The Battle of Tsushima, also known in Japan as the Battle of the Sea of Japan, was the final naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 27–28 May 1905 in the Tsushima Strait. A devastating defeat for the Imperial Russian Navy, the battle was the only decisive engagement ever fought between modern steel battleship fleets and the first in which wireless telegraphy (radio) played a critically important role. The battle was described by Sir George Clarke as "by far the greatest and the most important naval event since Trafalgar".
Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky was an admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy. He was in command of the Second Pacific Squadron in the Battle of Tsushima, during the Russo-Japanese War.
The Borodino-class battleships were a group of five pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy around the end of the 19th century. Their design was based on that of the French-built Tsesarevich modified to use Russian equipment. The first four ships were finished after the start of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 and were among the ships ordered to sail from the Baltic Sea to the Far East to relieve the Pacific Squadron besieged by the Japanese in Port Arthur. Three of these ships were sunk and one was captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905. The fifth and final ship, Slava, was not completed in time to participate in the war and served with the Baltic Fleet through World War I.
Nikolai Ivanovich Nebogatov was a rear admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy, noted for his role in the final stages of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905.
Iwate (磐手) was the second and last Izumo-class armored cruiser built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to build such warships herself, the ship was built in Britain. She participated in most of the naval battles of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. The ship was moderately damaged during the Battle of Port Arthur, the Battle off Ulsan, and the Battle of Tsushima. Iwate played a minor role in World War I and began the first of her many training cruises for naval cadets in 1916, a task that would last until the end of 1939. The ship continued to conduct training in home waters throughout the Pacific War. Iwate was sunk by American carrier aircraft during the attack on Kure in July 1945. Her wreck was refloated and scrapped in 1946–1947.
Yakumo was an armored cruiser built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to build such warships herself, the ship was built in Germany. She participated in most of the naval battles of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, and was lightly damaged during the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Battle of Tsushima. Yakumo saw no combat during World War I and began the first of many training cruises in 1917, although she was not officially reclassified as a training ship until 1931. Her last training cruise was in 1939, but the ship continued to conduct training in home waters throughout the Pacific War. Yakumo became a repatriation transport after the war and was broken up in 1946–47.
Navarin was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The ship was assigned to the Baltic Fleet and spent the early part of her career deployed in the Mediterranean and in the Far East. She participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 before returning to the Baltic Fleet in 1901. Several months after the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War in February 1904, she was assigned to the 2nd Pacific Squadron to relieve the Russian forces blockaded in Port Arthur. During the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905, she was sunk by Japanese destroyers which spread twenty-four linked mines across her path during the night. Navarin struck two of these mines and capsized with the loss of most of her crew.
Sissoi Veliky was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1890s. The ship's construction was marred by organizational, logistical and engineering problems and dragged on for more than five years. She was commissioned in October 1896 with an appalling number of design and construction faults, and only a few of them were fixed during her lifetime. Immediately after sea trials, Sissoi Veliky sailed to the Mediterranean to enforce the naval blockade of Crete during the Greco-Turkish War. On March 15 [O.S. March 3], 1897 she suffered a devastating explosion of the aft gun turret that killed 21 men. After nine months in the docks of Toulon for repairs, the ship sailed to the Far East to reinforce the Russian presence there. In the summer of 1900, Sissoi Veliky supported the international campaign against the Boxer Rebellion in China. Sailors from Sissoi Veliky and the battleship Navarin participated in the defence of the International Legations in Beijing for more than two months.
Oryol was a Borodino-class battleship built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The ship was completed after the start of the Russo-Japanese War in February 1904 and was assigned to the Second Pacific Squadron sent to the Far East six months later to break the Japanese blockade of Port Arthur. The Japanese captured the port while the squadron was in transit and their destination was changed to Vladivostok. Oryol was badly damaged during the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905 and surrendered to the Japanese, who put her into service under the name of Iwami.
Admiral Seniavin, was a Admiral Ushakov-class coastal defense ship built for Imperial Russian Navy during the 1890s. She was one of eight Russian pre-dreadnought battleships captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy from the Russians during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. She subsequently served in the Japanese Navy under the name Mishima (見島) until sunk as a target in 1936.
General-Admiral Apraksin, sometimes transliterated as Apraxin, was a member of the Admiral Ushakov-class coastal defense ships of the Imperial Russian Navy. She was named after General Admiral Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin, the first commander of Russian Baltic Fleet. She was one of eight Russian pre-dreadnought battleships captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. She subsequently served in the Japanese Navy as Okinoshima (沖ノ島) until removed from service in 1922.
Imperator Nikolai I was a Russian Imperator Aleksandr II-class battleship built for the Baltic Fleet in the late 1880s. She participated in the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America in New York City in 1892. She was assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron and visited Toulon in October 1893. She sailed for the Pacific Ocean during the First Sino-Japanese War and remained in the Pacific until late 1896, when she returned to the Mediterranean Squadron and supported Russian interests during the Cretan Revolt. She returned to the Baltic in April 1898 and had a lengthy refit, which replaced all of her machinery, before returning to the Mediterranean in 1901.
Knyaz Suvorov was one of five Borodino-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Completed after the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, she became the flagship of Vice admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky, commander of the Second Pacific Squadron. The squadron was sent to the Far East a few months after her completion to break the Japanese blockade of Port Arthur. The Japanese captured the port while the squadron was in transit and their destination was changed to Vladivostok. During the Battle of Tsushima on 27 May 1905, the ship fell out of the battle line after a shell hit her bridge, killing her helmsman and wounding her captain and Rozhestvensky. Knyaz Suvorov was eventually torpedoed and sunk by Japanese torpedo boats; other than 20 wounded officers evacuated by a destroyer, there were no survivors.
Oslyabya was the second of the three Peresvet-class second-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy at the end of the nineteenth century, although construction delays meant that she was the last to be completed. The ship was part of the Second Pacific Squadron sent to the Far East during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, and served as the flagship of Rear Admiral Baron Dmitry von Fölkersam. Oslyabya was sunk on 27 May 1905 at the Battle of Tsushima, and was the first all-steel battleship to be sunk by naval gunfire alone. Sources differ on the exact number of casualties, but over half her crew went down with the ship.
Borodino was the lead ship of her class of five pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the first decade of the twentieth century. Completed after the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, Borodino was assigned to the Second Pacific Squadron that was sent to the Far East a few months after her completion to break the Japanese blockade of Port Arthur. The Japanese captured the port while the squadron was in transit and their destination was changed to Vladivostok. The ship was sunk during the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905 due to explosions set off by a Japanese shell hitting a magazine. There was only a single survivor from her crew of 855 officers and enlisted men.
Admiral Ushakov was the lead ship in her class of armoured warships of the Imperial Russian Navy, and named after Admiral Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov the Russian naval commander of the 18th century.
Imperator Aleksandr III was one of five Borodino-class battleships built for the Russian Imperial Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The ship was completed a few months before the start of the Russo-Japanese War in February 1904 and was assigned to the Second Pacific Squadron that was sent to the Far East six months later to break the Japanese blockade of Port Arthur. The Japanese captured the port while the squadron was in transit and their destination was changed to Vladivostok. During the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905, Imperator Alexander III was sunk by Japanese gunfire with the loss of 778 men, her entire crew.
Vladimir Monomakh was an armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the 1880s. The vessel was named after Vladimir II Monomakh, Grand Prince of Kiev. She spent most of her career in the Far East, although the ship was in the Baltic Sea when the Russo-Japanese War began in 1904. Vladimir Monomakh was assigned to the Third Pacific Squadron and participated in the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905. She was tasked to protect the Russian transports and was not heavily engaged during the daylight portion of the battle. The ship was torpedoed during the night and was scuttled the following morning by her captain to prevent her capture by the Japanese.
Dmitrii Donskoi was an armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the early 1880s. She was designed as a commerce raider and equipped with a full suite of sails to economize on coal consumption. The ship spent the bulk of her career abroad, either in the Far East or in the Mediterranean.
The 254 mm 45 caliber Pattern 1891 was a Russian naval gun developed in the years before the Russo-Japanese War that armed coastal defense ships and pre-dreadnought battleships during the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. Guns salvaged from scrapped ships found a second life as coastal artillery. It is believed none were in service during World War II.
