Battle of Port Arthur The of 8 – 9 February 1904 marked the commencement of the Russo - Japanese War . It began with a surprise night attack by a squadron of Japanese destroyer s on the Russia n fleet anchored at Port Arthur , Manchuria , and continued with an engagement of major surface combatant s the following morning ; further skirmishing off Port Arthur would continue until May 1904 . The battle itself ended inconclusively , though later events would result in the war ending in a Japanese victory . For a major European power to lose to the Japanese was not only inconceivable to the world at large but also fraught with dire circumstances for the Imperial regime ; the Russian people , from the nobility down to the recently emancipated serfs , lost confidence in the military and in the Tsarist political system . This led directly to the Russian Revolution of 1905 , and would be well - remembered upon yet - more - disastrous defeats to come later in World War I . Background . The opening stage of the Russo - Japanese War began with pre - emptive strike s by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the Russian Pacific Fleet based at Port Arthur and at Chemulpo . Admiral Togo ' s initial plan was to swoop down upon Port Arthur with the 1st Division of the Combined Fleet , consisting of the six pre - dreadnought battleships , , , , and , led by the flagship , and the 2nd Division , consisting of the armored cruisers , , , , and . These capital ships and cruisers were accompanied by some 15 destroyer s and around 20 smaller torpedo boat s . In reserve were the cruiser s , , , and . With this large , well - trained and well - armed force , and surprise on his side , Admiral Togo hoped to deliver a crushing blow to the Russian fleet soon after the severance of diplomatic relations between the Japanese and Russia n governments . On the Russian side , Admiral Stark had the pre - dreadnought battleships , , , , , , and , supported by the protected cruisers , , , , and , all based within the protection of the fortified naval base of Port Arthur . However , the defenses of Port Arthur were not as strong as they could have been , as few of the shore artillery batteries were operational , funds for improving the defenses had been diverted to nearby Dalny , and most of the officer corps was celebrating at a party being hosted by Admiral Stark on the night of 9 February 1904 . As Admiral Togo had received false information from local spies in and around Port Arthur that the garrisons of the forts guarding the port were on full alert , he was unwilling to risk his precious capital ship s to the Russian shore artillery and therefore held back his main battle fleet . Instead , the destroyer force was split into two attack squadrons , one squadron with the 1st , 2nd , and 3rd flotillas to attack Port Arthur , and the other squadron , with the 4th and 5th flotillas , to attack the Russian base at Dalny . The night attack of 8 – 9 February 1904 . At about 22 : 30 on 8 February 1904 , the Port Arthur attack squadron of 10 destroyers encountered patrolling Russian destroyers . The Russians were under orders not to initiate combat , and turned to report the contact to headquarters . However , as a result of the encounter , two Japanese destroyers collided and fell behind and the remainder became scattered . At circa 00 : 28 on 9 February , the first four Japanese destroyers approached the port of Port Arthur without being observed , and launched a torpedo attack against the " Pallada " ( which was hit amidship , caught fire , and keeled over ) and the " Retvizan " ( which was holed in her bow ) . The other Japanese destroyers were less successful , many of the torpedoes became caught in the extended torpedo nets which effectively preempted most of the torpedoes from striking the vitals of the Russian battleships . Other destroyers had arrived too late to benefit from surprise , and made their attacks individually rather than in a group . However , they were able to disable the most powerful ship of the Russian fleet , the battleship " Tsesarevich " . The Japanese destroyer " Oboro " made the last attack , around 02 : 00 , by which time the Russians were fully awake , and their searchlights and gunfire made accurate and close range torpedo attacks impossible . Despite ideal conditions for a surprise attack , the results were relatively poor . Of the sixteen torpedo es fired , all but three either missed or failed to explode . But luck was against the Russians insofar as two of the three torpedoes hit their best battleships : the " Retvizan " and the " Tsesarevich " were put out of action for weeks , as was the protected cruiser " Pallada " . Surface engagement of 9 February 1904 . Following the night attack , Admiral Togo sent his subordinate , Vice Admiral Shigeto Dewa , with four cruisers on a reconnaissance mission at 08 : 00 to look into the Port Arthur anchorage and to assess the damage . By 09 : 00 Admiral Dewa was close enough to make out the Russian fleet through the morning mist . He observed 12 battleships and cruisers , three or four of which seemed to be badly listing or to be aground . The smaller vessels outside the harbor entrance were in apparent disarray . Dewa approached to about of the harbor , but as no notice was taken of the Japanese ships , he was convinced that the night attack had successfully paralyzed the Russian fleet , and sped off to report to Admiral Togo . Unaware that the Russian fleet was getting ready for battle , Dewa urged Admiral Togo that the moment was extremely advantageous for the main fleet to quickly attack . Although Togo would have preferred luring the Russian fleet away from the protection of the shore batteries , Dewa ' s mistakenly optimistic conclusions meant that the risk was justified . Admiral Togo ordered the First Division to attack the harbor , with the Third Division in reserve in the rear . Upon approaching Port Arthur the Japanese came upon the Russian cruiser " Boyarin " , which was on patrol . " Boyarin " fired on the " Mikasa " at extreme range , then turned and fled . At around 12 : 00 , at a range of about 5 miles , combat commenced between the Japanese and Russian fleets . The Japanese concentrated the fire of their 12 " guns on the shore batteries while using their 8 " and 6 " against the Russian ships . Shooting was poor on both sides , but the Japanese severely damaged the " Novik " , " Petropavlovsk " , " Poltava " , " Diana " and " Askold " . However , it soon became evident that Admiral Dewa had made a critical error , the Russians had recovered from the initial destroyer attack , and their battleships had steam up . In the first five minutes of the battle " Mikasa " was hit by a ricocheting shell , which burst over her , wounding the chief engineer , the flag lieutenant , and five other officers and men , wrecking the aft bridge . At 12 : 20 , Admiral Togo decided to reverse course and escape the trap . It was a highly risky maneuver that exposed the fleet to the full brunt of the Russian shore batteries . Despite the heavy firing , the Japanese battleships completed the maneuver and rapidly withdrew out of range . The " Shikishima " , " Mikasa " , " Fuji " , and " Hatsuse " all took damage , receiving 7 hits amongst them . Several hits were also made on Admiral Hikonojo Kamimura ' s cruisers as they reached the turning point . The Russians in return had received about 5 hits , distributed amongst the battleships " Petropavlavsk " , " Pobeda " , " Poltava " , and the " Sevastopol " . During this same time , the cruiser " Novik " had closed to within of the Japanese cruisers and launched a torpedo salvo . All missed although the " Novik " had received a severe shell hit below the waterline . Outcome . Although the naval Battle of Port Arthur had resulted in no major warship losses , the IJN had been driven from the battlefield by the combined fire of the Russian battleships and shore batteries , thus attributing to them a minor victory . The Russians took 150 casualties to around 90 for the Japanese . Although no ship was sunk on either side , several took damage . However , the Japanese had ship repair and drydock facilities in Sasebo with which to make repairs , whereas the Russian fleet had only very limited repair capability at Port Arthur . It was obvious that Admiral Dewa had failed to press his reconnaissance closely enough , and that once the true situation was apparent , Admiral Togo ' s objection to engage the enemy under their shore batteries was justified . The formal declaration of war between Japan and Russia was issued on 10 February 1904 , a day after the battle . The attack , conducted against a largely unassuming and unprepared enemy in peacetime , has been widely compared to the attack on Pearl Harbor . Subsequent naval actions at Port Arthur , February – December 1904 . On 11 February 1904 , the Russian minelayer started to mine the entrance to Port Arthur . One of the mines washed up against the ship ' s rudder , exploded and caused the ship to sink , with loss of 120 of the ship ' s complement of 200 . " Yenisei " also sank with the only map indicating the position of the mines . The , sent to investigate the accident , also struck a mine and was abandoned , although staying afloat . She sank two days later after hitting a second mine . Admiral Togo set sail from Sasebo again on 14 February 1904 , with all ships except for " Fuji " . On the morning of 24 February 1904 , an attempt was made to scuttle five old transport vessels to block the entry to Port Arthur , sealing the Russian fleet inside . The plan was foiled by " Retvizan " , which was still grounded outside the harbor . In the poor light , the Russians mistook the old transports for battleships , and an exultant Viceroy Yevgeni Alekseyev telegraphed the Tsar of his great naval victory . After daylight revealed the truth , a second telegram needed to be sent . On 8 March 1904 , Russian Admiral Stepan Makarov arrived in Port Arthur to assume command from the unfortunate Admiral Stark , thus raising Russian morale . He raised his flag on the newly repaired " Askold " . On the morning of 10 March 1904 , the Russian fleet took to the offensive , and attacked the blockading Japanese squadron , but to little effect . In the evening of 10 March 1904 , the Japanese attempted a ruse by sending four destroyers close to the harbor . The Russians took the bait , and sent out six destroyers in pursuit ; whereupon the Japanese mined the entrance to the harbor and moved into position to block the destroyers ' return . Two of the Russian destroyers were sunk , despite efforts by Admiral Makarov to come to their rescue . On 22 March 1904 , " Fuji " and " Yashima " were attacked by the Russian fleet under Admiral Makarov , and " Fuji " was forced to withdraw to Sasebo for repairs . Under Makarov , the Russian fleet was growing more confident and better trained . In response , on 27 March 1904 , Togo again attempted to block Port Arthur , this time using four more old transports filled with stones and concrete . The attack again failed as the transports were sunk too far away from the entrance to the harbor . On 13 April 1904 , Makarov ( who had now transferred his flag to " Petropavlovsk " ) left port to go to the assistance of a destroyer squadron he had sent on reconnaissance north to Dalny . He was accompanied by the Russian cruisers , , and , along with the battleships " Poltava " , " Sevastopol " , " Pobeda " , and " Peresvet " . The Japanese fleet was waiting , and Makarov withdrew towards the protection of the shore batteries at Port Arthur . However , the area had been recently mined by the Japanese . At 09 : 43 , " Petropavlovsk " struck three mines , exploded and sank within two minutes . The disaster killed 635 officers and men , along with Admiral Makarov . At 10 : 15 , " Pobeda " was also crippled by a mine . The following day , Admiral Togo ordered all flags to be flown at half mast , and that a day ’ s mourning be observed for his fallen adversary . On 3 May 1904 , Admiral Togo made his third and final attempt at blocking the entrance to Port Arthur , this time with eight old transports . This attempt also failed , but Togo proclaimed it to be a success , thus clearing the way for the Japanese Second Army to land in Manchuria . Although Port Arthur was as good as blocked , due to the lack of initiative by Makarov ' s successors , Japanese naval losses began to mount , largely due to Russian mines . On 15 May , two Japanese battleships , the 12 , 320 - ton and the 15 , 300 - ton , sank in a Russian minefield off Port Arthur after they both struck at least two mines each , eliminating one - third of Japan ' s battleship force , the worst day for the Japanese Navy during the war . Further naval operations from Port Arthur resulted in two break - out attempts by the Russians . The first was on 23 June 1904 , and the second on 10 August , the latter of which resulted in the Battle of the Yellow Sea , which was tactically inconclusive . Afterwards , the Russian fleet did not make any more attempts to break out from their port , while the Japanese fleet dominated the waters for the duration of the war . But mines laid by Russian minelayers were a continuing problem for the IJN and resulted in more losses . On 18 September 1904 , the 2 , 150 - ton gunboat struck a Russian mine west of Port Arthur and sank . The same fate befell the 2 , 440 - ton cruiser on 30 November in the same minefield , and on 13 December , the 4 , 160 - ton cruiser sank in another Russian minefield a few miles south of Port Arthur while giving naval gunfire support to the Japanese armies now besieging the port .