Battle of the Yellow Sea The Battle of the Yellow Sea ( " Kōkai kaisen " ; ) was a major naval engagement of the Russo - Japanese War , fought on 10 August 1904 . In the Russian Navy , it was referred to as the Battle of 10 August . The battle foiled an attempt by the Russian fleet at Port Arthur to break out and form up with counterparts from Vladivostok , forcing them to return to port . Four days later , the Battle off Ulsan similarly ended the Vladivostok group ' s sortie , forcing both fleets to remain at anchor . Background . The Imperial Russian Navy ' s First Pacific Squadron , commanded by Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft , had been trapped in Port Arthur since the Imperial Japanese Navy ' s blockade began on 8 February 1904 with the Battle of Port Arthur . Throughout late July and early August , as the Imperial Japanese Army laid siege to Port Arthur , relations between Admiral Vitgeft and Russian Viceroy Yevgeni Alekseyev increasingly soured . Viceroy Alexeiev , a former Admiral , favored an aggressive sortie so as to enable the First Pacific Squadron to link up with the Vladivostok Squadron and thereby create a naval force powerful enough to challenge the Japanese fleet . Admiral Vitgeft believed in a fleet in being , which simply stayed at anchor , while at the same time contributing some of his weaponry to the land battle as the safest course to follow . Although passive , Vitgeft ' s preference was actually more in keeping with the Russian Navy ' s doctrine , which was building up strength ( waiting for the arrival of the Baltic Fleet , also known as the 2nd Pacific Squadron ) , and then engaging the Japanese navy in decisive battle . Alexeiev appealed to St . Petersburg , and Tsar Nicholas II replied that he fully shared the Viceroy ' s opinion . Faced with an Imperial writ and threat of legal action , Admiral Vitgeft was ordered to sail for Vladivostok immediately . By 06 : 15 hours , on 10 August 1904 , Admiral Vitgeft , flying his flag in the battleship " Tsesarevich " , began leading his battleships from the harbor . Battle . Opening moves . At 09 : 55 hours his fleet had cleared the harbor ' s entrance , and as Admiral Vitgeft ' s Pacific Squadron completed their exit , he wisely made a feint to the south - west to conceal his actual intent , whereby he succeeded in delaying Admiral Heihachiro Togo ' s concentration of his forces . Although Vitgeft ' s move had bought him time , Togo had nonetheless previously issued orders for his warships to assemble near " Encounter Rock " , in the event Admiral Vitgeft was to take that route . By 1100 hours , however , it was clear in which direction Vitgeft ' s fleet was sailing : they were headed for the open sea . The Russian squadron consisted of the battleships " Tsesarevich " , " Retvizan " , " Pobeda " , " Peresvet " , " Sevastopol " , and " Poltava " , protected cruiser s " Askold " , " Diana " , " Novik " and " Pallada " , and 14 destroyer s . At about 12 : 25 the battleship fleets sighted each other near " Encounter Rock " at a range of about 11 miles . Vitgeft ' s battlefleet was headed southeast at 13 knots , while Togo , on an intercepting course , came from the northeast at 14 knots . His fleet consisted of Japan ' s four surviving battleships " Mikasa " , " Asahi " , " Fuji " , and " Shikishima " , the armoured cruiser s " Nisshin " and " Kasuga " , as well as eight protected cruisers , 18 destroyers , and 30 torpedo boat s . During this time , Admiral Dewa ' s four cruisers came into view , fast approaching from the south at 18 knots , and Togo attempted to squeeze Admiral Vitgeft ' s fleet between the two advancing columns . Just after 13 : 00 , Togo attempted to cross Vitgeft ' s " T " and commenced firing his main batteries from the extreme range of more than 8 miles . Vitgeft , with the battleship " Retvizan " , returned fire , but the range was excessive for both sides and no hits were scored . Togo had miscalculated his speed when trying to cross the enemy ' s " T " , and Vitgeft simply made a quick turn to port , maintained his speed , and increased his range from Togo ' s fleet . Within minutes , Admiral Vitgeft was again headed for the open sea , and Admiral Togo ' s pincer gambit had failed , as Admiral Dewa ' s cruisers had to turn quickly to avoid Togo ' s battle line , and thus broke contact without having fired a shot . As Togo observed Vitgeft ' s battle line swiftly move past his own in opposite directions , he quickly ordered each warship to turn about individually , which put his cruisers into the lead , but now parallel with Vitgeft ' s battle line . At about 13 : 25 hours , and again at a range of over 8 miles , Togo ' s battleships opened fire on Vitgeft ' s flagship and the " Retvizan " , hitting the latter 12 times . By about 13 : 30 hours the Russian flagship had returned fire , knocking out Togo ' s wireless communications with two 305 mm ( 12 inch ) shell direct hits at this extreme range . For nearly half an hour the two battleship fleets pounded each other , slowly closing their range , until by 14 : 05 hours they reached about 3 . 5 miles , at which time both fleets let loose with their secondary 155 mm ( 6 inch ) guns . As the fleets continued to pound each other with all available guns , Togo ' s flagship was beginning to feel its wounds , and he tried to turn his vessel a bit , due to the hits she was taking ( she ended up being hit 20 times ) , and urgently tried to have his cruisers engage the Russian battleline . But with his radio shot out , he had to rely on flag signals and radio relays from accompanying warships . Stern chases . The Japanese cruisers had re - established contact with the Russian battleline , but were quickly driven off by their 305 mm gunfire . Both battlefleets were maintaining about 14 knots , but again , Vitgeft had managed to get past Togo , and the Japanese were forced to commence a stern chase . By 14 : 45 hours the Japanese flagship had closed to within about 7 miles of the trailing battleship " Poltava " , which had been unable to maintain its fleet ' s 14 knots due to engine troubles . " Mikasa " and " Asahi " soon began to pound the " Poltava " , scoring several hits . However , Admiral Ukhtomsky in the battleship " Peresvet " observed the plight of the " Poltava " and ordered his division to fall back and help the " Poltava " , and they began concentrating their gunfire onto the " Mikasa " and " Asahi " . With Admiral Ukhtomsky ' s division firing , coupled with " Poltava " s rejoining of the fight , " Mikasa " and " Asahi " began taking too many hits , and upon the urging of his chief of staff , Togo used his superior speed to break contact , race ahead of Vitgeft ' s fleet , and try to re - establish contact again under more favorable conditions . By 15 : 20 hours the range was opened and the firing ceased . As the battleships had broken contact , Admiral Dewa with his cruisers attempted to get into action , when suddenly the Russian battleships opened up on him . At about 15 : 40 hours one 305 mm shell hit Dewa ' s cruiser , the " Yakumo " from a range of over 8 miles ; which was well out of range of his 203 mm ( 8 inch ) guns . Admiral Dewa decided that his four Japanese cruisers had no business tangling with any Russian battleships . By this time , only Togo ' s 6 warships ( 4 battleships and 2 armored cruisers ) were chasing Vitgeft ' s 10 warships ( 6 battleships and 4 cruisers ) . With darkness only 3 hours away , Admiral Vitgeft believed that he had outranged Admiral Togo , and would lose him totally when darkness came . Togo knew this too , and ordered a 15 knot speed to catch up to the tail end of Vitgeft ' s fleet . By 17 : 35 hours Togo ' s warships had closed to within 3 . 5 miles of the again lagging battleship " Poltava " , and opened fire upon her . Admiral Dewa also showed up with his cruisers , and Togo ordered all battleships and cruisers to shell the " Poltava " , hoping to at least sink one Russian battleship . However , the Russian commander , Captain Ivan P . Uspenskiy of the " Poltava " would not go down meekly , and his crewmen scored several hits on Admiral Togo ' s flagship . At this time , the " Shimose " shells loaded inside the 305 mm guns became incredibly unstable and began detonating inside the gun barrels ; knocking out of action one 305 mm on the " Shikishima " at 17 : 45 hours , and two 305 mm barrels on the " Asahi " at 18 : 10 hours . By 18 : 30 hours , Togo only had 11 of his original 17 305 mm guns still in action . Hand - Off . Although the range had dropped to about 3 miles , the secondary batteries of 155 and 203 mm guns were still ineffective , and " Poltava " and " Peresvet " , although heavily damaged , were still with the Russian battleline . By 18 : 30 hours , Togo was still having trouble controlling his battleship ' s gunfire ; " Shikishima " and " Asahi " were blasting away at the crippled " Poltava " , " Fuji " was shooting at " Pobeda " and " Peresvet " , while the flagship " Mikasa " was duelling with the Russian flagship " Tsesarevich " . No IJN warships were shooting at the Russian battleships " Retvizan " and " Sevastopol " , which allowed them to freely blast away at the " Mikasa " . With darkness only 30 minutes away , the Japanese flagship " Mikasa " almost no longer combat effective , and Russian gunfire seemingly becoming more accurate and effective with each cannon shot ; the flagship signaled to the " Asahi " to take over ( known as a battle handoff ) the shooting upon the lead Russian battleship . Within 10 minutes of being relieved by the " Asahi " , Admiral Togo got his lucky break , when at 18 : 40 hours " Asahi " fired a 305 mm salvo into the Russian flagship " Tsesarevich " , instantly killing Admiral Vitgeft and his immediate staff , and jamming the flagship ' s steering wheel . The explosion had wedged the wheel into a port turn , sharp enough so that " Tsesarevich " heeled over 12 degrees . " Retvizan " , which was unaware of the situation on the flagship , followed in her wake . By the time " Pobeda " arrived at the turning point , " Tsesarevich " had swung around 180 degrees and was heading back into her own line . With no signal to indicate what had happened , the other ships were unaware that " Tsesarevich " was not only out of control and without its admiral , but was actually without anyone at all in command . Charge of battleship " Retvizan " . Prince Pavel Ukhtomsky of the battleship soon realized that the flagship was out of action , and attempted to gain control of the Russian squadron . But a Japanese shell , falling wide , cut the foremast of " Peresvet " , preventing the signal flags from being hoisted as usual ; they had to be hoisted along the bridge instead . Being thus almost hidden from view , the signal apparently was only seen on " Sevastopol " , no other Russian capital ships followed Ukhtomsky ' s lead . At the same time Captain Eduard Schensnovich commanding the battleship , immediately turned his battleship towards Togo ' s battleline , charging directly into it with all weapons firing , despite being down by the bow from battle damage . Togo ' s battleline shifted their fire onto " Retvizan " as the range dropped to less than three miles . There were so many shell splashes surrounding the charging battleship , that Japanese gunners were unable to adjust their fire . However , as Togo ' s battleships were running low on 305 mm shells , and many of his main guns were out of action , he decided to play it safe , and with the Russian squadron scattered , he turned the fight over to his cruiser s and destroyer s . As Togo ' s ships began their turn , they fired a final salvo , hitting the enemy battleship with several shells , one of which seriously wounded Captain Schensnovich in the stomach . The " Retvizan " laid smoke and also began to turn away , but the battleship had effectively ended the duel between the opposing pre - dreadnought s , and had saved the flagship from destruction . There was little choice but to give up the attempt to reach Vladivostok and to return to Port Arthur . Even this proved impossible to coordinate , and many ships wandered off on their own . Two hours later , the bulk of the Russian fleet returned to the relative safety of Port Arthur . Five battleships , a cruiser and nine destroyers made it back . The damaged " Tsesarevich " and three escorting destroyers sailed to Kiaochou , where they were interned by German authorities . The cruiser and another destroyer sailed to Shanghai and were likewise interned by Chinese authorities . The cruiser escaped to Saigon , where it was interned by the French . Only the small cruiser sailed east around the Japanese home islands to try to reach Vladivostok . However , on 20 August 1904 pursuing Japanese cruisers forced the ship aground at Sakhalin , where it was destroyed by the crew after engaging the Japanese at the Battle of Korsakov . Analysis . The Battle of the Yellow Sea was naval history ' s first major confrontation between modern steel battleship fleets , so with the exception of Admiral Togo ' s 20 minute duel with Russian Admiral Stark ' s battleships at Port Arthur on 9 February 1904 , both Vitgeft and Togo were new to fighting modern steel battleship fleet actions . Although Admiral Stark had been replaced by Admiral Stepan Makarov shortly after the " Port Arthur " battle , Makarov in turn was replaced by Vitgeft , following Makarov ' s death in April 1904 , when his battleship " Petropavlovsk " blew up and sank in the Yellow Sea , after striking mines . Had Admiral Stark remained in command at the time of the Yellow Sea battle , Admirals Togo and Stark would have met on equal terms , both retaining about equal combat experience in battleship fleet actions . But the naval force that Togo was to meet at Tsushima the following year was not the same type of battle fleet that he engaged at the Yellow Sea either . Though Admiral Vitgeft was new , many of his men were not , most of them were veterans of Far East duty , with some of them veterans of the 1900 Boxer Rebellion in China . Thus , when Togo fought Vitgeft ' s fleet in the Yellow Sea in August 1904 , he quickly found that they knew how to sail , and they were good gunners . Rangefinders and gunnery . During the late 1890s , it was thought that around 3 to 4 miles would be the norm for battleship engagements . Although 305 mm / 40 caliber guns were quite capable of reaching out to the ranges that the Yellow Sea battle had opened up with ( 8 miles ) , the lack of effective range - finders and gun sights forced practical 305 mm ( 12 inch ) gunfire to be held within a 3 to 4 mile range . During the battle , Russian battleships had been equipped with Liuzhol Rangefinders with a range out to 4 , 000 meters , while Japanese pre - dreadnoughts had been equipped with the latest ( 1903 ) Barr & Stroud coincidence rangefinders , which had a range of 6 , 000 meters . Notwithstanding all of the above , the world was quite surprised after the opponents opened fire upon one another while still over 8 miles apart . The Yellow Sea engagement lasted some 6 to 7 hours , with about 4 of those hours being direct combat . During those nearly four hours of fighting , roughly 7 , 382 rounds were expended by both sides , ranging in size from 155 to 305 mm shells . Of those 7 , 382 shells fired , approximately 5 , 956 had been from 155 mm guns ; 3 , 592 from the Imperial Japanese Navy , and 2 , 364 from the Imperial Russian Navy . 307 203 mm shells had been fired by the IJN , and none by the Russian fleet . Admiral Vitgeft ' s fleet had expended 224 254 mm shells compared to Togo ' s 33 shells . The long range gunnery duel that had commenced at a range of over 8 miles , and which began with 305 mm main gun fire , ended with 305 mm gun fire near darkness , during which time 862 305 mm main gun rounds were fired ; 259 from the Russian battleships , and 603 from the Japanese battleships . Battle damage and casualties . The nearly seven hours of naval combat coupled with the estimated 7 , 382 fired shells , had produced : for a hit rate of 1 . 7 % . Captain Eduard N . Shchensnovich , who had bravely charged his battleship into Admiral Togo ' s battleline , thus ending the battleship fleet duel , and saving the Russian flagship from destruction , later died from his wounds received from that action in April 1910 , at the age of 58 . Result . The strategic objective was obvious for both sides : breakthrough to Vladivostok with at least a substantial part of the force ( including capital ships ) for the Russians , preventing this for the Japanese ( with the added twist of preventing heavy damage or loss of their capital ships , which Japanese yards could not yet rebuild ) . Thus , strategically the battle had been a Japanese victory , since the Russian fleet never again attempted to break out into the open sea . By December 1904 , the land battles had converged around Port Arthur itself , and heavy artillery would soon be brought to bear on the Russian warships remaining inside Port Arthur ; sinking or damaging all of the survivors of the Yellow Sea battle . Tactically , the issue is less clear . For the Japanese , the goal would most likely be destruction of the Russian squadron ( or at least the capital ships ) there and then , again without incurring too many losses of their own . This was not achieved . Whether the tactical outcome is considered a draw or a Russian victory depends on what the Russian tactical goal was : causing more significant damage to the Japanese than vice versa , which was not achieved , or forcing the Japanese to withdraw while preserving the Russian squadron as a " fleet in being " , which was achieved .