The Battle of Tsushima 1905

[Brian James]

During the Battle of Tsushima on May 27th 1905,Battleship IJNS Mikasa led the 1st Fleet into combat, this time against the Second and Third Pacific Squadrons detached from the Baltic Fleet. She opened fire at the Battleship Knyaz Suvorov, the Russian flagship, at 14:10, and was joined by the Battleship Asahi and the Armoured Cruiser Azuma shortly afterwards. Within an hour the Japanese ships had started a serious fire aboard the Russian ship, badly wounded the fleet commander, Vice Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky, knocked out her rear twelve-inch gun turret, and jammed Knyaz Suvorov's steering so that she fell out of formation. During this time, Mikasa was the focus of the Russian fire as the leading ship in the Japanese column and was hit by 6 twelve-inch and 19 six-inch shells. They did very little damage and Tōgō was able to cross the T of the Russian squadrons. Knyaz Suvorov's steering was later repaired, but she blundered between the Japanese and Russian fleets several times later in the battle and Mikasa fired three torpedoes at her to no avail. Later in the battle, the ship appears to have fired mostly on the Battleship Borodino although Fuji fired the shots that caused the Russian ship's magazines to explode and sink her. At 18:04, a twelve-inch shell detonated prematurely in the barrel of Mikasa's right gun barrel of the forward turret (Elswick Ordnance Company 40-calibre), disabling the gun and knocking out the left gun until 18:40. Another twelve-inch shell had exploded in that same barrel almost two hours earlier, but had not damaged the gun!

[designeraccd]

Lucky once, but twice pushed it.............. DFO

[Brian James]

The captured Borodino Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship Orël,reconstructed as Iwami,seen at Kure in 1907.

[Brian James]

The captured Pre-Dreadnought Battleship Hizen (Ex Retvizan) raised and refitted,pictured c1909.

[Brian James]

The captured Peresvet Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship Suwo (Ex Pobeda) with Protected Cruiser Otama pictured at Yokohama,October 14th 1906.

[Brian James]

Peresvet Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship Suwo (Ex Pobeda) pictured at Yokosuka on October 10th 1908...Sunk at Port Arthur in 1904 Pobeda was refloated by Japanese engineers on October 17th 1905 and was classified as a first-class Battleship by the IJN. She was renamed as Suwo on October 25th, she steamed under her own power to Sasebo Naval Arsenal, where she arrived on December 16th and began temporary repairs. Her reconstruction at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal began in May 1906 and lasted until October 10th 1908...To improve her stability, Suwo's forward fighting top was removed. Suwo was rearmed with four 10-inch 45 caliber guns, ten 6-inch guns and sixteen QF 12-pounder 12 cwt 3 inch guns. Two above-water 18-inch torpedo tubes replaced her original torpedo armament and her crew now numbered 791 officers and enlisted men....Suwo was re-designated as a first-class Coastal Defense Ship on August 28th 1912 and became a Training Ship for cadets and engineers. Initially assigned to the 1st Standing Squadron when World War I began, she shortly afterwards became the flagship of the 2nd Squadron, commanded by Vice Admiral Kato Sadakichi. The squadron was tasked to blockade the German-owned port of Tsingtao, China, and to cooperate with the Imperial Japanese Army in capturing the city. Tango and the other ships of the squadron, reinforced by the British Pre-Dreadnought HMS Triumph, bombarded German fortifications throughout the siege until the Germans surrendered on November 7th. Suwo served as flagship of the Second Squadron of the Second Fleet in 1915–1916 before becoming a Gunnery Training Ship at Yokosuka for the rest of the war. In April 1922, in compliance with the Washington Naval Treaty, Suwo was disarmed at the Kure Naval Arsenal. While her armour was being removed, the ship capsized on July 13th. She was probably scrapped in 1922–1923, but at least one source suggests she was refloated and hulked, serving until being broken up at Kure in 1946.

[Brian James]

Pre-Dreadnought Battleship Hizen (Ex Retvizan) pictured at Sasebo Naval Arsenal on February 1st 1916.