A Brief History
On August 10, 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War history observed the first battle between modern steel battleships in the Battle of the Yellow Sea. (A minor battle had taken place a few months prior that lasted only 20 minutes that trapped the Russians at Port Arthur.)
Digging Deeper
The Battle of the Yellow Sea took place between what is referred to as Pre-Dreadnought type battleships, which were being built during this time. Still, the all steel Pre-Dreadnoughts were heavily armed with a main battery of 12 inch guns that could shoot to an unprecedented range of 8 miles. Naval thinkers of the time figured battles to start at the 3 to 4 mile range, and then the ships would close to short range as they had always done in the past. The Battle of the Yellow Sea changed that thinking.
The Russian fleet at Port Arthur was trapped, blockaded by the Japanese and unable to join the other Russian Pacific fleet from Vladivostok since February 1904, and an attempt was made to break out of the blockade and join the other fleet. The Russians sent 6 battleships, 4 protected cruisers and 14 destroyers against a Japanese fleet of 4 battleships, 4 armored cruisers, 8 protected cruisers, 18 destroyers and 30 torpedo boats.
Facing long odds against success, Admiral Vitgeft of the Imperial Russian Navy was ordered to make the breakout against his own best judgment.
Admiral Togo of the Imperial Japanese Navy was apprised of the Russian fleet steaming out of the harbor and raced to position his ships in a blocking formation, opening fire at the extreme range of 8 miles. The battle continued into the early evening until the Russians had had enough and returned to port about 7 hours after the sortie began. Admiral Vitgeft and his staff had been killed by a Japanese 12 inch shell and a Russian battleship was severely damaged. The other 5 Russian battleships had lesser damage, and some of the smaller vessels fled to neutral ports where they were interned. Only 48 Russian sailors died, and 292 were wounded, while the Japanese suffered a total of 226 killed and wounded. The Japanese had 1 battleship severely damaged, another battleship slightly damaged, and a protected cruiser slightly damaged.
The Imperial Japanese Navy had contained the Russian fleet and went on to win the Russo-Japanese War, with American President Theodore Roosevelt playing a major role in negotiating the peace treaty. The battles during the Russo-Japanese War confirmed the wisdom of the naval planners of the world to make a switch to all big gun Dreadnought type battleships, and World War I which would begin 9 years after the end of the Russo-Japanese War would herald this new age of battleships, which would quickly be superseded by the Super-Dreadnought design of World War II. Of course, during World War II it became clear the age of battleships was over and the aircraft carrier was the new capital ship of the leading navies.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Forczyk, Robert, Howard Gerrard, et al. Russian Battleship vs Japanese Battleship: Yellow Sea 1904–05 (Duel). Osprey Publishing, 2009.
Semenoff, Vladimir. The Russo-Japanese War at Sea 1904-5: Volume 1-Port Arthur, the Battles of the Yellow Sea and Sea of Japan. LEONAUR, 2014.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="14425 https://www.historyandheadlines.com/?p=14425">23 Comments
The ability of the new ships to shoot at this range was such an advantage in battle. There is proof of that in how much Japan dominated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. In today’s military and naval strategies, there is a lot of stealthy attacks, as opposed to back then, where there was a lot of battle happening on the front lines.
It is crazy to think that the Japanese won even after all the army that the Russians used and after they had so many people killed. Opening fire at the range of 8 miles seemed impossible to do back then. What I found really interesting about this story is that people now thought if new ways to structure their battles and started to think differently. I wonder what would have happened if the Russians had used the same strategy that was usually used.
The Battle of the Yellow Sea certainly shows the progression of technology. Shooting 8 miles away was an impressive feat for modern battleships, and it was just the start to even more technologically advanced battleships.
Battles like this always takes a strategy and obviously whoever has the best strategy wins. Nevertheless the technology to be able to fire from range was an important aspect at the time and was a clear game changer than ultimately was the deciding factor for the Japanese to win.
Shooting at each other from 8 miles away had to be a huge advancement in Naval warfare. The Battle seems to solidify the Japanese Navy as an admiral opponent on the Seas. It helped the Japanese win the Russo-Japanese War.
Being able to shoot from 8 miles away seems like a small distance now but that must have been a huge accomplishment at the time. Yes crazy how war strategy changes with changes in technology. The article mentioned only around a decade later the end of war by ships was ended and air warfare was the new thing! Today, lots of wars are fought with robots and drones.
The ability to shoot at long range was a defying factor to how Japan defeated Russia. The battles fought at this time were head to head. Whoever could last longer without sinking would win so the factor that one could shot from long range is a huge advantage.
Being able to shoot someone from 8 miles away was something monumental for the time. Being able to shoot from a farther distance away changed how naval battles were fought. It was also a major reason for the Japanese Defeating the Russians.
I am still so amazed about how quickly naval technology developed from 1850-1940. It went from small wooden ships all the way to air craft carriers. With only 50 years between the wooden ships and this great Russian Japanese battle.
It’s good that these types of ships were tested out before the major world wars. I didn’t realize ships fight from that far out.
Naval fighting has come along way with battleships now being outdated and modern aircraft carriers dominating the seas. It had to be terrifying to be a naval service man during the times when ships, like those in the article, were being shot at and blockaded from as far as 8 miles away.
Being able to shoot rounds up to 8 miles was a huge advantage against their opponents and not to mention a huge stepping stone for battleships at that time. Strange to think that the Japanese won this battle but had nearly 226 killed and wounded, while only 48 Russians died. You would think the outcome would be the other way around.
It is crazy to think that these guns were able to shoot rounds up to 8 miles! I am curious as to what boats these days are capable of doing. Since this time naval fighting has come a long way, from small wooden ships to huge air craft carriers. Who knows what is to come!
This battle had a major impact in how battleships would fight in World War I. The guns could shoot an enemy that was 8 miles away! After the transition to aircraft carriers, the battleships have almost become obsolete in naval forces today.
This battle had such an impact on the way we fight wars. It is amazing how you can shoot a shell 8 miles away and hit your target. It is even more incredible how we can shoot even farther distances today with near precise accuracy.
It had to be terrifying to be on one of those ships during the battle. It is crazy that they could shoot from up to 8 miles away! I was surprised to see that more Japanese men were wounded and killed than the Russians, even though they had more weapons and ships.
It is always interesting to read about battles where the appearing to be weaker side wins. Even with more weapons the Japanese took a bigger hit than the Russians did. This proves that it is not always about the amount of material goods that you have.
The casualties involved between the Japanese and Russians seem to be ranged the same between deaths and wounded, pretty interesting. Normally in battles one side dominates the other.
I couldn’t imagine joining a Navy in this time. So much uncertainty about the enemies progress in naval warfare.
Interesting time to be in the Navy and not know what your enemy had in progress.
Here is another case of Russia’s naval disadvantage. Russia has too few warm-water ports. I remember learning how Russia, due to odds with the British, were banned from cutting through the Suez Canal to reach the Pacific, and so they went around Africa. This waste of time helped Japan a lot.
It is unfortunate that the higher ranking officers did not take Admiral Vitgeft’s judgement more seriously. They could have avoided this significant loss.
My brother in law and grandpa were in the navy. It is interesting to read about it.