Arthur - August 10 - 1904 - Vladivostok - Battle of the Yellow Sea - Battle of Liaoyang - Shenyang - January 2 - 1905

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Campaign of 1905

The Japanese army was now able to attack northward. To finalize the war, Japan needed to crush the Russian army in Manchuria. The Battle of Mukden opened in the end of February. Japanese forces progressed step by step with damage and tried to encircle General Kuropatkin Headquarters at Mukden (Shenyang). Russian forces resisted but on March 10, 1905, they decided to retreat. The heavily damaged Japanese could not pursue the Russians. Because strategically the possession of the city meant little, the final victory was dependent on the navy.

Related Topics:
Manchuria - Battle of Mukden - General Kuropatkin - Shenyang - March 10 - 1905

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Meanwhile, at sea, the Russians had already been preparing to reinforce their fleet the previous year by sending the Baltic Sea fleet under Admiral Zinovi Petrovich Rozhdestvenski around the Cape of Good Hope to Asia. On October 21, 1904, while passing by Britain (an ally of Japan but neutral in this war), they nearly provoked a war in the Dogger Bank incident by firing on British fishing boats that they mistook for torpedo boats. The duration of the journey meant that Admiral Togo was well aware of the Baltic Fleet's progress, and he made plans to meet it before it could reach port at Vladivostok. He intercepted them in the Tsushima Strait between Korea and Japan, and in the Battle of Tsushima, May 27–28, 1905, the more modern Japanese fleet, numerically inferior but with superior speed and firing range, shelled the Russian fleet mercilessly, destroying all eight of their battleships.

Related Topics:
Baltic Sea - Zinovi Petrovich Rozhdestvenski - Cape of Good Hope - October 21 - 1904 - Britain - Dogger Bank incident - Baltic Fleet - Vladivostok - Tsushima Strait - Battle of Tsushima - May 27 - 28 - 1905 - Battleship

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~