The Battle of the Yellow Sea (Japanese: 黄海海戦, romanized: Kōkai kaisen; Russian: Бой в Жёлтом море) was a naval battle 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 Lüshunkou (Port Arthur) to break out and form up with the Vladivostok squadron, 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 (Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft) had been trapped in Lüshunkou (Port Arthur) since the Imperial Japanese Navy blockade began on 8 February 1904 with the Battle of Port Arthur. In July and early August, as the Imperial Japanese Army laid siege to Port Arthur, relations between Vitgeft and the Russian Viceroy Yevgeni Alekseyev soured. Alekseyev, a former admiral, favored an aggressive sortie so as to enable the First Pacific Squadron to link up with the Vladivostok Squadron to 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 Siege of Port Arthur 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. After several exchanges of letters in which both insisted on their demand, Alexeyev turned to Tsar Nicholas II, who replied to him by telegraph: "I fully share your opinion that it is important for the squadron to break through quickly from Port Arthur to Vladivostok." After Alexeyev had warned Vitgeft of the possible legal consequences if he did not comply with the Tsar's order, Vitgeft finally yielded.
Prelude
Most of the ships' guns that were still in working order were hastily replaced; but even after recovering everything that could be salvaged from the batteries ashore, as well as the guns of the ships that were to remain at Port Arthur, the squadron was still short one 304 mm, ten 106 mm and twelve 12-pounder guns when it encountered the Japanese fleet. The work of replacing the armament and preparing for sea was fraught with difficulties as the Japanese bombarded the harbor. The Russian fleet consisted of the ships of the line Tsesarevich, Vitgeft's flagship, Retvizan, Pobeda, Peresvet, Sevastopol and Poltava as well as the four protected cruisers Askold, Pallada, Diana and Nowik and 14 torpedo boats. The Japanese ships under Admiral Tōgō were part of the 1st Fleet (第一艦隊, Dai-ichi Kantai) and were composed of the 1st Division consisting of Mikasa, Asahi, Fuji and Shikishima, plus the armored cruisers Nisshin and Kasuga detached from the 5th Division, the 3rd Division (Vice Admiral Dewa Shigetō) consisting of Yakumo, Chitose, Kasagi and Takasago, the 5th Division (Rear Admiral Yamada) consisting of Matsushima, Itsukushima and Hashidate, the 6th Division (Rear Admiral Togo) consisting of Akashi, Suma, Chiyoda, Idzumi, and Akitsushima. In addition, Admiral Tōgō had 18 destroyers and 29 torpedo boats at his disposal.
Battle
Opening moves
On the morning of 28 July [O.S. 15 July] 1904, Vitgeft's squadron left the port of Port Arthur to break through the Japanese blockade and head for Vladivostok. At 9:00 a.m., the entire fleet slowly sailed out to sea, initially in line abeam to clear the shipping channel of mines, following a course along the coast of the Shandong Peninsula. By 10:30, the Russian fleet had reached open sea, whereupon half of the torpedo boats returned to Port Arthur while the fleet took a southeasterly course and proceeded at a speed of 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). In the meantime, both fleets approached on a converging course and at about 11:30 the two main fleets came into view, only dimly visible through the thin haze. The leading ships were now about twelve nautical miles apart. The Mikasa led the Japanese fleet, followed by Asahi, Fuji, Shikishima, Kasuga and Nisshin in line ahead. As soon as they were directly in front of the enemy line, Admiral Tōgō had his ships simultaneously turn to port so that the Russian fleet was behind them.
During this time, Admiral Dewa's four cruisers (Chitose, Takasago, Yakumo and Kasagi) came into view, fast approaching from the south at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), and Tōgō attempted to squeeze Admiral Vitgeft's fleet between the two advancing columns. Just after 13:00, Tōgō attempted to cross Vitgeft's T and commenced firing his main batteries from the extreme range of more than 8 nmi (15 km; 9.2 mi).
Vitgeft, with the battleship Retvizan, returned fire, but the range was excessive for both sides and no hits were scored. Tōgō had miscalculated his speed when trying to cross the T and Vitgeft simply made a quick turn to port, maintained his speed, and increased his range from Tōgō's fleet. Within minutes, Vitgeft was again headed for the open sea and Tōgō's pincer move had failed, as Admiral Dewa's cruisers had to turn quickly to avoid Tōgō's battleline, and thus broke contact without having fired a shot. As Tōgō observed Vitgeft's battleline 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, and again at a range of over 8 miles (13 km), Tōgō's battleships opened fire on Vitgeft's flagship and Retvizan, hitting the latter 12 times. By about 13:30 the Russian flagship had returned fire, knocking out Tōgō's wireless communications with two 305-millimetre (12.0 in) 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 they reached about 3.5 miles (5.6 km), at which time both fleets let loose with their secondary 155-millimetre (6.1 in) guns. As the fleets continued to pound each other with all available guns, Tōgō'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 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph), but again, Vitgeft had managed to get past Tōgō, and the Japanese were forced to commence a stern chase. By 14:45 the Japanese flagship had closed to within about 7 nmi (13 km; 8.1 mi) of the trailing battleship Poltava, which had been unable to maintain her fleet's speed of 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph) due to engine trouble. Mikasa and Asahi soon began to pound Poltava, scoring several hits. Admiral Ukhtomsky in the battleship Peresvet observed the plight of Poltava and ordered his division to fall back and help Poltava, and they began concentrating their gunfire onto Mikasa and Asahi. With Admiral Ukhtomsky's division firing, coupled with Poltava rejoining of the fight, Mikasa and Asahi began taking too many hits, and upon the urging of his chief of staff, Tōgō 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 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 one 305-millimetre (12 in) shell hit Dewa's armored cruiser, Yakumo, from a range of over 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi), which was well out of range of his 203 mm (8 in) guns. Admiral Dewa decided against having his four Japanese cruisers engage with any Russian battleships. By this time, only Tōgō's six warships (four battleships and two armored cruisers) were chasing Vitgeft's ten warships (six battleships and four cruisers). With darkness only three hours away, Admiral Vitgeft believed that he had outranged Admiral Tōgō, and would lose him totally when darkness came. Tōgō knew this too, and ordered a 15-knot (28 km/h; 17 mph) speed to catch up to the tail end of Vitgeft's fleet. By 17:35 hours, Tōgō's warships had closed to within 3.5 nautical miles (6.5 km; 4.0 mi) of the again-lagging battleship Poltava, and opened fire upon her.
Admiral Dewa also showed up with his cruisers, and Tōgō ordered all battleships and cruisers to shell Poltava, hoping to at least sink one Russian battleship. However, the commanding officer of Poltava, Captain Ivan P. Uspenskiy, and his crewmen scored several hits on Admiral Tōgō's flagship. At this time, the Shimose shells loaded inside the 305-millimetre (12 in) guns began detonating prematurely inside the hot gun barrels; knocking out of action one 305-millimetre (12 in) gun on Shikishima at 17:45, and two 305-millimetre (12 in) barrels on Asahi at 18:10 hours. By 18:30, Tōgō had only 11 of his original 16 305-millimetre (12 in) 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, Tōgō 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 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 Asahi to take over (known as a battle handoff) the shooting upon the lead Russian battleship. Within 10 minutes of being relieved by Asahi, Admiral Tōgō 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 Retvizan
Prince Pavel Ukhtomsky of the battleship Peresvet 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 Retvizan, immediately turned his battleship towards Tōgō's battleline, charging directly into it with all weapons firing, despite being down by the bow from battle damage. Tōgō'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 Tōgō'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 cruisers and destroyers.