News of the Crimean War reached the far east in July. In September an Anglo-French naval force was defeated at the Siege of Petropavlovsk. Judging that Petropavlovsk could not be defended, Muravyov ordered Rear Admiral Vasily Zavoyko to move his forces to the Amur area. In May 1855, Charles Elliot's force found Zavoyko at De Kastri Bay (south of Cape Nevelskoy on the Tatar Strait). Under cover of fog, Zavoiko withdrew north to the mouth of the Amur, which baffled the British since they thought that Sakhalin was connected to the mainland. In 1855, Muravyov sent a 3,000 man force down the Amur, including settlers. The Chinese declared this to be illegal, but did nothing. Also in 1855, Russia and Japan signed the Treaty of Shimoda which temporarily resolved their conflict in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The Russian representative was Admiral Putyatin (see below).