On the night of 8/9 February 1904, the IJN launched a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur. "Poltava" was not hit by the initial attack by torpedo boats and sortied the following morning when the Combined Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, attacked. Tōgō had expected the surprise night attack by his ships to be much more successful than it was, anticipating that the Russians would be badly disorganized and weakened, but they had recovered from their surprise and were ready for his attack. The Japanese ships were spotted by the protected cruiser , which was patrolling offshore and alerted the Russian defenses. Tōgō chose to attack the Russian coastal defenses with his main armament and engage the ships with his secondary guns. Splitting his fire proved to be a poor decision as the Japanese and six-inch guns inflicted little damage on the Russian ships, which concentrated all their fire on the Japanese ships with some effect. "Poltava" was hit several times with little effect and only three men wounded. She fired 12 twelve-inch and 55 six-inch shells during the battle.