 On 13 April 1904 (31 March old style), Strashnii, a Russian destroyer, was intercepted by Japanese destroyers. A sea battle erupted between the opposing destroyers. Makarov immediately dispatched the cruiser Bayan to assist Strashnii. After Bayan had informed on presence of enemy cruisers on the site, Makarov decided to lead main forces in order to seek battle with the surrounding enemy warships and rescue more survivors from Strashnii. He led two battleships (Petropavlovsk and Poltava), four cruisers and a group of destroyers into the Yellow Sea.
