Arthurs War

Boyarin fired on the Mikasa at extreme range, then turned and fled. The Japanese concentrated the fire of their 12" guns on the shore batteries while using their 8" and 6" against the Russian ships. Shooting was poor on both sides, but the Japanese severely damaged the Novik , Petropavlovsk , Poltava , Diana and Askold. However, it soon became evident that Admiral Dewa had made a critical error; the Russians had recovered from the initial destroyer attack, and their battleships had steam up.

It was a highly risky maneuver that exposed the fleet to the full brunt of the Russian shore batteries.

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Despite the heavy firing, the Japanese battleships completed the maneuver and rapidly withdrew out of range. The Shikishima , Mikasa , Fuji , and Hatsuse all took damage, receiving 7 hits amongst them. The Russians in return had received about 5 hits, distributed amongst the battleships Petropavlovsk , Pobeda , Poltava , and the Sevastopol.

All missed although the Novik had received a severe shell hit below the waterline. Although the naval Battle of Port Arthur had resulted in no major warship losses, the IJN had been driven from the battlefield by the combined fire of the Russian battleships and shore batteries, thus attributing to them a minor victory.

Although no ship was sunk on either side, several took damage.

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However, the Japanese had ship repair and drydock facilities in Sasebo with which to make repairs, whereas the Russian fleet had only very limited repair capability at Port Arthur. The formal declaration of war between Japan and Russia was issued on 10 February , a day after the battle. The attack, conducted against a largely unassuming and unprepared neutral power in peacetime, has been widely compared to the attack on Pearl Harbor. One of the mines washed up against the ship's rudder, exploded and caused the ship to sink, with loss of of the ship's complement of Yenisei also sank with the only map indicating the position of the mines.

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The Boyarin , sent to investigate the accident, also struck a mine and was abandoned, although staying afloat. She sank two days later after hitting a second mine. On the morning of Wednesday 24 February , an attempt was made to scuttle five old transport vessels to block the entry to Port Arthur, sealing the Russian fleet inside. The plan was foiled by Retvizan , which was still grounded outside the harbor.

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In the poor light, the Russians mistook the old transports for battleships, and an exultant Viceroy Yevgeni Alekseyev telegraphed the Tsar of his great naval victory. After daylight revealed the truth, a second telegram needed to be sent. He raised his flag on the newly repaired Askold. On the morning of Thursday 10 March , the Russian fleet took to the offensive, and attacked the blockading Japanese squadron, but to little effect.

In the evening of 10 March , the Japanese attempted a ruse by sending four destroyers close to the harbor.

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The Russians took the bait, and sent out six destroyers in pursuit; whereupon the Japanese mined the entrance to the harbor and moved into position to block the destroyers' return. Two of the Russian destroyers were sunk, despite efforts by Admiral Makarov to come to their rescue.

Under Makarov, the Russian fleet was growing more confident and better trained. The attack again failed as the transports were sunk too far away from the entrance to the harbor. On 13 April , Makarov who had now transferred his flag to Petropavlovsk left port to go to the assistance of a destroyer squadron he had sent on reconnaissance north to Dalny.

- Arthur's war at a glance

The Japanese fleet was waiting, and Makarov withdrew towards the protection of the shore batteries at Port Arthur. However, the area had been recently mined by the Japanese. The disaster killed officers and men, along with Admiral Makarov.

Makarov was officially replaced by Admiral Nikolai Skrydlov on 1 April ; however, Skrydlov was unable to reach his command due to the Japanese blockade, and remained at Vladivostok overseeing command of the Vladivostok cruiser squadron until recalled to St Petersburg on 20 December. On 3 May , Admiral Togo made his third and final attempt at blocking the entrance to Port Arthur, this time with eight old transports.

This attempt also failed, but Togo proclaimed it to be a success, thus clearing the way for the Japanese Second Army to land in Manchuria. Although Port Arthur was as good as blocked, due to the lack of initiative by Makarov's successors, Japanese naval losses began to mount, largely due to Russian mines. On 15 May, two Japanese battleships, the 12,ton Yashima and the 15,ton Hatsuse , sank in a Russian minefield off Port Arthur after they both struck at least two mines each, eliminating one-third of Japan's battleship force, the worst day for the Japanese Navy during the war.

Further naval operations from Port Arthur resulted in two break-out attempts by the Russians. The first was on 23 June , and the second on 10 August, the latter of which resulted in the Battle of the Yellow Sea , which was tactically inconclusive. In November , compelled by patriotic duty and a sense of adventure, Arthur Bancroft kissed his sweetheart, Mirla, goodbye and signed up with the Royal Australian Navy.

He was nineteen years old. Throughout his career with the navy, Arthur made a habit of cheating death. Having defied death in the water, Arthur was captured by the Japanese and dispatched to the notoriously brutal Burma-Thailand Railway, where it is said a man died for every sleeper laid on the track. There he endured slave labour, brutality and disease. Hello John, congratulations on your excellent book authored with Arthur Bancroft.

My Father Ken Nicholls now 83 just shared it with me. His elder brother Ron nicknamed Horse was also on the Perth and was delighted to see him get a mention on page These little insights into the experiences for Uncle Ron are to be cherished and passed on for our future generations. Best regards, Ken and Pete Nicholls. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam.