This, her first, tour of duty in China coincided with one of the several occasions when the friction over benefits in China created enough heat to burst into the flames of war. Earlier in the year, war between Japan and Russia began with Japan's attack on the Russian squadron at Port Arthur. Unable to bottle the Russian ships up securely in Port Arthur or to lure them out to their destruction, the Japanese set about investing their base. After several months, the siege forced the Russian squadron to attempt the run to Vladivostok on 10 August 1904. Japanese mines sank or damaged several Russian ships; and, in the ensuing confusion, some Russian ships were separated from the main body before it retired back into Port Arthur to its ultimate doom. Thus, "Bainbridge" found herself at Shanghai when , one of the refugees from Admiral Vitgeft's squadron, sought sanctuary there. When her pursuers sent a destroyer into the Yangtze to reconnoiter "Askold", Rear Admiral Yates Stirling dispatched "Bainbridge" to deter the probe and to discourage a repetition of the high-handed Japanese behavior at Chefoo where they had violated international law by seizing another refugee from Vitgeft's squadron after she had interned herself in the neutral port. The ploy succeeded. The Japanese chose to allow "Askold" to intern herself, and the Russian commander wisely did so.