SS Haimun

Last updated
SS Haimun
1905 SS Haimun.JPG
SS Haimun at Anchor off Chinampo
History
General characteristics
Type Steamboat

SS Haimun was a Chinese steamer ship commanded by war correspondent Lionel James in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War for The Times of London. It is the first-known instance of a "press boat" dedicated to war correspondence during naval battles. [1]

The recent advent of wireless telegraphy meant that reporters were no longer limited to submitting their stories from land-based offices, and The Times spent 74 days outfitting and equipping the ship, [2] installing a De Forest transmitter aboard the ship.

The ship sent its first news story on 15 March 1904. [1]

While they covered naval manoeuvres in Port Arthur and the Gulf of Pechili, De Forest employee H. J. Brown [3] was careful to only transmit their stories to the British-ruled Weihaiwei receiving office from the waters belonging to neutral countries, or within international waters. The receiving tower was manned by 21-year-old De Forest employee H. E. Ahearn. [3]

Nevertheless, the ship's presence during wartime meant that it quickly aroused suspicion, and it was boarded and searched several times by Japanese ships, as well as being shot across the bow [4] by the Russian warship Bayan .

On 15 April 1904, the Russian government announced its intentions to seize any ships owned by neutral countries that had the radio equipment that could potentially give away their military positions to enemies, a thinly veiled threat against Haimun. Lord Lansdowne quickly dismissed the Russian announcement as "unjustifiable and altogether absurd". [5]

In the end, faced with the prospect of Russian charges of espionage as well as Japanese indignation at not having been foretold about the receiving station constructed without their permission, [6] James dismantled and abandoned the boat, from which he had sent 10,000 words of copy, [7] and continued his war correspondence the traditional way through Weihaiwei. [1] [8]

Related Research Articles

Wireless telegraphy Method of communication

Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of telegraph signals by radio waves. Before about 1910, the term wireless telegraphy was also used for other experimental technologies for transmitting telegraph signals without wires. In radiotelegraphy, information is transmitted by pulses of radio waves of two different lengths called "dots" and "dashes", which spell out text messages, usually in Morse code. In a manual system, the sending operator taps on a switch called a telegraph key which turns the transmitter on and off, producing the pulses of radio waves. At the receiver the pulses are audible in the receiver's speaker as beeps, which are translated back to text by an operator who knows Morse code.

Russo-Japanese War Conflict between the Russian and Japanese empires from 1904 to 1905

The Russo-Japanese War was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1905 over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major theatres of military operations were located in Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden in Southern Manchuria, and the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan. Russia sought a warm-water port on the Pacific Ocean both for its navy and for maritime trade. Vladivostok remained ice-free and operational only during the summer; Port Arthur, a naval base in Liaodong Province leased to Russia by the Qing dynasty of China from 1897, was operational year round. Since the end of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Japan had feared Russian encroachment would interfere with its plans to establish a sphere of influence in Korea and Manchuria. Russia had pursued an expansionist policy east of the Urals, in Siberia and the Far East, since the reign of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century.

Battle of Tsushima 1905 Naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War

The Battle of Tsushima, also known as the Battle of Tsushima Strait and the Naval Battle of Sea of Japan in Japan, was a major naval battle fought between Russia and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. It was naval history's first decisive sea battle fought by modern steel battleship fleets and 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".

Battle of Port Arthur

The Battle of Port Arthur 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 destroyers on the neutral Russian fleet anchored at Port Arthur, Manchuria, and continued with an engagement the following morning; further skirmishing off Port Arthur would continue until May 1904. The attack ended inconclusively, though the war resulted in a decisive Japanese victory.

Dogger Bank incident Russian attack on British trawlers in 1904

The Dogger Bank incident occurred on the night of 21/22 October 1904, when the Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy mistook a British trawler fleet from Kingston upon Hull in the Dogger Bank area of the North Sea for Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo boats and fired on them. Russian warships also fired on each other in the chaos of the melée. Two British fishermen died, six more were injured, one fishing vessel was sunk, and five more boats were damaged. On the Russian side, one sailor and a Russian Orthodox priest aboard the cruiser Aurora caught in the crossfire were killed. "Damage to the Aurora was concealed...and only discovered by the deciphering of a wireless message intercepted at [the British] Felixstowe station. It was also considered highly significant that no officer from that ship appeared before the Commission, nor were her logs produced." The incident almost led to war between the United Kingdom and the Russian Empire.

Imperial Russian Navy Navy of the Russian Empire

The Imperial Russian Navy operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a smaller force that had existed prior to Tsar Peter the Great's founding of the modern Russian navy during the Second Azov campaign in 1696. It expanded in the second half of the 18th century and reached its peak strength by the early part of the 19th century, behind only the British and French fleets in terms of size.

Battle of Chemulpo Bay

The Battle of Chemulpo Bay was a naval battle in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), which took place on 9 February 1904, off the coast of present-day Incheon, Korea.

Japanese cruiser <i>Yaeyama</i>

Yaeyama (八重山) was an unprotected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The name Yaeyama comes from the Yaeyama Islands, the southernmost of the three island groups making up current Okinawa prefecture. Yaeyama was used by the Imperial Japanese Navy primarily as an aviso for scouting, reconnaissance and delivery of high priority messages.

Japanese cruiser <i>Takao</i> (1888)

Takao (高雄) was an unprotected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The name Takao comes from the Mount Takao, near Kyoto. Takao was used by the Imperial Japanese Navy primarily as an aviso or dispatch boat, for scouting, reconnaissance and the conveying of important messages.

Japanese cruiser <i>Naniwa</i> Lead ship of the Naniwa class of Japanese cruisers

Naniwa (浪速) was the lead ship of her class of two protected cruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the 1880s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to construct such vessels, the ship was designed and built in the United Kingdom. She participated in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, playing a major role in the Battle of the Yalu River and lesser roles in the Battles of Port Arthur, Weihaiwei, the Pescadores Campaign and the invasion of Taiwan. Naniwa played a minor role in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 where she participated in the Battle of Chemulpo Bay, briefly helped to blockade Port Arthur at the beginning of the war, helped to sink a Russian armored cruiser during Battle off Ulsan and participated in the climactic defeat of the Imperial Russian Navy in the Battle of Tsushima.

Japanese cruiser <i>Takachiho</i> Japanese Naniwa-class protected cruiser

Takachiho (高千穂) was the second and last Naniwa-class protected cruiser built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the 1880s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to construct such vessels, the ship was designed and built in the United Kingdom. She participated in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, playing a major role in the Battle of the Yalu River and lesser roles in the Battles of Port Arthur, Weihaiwei, the Pescadores Campaign and the invasion of Taiwan. Takachiho played a minor role in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 where she participated in the Battle of Chemulpo Bay, briefly helped to blockade Port Arthur at the beginning of the war, helped to sink a Russian armored cruiser during Battle off Ulsan and participated in the climatic defeat of the Imperial Russian Navy in the Battle of Tsushima.

Invention of radio Aspect of history

The invention of radio communication was preceded by many decades of establishing theoretical underpinnings, discovery and experimental investigation of radio waves, and engineering and technical developments related to their transmission and detection. These developments allowed Guglielmo Marconi to turn radio waves into a wireless communication system.

Japanese cruiser <i>Akitsushima</i>

Akitsushima (秋津洲) was a protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), designed and built by the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in Japan. The name Akitsushima comes from an archaic name for Japan, as used in the ancient chronicle Kojiki.

Russian cruiser <i>Novik</i>

Novík was a protected cruiser in the Imperial Russian Navy, built by Schichau shipyards in Elbing near Danzig, Germany.

Chinese cruiser <i>Jiyuan</i> Protected cruiser of the Imperial Chinese Navy

Jiyuan, was a protected cruiser of the Imperial Chinese Navy, assigned to the Beiyang Fleet. She was constructed in Germany as China lacked the industrial facilities needed to build them at the time. Jiyuan was originally intended to be the third ironclad battleship of the Dingyuan class, but was reduced in size due to funding issues. Upon completion, she was prevented from sailing to China during the Sino-French War.

Military attachés and observers in the Russo-Japanese War Foreign officers and journalists who witnessed the Russo-Japanese War

Military attachés and observers in the Russo-Japanese War were foreign observers who oversaw the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War. Observers from several nations took part, and their reports influenced subsequent military strategy in future conflict, including World War I.

Spanish cruiser <i>Rapido</i>

Rapido was an auxiliary cruiser that served in the Spanish Navy during the Spanish–American War in 1898. Before her Spanish Navy service, she served as the commercial passenger ship SS Columbia for the Hamburg America Line from 1889 to 1898. She returned to commercial service as Columbia with Hamburg America from 1899 to 1904, but early in 1904 the Imperial Russian Navy purchased her for service as the auxiliary cruiser Terek during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905.

Battle of Korsakov

The Battle of Korsakov, a naval engagement of the Russo-Japanese War, was fought on 20 August 1904 off the southern coast of Sakhalin island. The battle foiled an attempt by the Imperial Russian Navy protected cruiser Novik at escaping Port Arthur to join the Russian cruiser squadron at Vladivostok, Russia, after the Russian Pacific Squadron was scattered in the Battle of the Yellow Sea.

Japanese gunboat <i>Atago</i> Maya class steam gunboat

Atago (愛宕) was a composite hulled, steam gunboat, serving in the early Imperial Japanese Navy. She was the third vessel to be completed in the four vessel Maya class, and was named after Mount Atago in Kyoto.

British Weihaiwei British colony from 1898 to 1930

British Weihaiwei or Wei-hai-wei, on the northeastern coast of China, was a leased territory of the United Kingdom from 1898 until 1930. The capital was Port Edward, which lay in what is now the centre of Huancui District in the city of Weihai in the province of Shandong. The leased territory covered 288 square miles (750 km2) and included the walled city of Weihaiwei, Port Edward just to the north, Weihaiwei Bay, Liu-kung Island and a mainland area of 72 miles (116 km) of coastline running to a depth of 10 miles (16 km) inland, an area roughly coterminous with the Huancui District of modern Weihai City. Together with Lüshunkou it controlled the entrance to the Bohai Sea and, thus, the seaward approaches to Beijing.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Slattery, Peter (2004). Reporting the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-5: Lionel James's first wireless transmissions to the times. ISBN   1-901903-57-5.
  2. "First messages from the Yellow Sea". The Times . 11 March 2004. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02.
  3. 1 2 "Wireless Workers Back from the Scene of War" (pdf). The New York Times . 21 August 1904.
  4. Maver, William (August 1904). "Wireless Telegraphy Today". The American Monthly Review of Reviews. pp. 191–197. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28.
  5. Higgins, A. Pearce (1912). War and the Private Citizen. pp. 91–93.
  6. Curtin, Sean, ed. (January 2006). "Japan Book Review" (PDF). Japan Society of the UK. p. 7. Archived from the original (pdf) on 2009-03-20.
  7. "The De Forest Wireless Telegraphy Tower: Bulletin No. 1". Early Radio History. Summer 1904.
  8. Robertson, Patrick. Robertson's Book of Firsts: Who Did What for the First Time. Bloomsbury Publishing (2011). p.891