Battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima ( Japanese : 対馬海戦 , " tsushima - kaisen " , , " Tsusimskoye srazheniye " ) , commonly known as the " “ Sea of Japan Naval Battle ” " ( Japanese : 日本海海戦 , " nihonkai - kaisen " ) in Japan and the " “ Battle of Tsushima Strait ” " , was the major naval battle fought between Russia and Japan during the Russo - Japanese War . This was naval history ' s only decisive sea battle fought by modern steel battleship fleets , the first naval battle in which wireless telegraphy ( radio ) played a critically important role , it has been characterized as the " dying echo of the old era – for the last time in the history of naval warfare ships of the line of a beaten fleet surrendered on the high seas . " It was fought on May 27 – 28 , 1905 ( May 14 – 15 in the Julian calendar then in use in Russia ) in the Tsushima Strait between Korea and southern Japan . In this battle the Japan ese fleet under Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō destroyed two - thirds of the Russia n fleet , under Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky , which had traveled over to reach the Far East . In London in 1906 , Sir George Sydenham Clarke wrote , " The battle of Tsu - shima is by far the greatest and the most important naval event since Trafalgar " ; decades later , historian Edmund Morris agreed with this judgement . Prior to the Russo - Japanese War , countries constructed their battleships with mixed batteries of mainly 152 mm ( 6 - inch ) , 203 mm ( 8 - inch ) , 254 mm ( 10 - inch ) and 305 mm ( 12 - inch ) guns , with the intent that these battleships fight on the battle line in a close - quarter , decisive fleet action . The Battle of Tsushima demonstrated that battleship speed and big guns with longer ranges were more advantageous in naval battles than mixed batteries of different sizes . The wireless telegraph was invented in the last half of the 1890s ; by the turn of the century all major navies were adopting this improved communications technology . Although Alexander Stepanovich Popov of the Naval Warfare Institute had built and demonstrated a wireless telegraphy set in 1900 , equipment from the firm Telefunken in Germany was initially adopted by the Imperial Russian Navy . In Japan , Professor Shunkichi Kimura was commissioned into the Imperial Navy to develop their own wireless system , and this was in place in many Japanese warships before 1904 . Although both sides had early wireless telegraphy , the Russians were using German sets and had difficulties in their use and maintenance , while the Japanese had the advantage of using their own equipment . It is recognized today that this battle was the beginning of electronic warfare . Background . Conflict in the Far East . On 8 February 1904 destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the Russian Far East Fleet anchored in Port Arthur ; three ships — two battleships and a cruiser — were damaged in the attack . The Russo - Japanese war had thus begun . Japan ' s first objective was to secure its lines of communication and supply to the Asian mainland , enabling it to conduct a ground war in Manchuria . To achieve this , it was necessary to neutralize Russian naval power in the Far East . At first , the Russian naval forces remained inactive and did not engage the Japanese , who staged unopposed landings in Korea . However , the Russians were revitalised by the arrival of Admiral Stepan Makarov and were able to achieve some degree of success against the Japanese . Admiral Makarov ' s flagship , the battleship " Petropavlovsk " struck a mine , Makarov was among the dead . His successors failed to challenge the Japanese Navy , and the Russians were effectively bottled up in their base at Port Arthur . By May , the Japanese had landed forces on the Liaodong Peninsula and in August began the siege of the naval station . On 9 August , Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft , commander of the 1st Pacific Squadron , was ordered to sortie his fleet to Vladivostok , link up with the Squadron stationed there , and then engage the Imperial Japanese Navy ( IJN ) in a decisive battle . Both squadrons of the Russian Pacific Fleet would ultimately become dispersed during the battles of the Yellow Sea on 10 August and the Ulsan on 14 August 1904 . What remained of Russian naval power would eventually be sunk in Port Arthur . The Second Pacific Squadron . With the inactivity of the First Pacific Squadron after the death of Admiral Makarov and the tightening of the Japanese noose around Port Arthur , the Russians considered sending part of their Baltic Fleet to the Far East . The plan was to relieve Port Arthur by sea , link up with the First Pacific Squadron , overwhelm the Imperial Japanese Navy , and then delay the Japanese advance into Manchuria until Russian reinforcements could arrive via the Trans - Siberian railroad and overwhelm the Japanese land forces in Manchuria . As the situation in the Far East deteriorated , the Tsar ( encouraged by his cousin Kaiser Wilhelm II ) , agreed to the formation of the " Second Pacific Squadron " . It would consist of five divisions of the Baltic Fleet , including 11 of its 13 battleships . The squadron departed on 15 October 1904 under the command of Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky . The Second Pacific Squadron sailed through the North Sea . As there were rumours of Japanese torpedo boats in the North Sea , several Russian ships fired upon British fishing trawlers off the Dogger Bank , causing the Royal Navy to shadow the Russian fleet until a diplomatic agreement was reached . Barred by Britain from using the Suez Canal , the Russians sailed around Africa , and by April and May 1905 had anchored at Cam Ranh Bay in French Indochina ( now Vietnam ) . The voyage was long and arduous , and the morale of the crews plummeted . The Russians had been ordered to break the blockade of Port Arthur , but the city had already fallen on 2 January , so the Russian port of Vladivostok became the objective . Tsushima Strait . The Russians could have sailed through any one of three possible straits to enter the Sea of Japan and reach Vladivostok : $ 3 , $ 3 , and Tsushima . Admiral Rozhestvensky chose Tsushima in an effort to simplify his route . Admiral Tōgō , based at Busan , also believed Tsushima would be the preferred Russian course . The Tsushima Strait is the body of water eastward of the Tsushima Island group , located midway between the Japanese island of Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula , the shortest and most direct route from Indochina . The other routes would have required the fleet to sail east around Japan . The Japanese Combined Fleet and the Russian Second and Third Pacific Squadrons , sent from Europe , would fight in the straits between Korea and Japan near the Tsushima Islands . Prelude . Because of the 18 , 000 - mile journey , the Russian fleet was in relatively poor condition for battle . Apart from the four newest " Borodino " - class battleship s , Admiral Nebogatov ' s 3rd Division consisted of older and poorly - maintained warships . Overall neither side had a significant maneuverability advantage . The long voyage , combined with a lack of opportunity for maintenance , meant the Russian ships were heavily fouled , significantly reducing their speed . The Japanese ships could reach , but the Russian fleet could reach just , ( only in short bursts ) . Tōgō was able to use the superior maneuverability of his fleet to his advantage , " crossing the T " twice . Additionally , there were significant deficiencies in the Russian naval fleet ' s equipment and training . Russian naval tests with their torpedoes exposed major technological failings . Tōgō ' s greatest advantage was that of experience , being the only active admiral in any navy with combat experience aboard battleships . ( The others were Russian Admirals Oskar Victorovich Stark , who had been relieved of his command following his humiliating loss in the Battle of Port Arthur , and Wilgelm Vitgeft , who had been killed in the Battle of the Yellow Sea . ) Battle . Naval tactics . Battleships , cruisers , and other vessels were arranged into divisions , each division being commanded by a Flag Officer ( Admiral ) . At the battle of Tsushima , Admiral Tōgō was the officer commanding in the battleship " Mikasa " ( the other divisions being commanded by Vice Admirals , Rear Admirals , Commodores , Captains and Commanders for the destroyer divisions ) . Next in line after " Mikasa " came the battleships " Shikishima " , " Fuji " and " Asahi " . Following them were two armoured cruisers . Admiral Tōgō , by using reconnaissance and choosing his position well , " secured beyond reasonable hazard his strategic objective of bringing the Russian fleet to battle , irrespective of speeds . " When Tōgō decided to execute a turn to port in sequence , he did so to preserve the sequence of his battleline , with the flagship " Mikasa " still in the lead ( which could indicate that Admiral Tōgō wanted his more powerful units to enter action first ) . Turning in sequence meant that each ship would turn one after the other whilst still following the ship in front . Effectively each vessel would turn over the same piece of sea ( this being the danger in the maneuver as it gives the enemy fleet the opportunity to target that area ) . Tōgō could have ordered his ships to turn " together " , that is , each ship would have made the turn at the same time and reversed course . This maneuver , the same one was effected by the French - Spanish fleet at Trafalgar , would be quicker but would have disrupted the sequence of the battleline and caused confusion by altering the battle plans and placing the cruisers in the lead . This was something Tōgō wished to avoid . First contact . Because the Russians desired to slip undetected into Vladivostok , as they approached Japanese waters they steered outside regular shipping channels to reduce the chance of detection . On the night of 26 / 27 May , the Russian fleet approached the Tsushima Strait . In the night , thick fog blanketed the straits , giving the Russians an advantage . At 02 : 45 Japan Standard Time ( JST ) , the Japanese auxiliary cruiser " Shinano Maru " observed three lights on what appeared to be a vessel on the distant horizon and closed to investigate . These lights were from the Russian hospital ship " Oryol " , which in compliance with the rules of war , had continued to burn them . At 04 : 30 , " Shinano Maru " approached the vessel , noting that she carried no guns and appeared to be an auxiliary . The " Oryol " mistook the " Shinano Maru " for another Russian vessel and did not attempt to notify the fleet . Instead , " Shinano Maru " signaled to inform the Japanese ship that there were other Russian vessels nearby . The " Shinano Maru " then sighted the shapes of ten other Russian ships in the mist . The Russian fleet had been discovered , and any chance of reaching Vladivostok undetected had disappeared . Wireless telegraphy played an important role from the start . At 04 : 55 , Captain Narukawa of the " Shinano Maru " sent a message to Admiral Tōgō in Masampo that the " Enemy is in square 203 " . By 05 : 00 , intercepted wireless signals informed the Russians that they had been discovered and that Japanese scouting cruisers were shadowing them . Admiral Tōgō received his message at 05 : 05 , and immediately began to prepare his battle fleet for a sortie . Beginning of the battle . At 06 : 34 , before departing with the Combined Fleet , Admiral Tōgō wired a confident message to the navy minister in Tokyo : At the same time the entire Japanese fleet put to sea , with Tōgō in his flagship " Mikasa " leading over forty vessels to meet the Russians . Meanwhile , the shadowing Japanese scouting vessels sent wireless reports every few minutes as to the formation and course of the Russian fleet . There was mist which reduced visibility and the weather was poor . Wireless gave the Japanese an advantage ; in his report on the battle , Admiral Tōgō noted the following : At around 13 : 55 , Tōgō ordered the hoisting of the Z flag which meant : At 13 : 40 , both fleets sighted each other and prepared to engage . By 14 : 45 , Tōgō had ' crossed the Russian T ' enabling him to fire broadsides , while the Russians could only reply with their forward turrets . Daylight action . The Russians sailed from south southwest to north northeast ; " continuing to a point of intersection which allowed only their bow guns to bear ; enabling him [ Togo ] to throw most of the Russian batteries successively out of bearing . " The Japanese fleet steamed from northeast to west , Tōgō ordered the fleet to turn in sequence , which enabled his ships to take the same course as the Russians , although risking each battleship consecutively . This U - turn was successful . Rozhestvensky had only two alternatives , " a charge direct , in line abreast " , or to commence " a formal pitched battle . " He chose the latter , and at 14 : 08 , the Japanese flagship " Mikasa " was hit at about 7 , 000 meters , with the Japanese replying at 6 , 400 meters . Superior Japanese gunnery then took its toll , with most of the Russian battleships being crippled . As naval engagements traditionally began at a considerably closer range , Tōgō immediately gained the advantage of surprise . Commander Vladimir Semenoff , a Russian staff officer aboard the flagship " Knyaz Suvorov " , noted that " It seemed impossible even to count the number of projectiles striking us . Shells seemed to be pouring upon us incessantly one after another . The steel plates and superstructure on the upper decks were torn to pieces , and the splinters caused many casualties . Iron ladders were crumpled up into rings , guns were literally hurled from their mountings . In addition to this , there was the unusually high temperature and liquid flame of the explosion , which seemed to spread over everything . I actually watched a steel plate catch fire from a burst . " A direct hit on the " Borodino " s magazines by the Japanese battleship " Fuji " caused her to explode , which sent smoke thousands of feet into the air and trapped all of her crew on board as the ship slid under the sea . The Japanese ships suffered only light damage . Rozhestvensky was knocked out of action by a shell fragment that struck his skull . In the evening , Rear Admiral Nebogatov took over command of the Russian fleet . The Russians lost the battleships " Knyaz Suvorov " , " Oslyabya " , " Imperator Aleksandr III " and the " Borodino " . Night attacks . At night , around 20 : 00 , 21 destroyer s and 37 Japanese torpedo boat s were thrown against the Russians . The destroyers attacked from the vanguard while the torpedo boats attacked from the east and south of the Russian fleet . The Japanese were aggressive , continuing their attacks for three hours without a break , as a result during the night , there were a number of collisions between the small craft and Russian warships . The Russians were now dispersed in small groups trying to break northwards . By 23 : 00 , it appeared that the Russians had vanished , but they revealed their positions to their pursuers by switching on their searchlights — ironically , the searchlights had been turned on to spot the attackers . The old battleship " Navarin " struck a mine and was compelled to stop , she was consequently torpedoed four times and sunk . Out of a crew of 622 , only three survived to be rescued by the Japanese . The battleship " Sissoi Veliky " was badly damaged by a torpedo in the stern , and was scuttled the next day . Two old armoured cruiser s — " Admiral Nakhimov " and " Vladimir Monomakh " — were badly damaged , the former by a torpedo hit to the bow , the latter by colliding with a Japanese destroyer . They were both scuttled by their crews the next morning , the " Admiral Nakhimov " off Tsushima Island , where she headed while taking on water . The night attacks had put a great strain on the Russians , as they had lost two battleships and two armoured cruisers , while the Japanese had only lost three torpedo boats . " XGE " signal and Russian surrender . During the night action , Tōgō was able to rest his main fleet . At 09 : 30 on 28 May , what remained of the Russian fleet was sighted heading northwards . Tōgō ' s battleships proceeded to surround Nebogatov ' s remaining squadron south of the island of Takeshima . At 10 : 34 , realising that his situation was hopeless , Nebogatov ordered the six ships remaining under his command to surrender . " XGE " , an international signal of surrender , was hoisted ; at 10 : 53 , the Japanese agreed to accept the surrender . Realising the battle had become futile , Nebogatov was unwilling to sacrifice the lives of his sailors simply to save his own honour . He decided instead to accept the shame of surrender , knowing full well he might be shot when he returned to Russia . He said to his men : The wounded Admiral Rozhestvensky was a prisoner in a Japanese hospital . The victorious Admiral Tōgō would later visit him , comforting him with kind words : Neither Nebogatov nor Rozhestvensky were shot when they returned home to Russia . However , both were placed on trial . Rozhestvensky claimed full responsibility for the fiasco ; but as he had been wounded and unconscious during the last part of the battle , the Tsar commuted his death sentence . Nebogatov , having actually surrendered the fleet at the end of the naval engagement , was imprisoned for several years and eventually pardoned by the Tsar . Both men ' s reputations were ruined . Until the evening of 28 May , single Russian ships were pursued by the Japanese until almost all were destroyed or captured . Three Russian warships reached Vladivostok . The cruiser " Izumrud " , which escaped from the Japanese despite being present at Nebogatov ' s surrender , was scuttled by her crew after running aground near the Siberian coast . Some ships returned to Russia or were interned in neutral ports . Contributing factors . The Japanese fleets had practised gunnery regularly since the beginning of the war , using sub - calibre adapters in their guns and gaining more experience than the Russians . The Japanese also used mostly high - explosive shells with " shimose " ( melinite ) , which was designed to explode on contact and wreck the upper structures of ships . The Russians used armour - piercing rounds with small guncotton bursting charges and unreliable fuses . Japanese hits caused more damage to Russian ships relative to Russian hits on Japanese ships , setting the superstructures , the paintwork and the large quantities of coal stored on the decks on fire . ( The Russian fleet often bought low - quality coal at sea from merchant vessels on most of their long voyage due to the lack of friendly fuelling ports ) . Japanese fire was also more accurate because they were using the latest issued ( 1903 ) Barr & Stroud FA3 coincidence rangefinder , which had a range of , while the Russian battleships were equipped with Liuzhol rangefinder s from the 1880s , which only had a range of about . And finally , by 27 May 1905 , Admiral Tōgō and his men had two battleship fleet actions under their belts , which amounted to over four hours of combat experience in battleship to battleship combat at Port Arthur and the Yellow Sea — experience which would eliminate the miscalculations and rash decisions made during those battles , while applying the learned lessons from those sea engagements with both finesse and ruthlessness at " Tsushima " . Aftermath . Russian losses . The battle was a devastating humiliation for Russia , which lost all the battleships committed to it , most of its cruisers and destroyers , and effectively ended the Russo - Japanese War in Japan ' s favour . The Russians lost 4 , 380 killed and 5 , 917 captured , including two admirals , with a further 1 , 862 interned . The Russians lost eleven battleships , including three smaller coastal vessels , either sunk or captured by the Japanese , or scuttled by their crews to prevent capture . Four ships were lost to enemy action during the daylight battle on 27 May : " Knyaz Suvorov " , " Imperator Aleksandr III " , " Borodino " and the " Oslyabya " . The " Navarin " was lost during the night action , on 27 – 28 May , while the " Sissoi Veliky " , " Admiral Nakhimov " and " Admiral Ushakov " were either scuttled or sunk the next day . Four other battleships under Rear Admiral Nebogatov , were forced to surrender and would end up as prizes of war . This group consisted of only one modern battleship , " Oryol " , along with the old battleship " Imperator Nikolai I " and the two small coastal battleships " General Admiral Graf Apraksin " and " Admiral Seniavin " . The small coastal battleship " Admiral Ushakov " refused to surrender and was scuttled by her crew . The Russian Navy lost four of its eight cruisers during the battle , three were interned by the Americans , with just one reaching Vladivostok . The " Vladimir Monomakh " and " Svetlana " were sunk the next day , after the daylight battle . The cruiser " Dmitrii Donskoi " fought against six Japanese cruisers and survived ; however , due to heavy damage she was scuttled . The " Izumrud " ran aground near the Siberian coast . Three Russian protected cruiser s , " Aurora " , " Zhemchug " , and " Oleg " escaped to the US naval base at Manila in the then - American - controlled Philippines where they were interned , as the United States was neutral . The armed yacht ( classified as a cruiser ) , " Almaz " , alone was able to reach Vladivostok . Imperial Russia also lost six of its nine destroyers in the battle , had one interned by the Chinese , with two escaping to Vladivostok . They were — the " Buiny " , " Buistry " , " Bezupreshchny " , " Gromky " and " Blestyashchy " — sunk on 28 May , the " Byedovy " surrendered that day . " Bodry " was interned in Shanghai ; the " Grosny " and " Bravy " reached Vladivostok . Of the auxiliaries , the " Kamchatka " , " Ural " and " Rus " were sunk on 27 May , " Irtuish " ran aground on 28 May , " Koreya " and " Svir " were interned in Shanghai ; the " Anadyr " escaped to Madagascar . The hospital ship s " Oryol " and " Kostroma " were captured , the " Kostroma " was released afterwards . Japanese losses . The Japanese lost only three torpedo boats ( Nos . " 34 " , " 35 " and " 69 " ) , with 117 men killed and 500 wounded . Political consequences . Imperial Russia ' s prestige was badly damaged , the defeat was a severe blow to the Romanov dynasty . Nearly the entire Russian fleet was lost in a single battle ; the fast armed yacht " Almaz " ( classified as a cruiser of the 2nd rank ) and the destroyers " Grozny " and " Bravy " were the only Russian ships to reach Vladivostok . In " The Guns of August " , the American historian and author Barbara Tuchman argued that Russia ' s loss destabilized the balance of power in Europe , it emboldened the Central Powers and contributed to their decision to go to war in 1914 . The battle had a profound cultural and political impact upon Japan . It was the first defeat of a European power by an Asian nation , using the full breadth of then - modern industrial technology . It also weakened the notion of white superiority , widely accepted in Western society before that . The victory established Japan as the sixth greatest naval power while the Russian navy declined to one barely stronger than that of Austria - Hungary . In " The Guinness Book of Decisive Battles " , the British historian Geoffrey Regan argues that the victory bolstered Japan ' s increasingly aggressive political and military establishment . According to Regan , the lopsided Japanese victory at Tsushima : . . . created a legend that was to haunt Japan ' s leaders for forty years . A British admiral once said , ' It takes three years to build a ship , but 300 years to build a tradition . ' Japan thought that the victory had completed this task in a matter of a few years . . . It had all been too easy . Looking at Tōgō ' s victory over one of the world ' s great powers convinced some Japanese military men that with more ships , and bigger and better ones , similar victories could be won throughout the Pacific . Perhaps no power could resist the Japanese navy , not even Britain and the United States . Regan also believes the victory contributed to the Japanese road to later disaster , " because the result was so misleading . Certainly the Japanese navy had performed well , but its opponents had been weak , and it was not invincible . . . Tōgō ' s victory [ helped ] set Japan on a path that would eventually lead her " to the Second World War . Dreadnought arms race . Britain ' s First Sea Lord , Admiral Fisher , reasoned that the Japanese victory at Tsushima confirmed the importance of large guns and speed for modern battleships ; in October 1905 the British started the construction of HMS " Dreadnought " , which upon her launching in 1906 began a naval arms race between Britain and Germany in the years before 1914 . The British and German fleets met in only one major action in World War I , the indecisive Battle of Jutland . Timeline . 27 May 1905 ( JST ) 28 May 1905 ( JST )