During the 1904 Russo-Japanese War, the Russian Baltic Fleet was sent to sail to the Pacific. And no, you cannot go the Arctic Route.
As I understand, the trip was quite the story.
Any book titles about it?
These look relevant:
On May 14-15, 1905, in the Tsushima Straits near Japan, an entire Russian fleet was annihilated, its ships sunk, scattered, or captured by the Japanese. It was among the top five naval battles in history, equal to those of Lepanto, Trafalgar, Jutland, and Midway. The Japanese lost only three destroyers, but the Russians lost twenty-two ships and thousands of sailors. To this day Russian ships throw wreaths on the waves when passing the Korea Strait.The Russians had traveled for nine months to be destroyed in a few hours. Because they were afraid of capture in the Suez Canal, their legendary admiral, dubbed “Mad Dog,” led them on an extraordinary 18,000mile detour from the Baltic Sea, around Europe, Africa, and Asia to the Sea of Japan.
In 1905, Japan and Russia were at war. With the Russian Far East Fleet destroyed, the Czar decided to send his Baltic Fleet half way around the world to exact revenge. This mammoth journey took many months and was, in itself, an amazing feat of seamanship. But, at the end of this epic adventure, the Russians were totally overwhelmed and the vast majority of the fleet went to the bottom. There was no alternative for the Czar but to sue for an ignominious peace.
The story of the journey and the final battle remain fascinating.
The naval battle of Tsushima is one of the forgotten actions of the twentieth century, but it has an immense significance in world history.
And a reprint of an older book:
““From Libau to Tsushima”” is a historical account of Admiral Rojdestvensky’s fleet voyage to Eastern seas in 1905. The book is written by Eugene Sigizmondovich Politovsky and provides a detailed narrative of the journey, including the infamous Dogger Bank incident. The author describes the challenges and obstacles faced by the fleet during their journey and the strategies employed by the Admiral to overcome them.
I read this one when it came out.
I wouldn’t know if it’s the best-ever. I liked the story about one of the monkeys they acquired in Africa who stole a small religious icon and threw it into the sea who was then called “the iconoclast.” The author had the Russian admiral Rozhestvensky, a man given to fits of rage and flinging his binoculars into the ocean, using the word “m*****f****r,” which I wasn’t sure was accurate. I wrote for clarification but received no reply.
The third one sounds good.
I read The Tsar’s Last Armada years ago. It was a page turner but all I really remember is how the Russians mistook British fishing boats in the North Sea for Japanese warships. The fleet was totally paranoid that everybody was either an ally or an agent of the Empire of Japan.
Well, the UK and Japan had recently established an alliance, fairly obviously against Russian expansionism. The Russians wouldn’t have been completely away with the fairies.
@TokyoBayer is a bit of an armchair expert in these matters. He’s kinda sporadic on the boards these days but with luck this page will reach him.
The Russo-Japanese war is frequently overlooked but it had a major effect and influence on Japanese actions in, attitudes towards and strategies for WWII.
It’s often hard to remember that up until the middle of the 19th century, Japan was a country that time had forgotten, a feudal society with limited manufacturing, armies of samurais and no navy.
In a space of time less than 50 years, Japan was knocking on the doors of the Great Powers, the first non-Western country to become that powerful. It’s a fascinating period of history.
After the Japan decisively defeated China in the first Sino-Japan War in 1895, they forced numerious consessions upon the loser. Among them, was control of Liaodong Peninsula (with the all-important Port Arthur). Russia, Germany and France acted together and in turn, forced Japan to return that terriatory to China. Afterwhich, Russia promptly snatched Port Aurthor up and turned it into a navy base.
Japan felt betrayed and with both powers having similar imperial ambitions during the age in which a few European powers finished carving up much of the world.
Japan managed to get revenge a decade later.
It needs to be pointed out that the war started out with a sneak attack on their enemy’s fleet in harbor.
At the time, Alfred Mahan’s theories on naval doctrine were widely accepted, including Japan where they eventually became the Decisive Battle Doctrine (艦隊決戦, Kantai Kessen, “naval fleet decisive battle”)
Because of the overwhelming victory by Japan the Battle of Tsushima, the Kantai Kessen became accepted as gospel truth in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and this irrational believe that they could repeat the formula against America drove Japanese strategies and tactics in WWII.