100 years ago today...
Posted: 2004-02-08 12:35pm
...The Japanese attacked the Russian fleet in Port Arthur, begining the Russo-Japanese War.
The Japanese attack was carried out by torpedo boats, without a declaration of war, to a great extent echoing the attack on Pearl Harbor some 37 years later. In contrast to Pearl Harbor, however, only the Russian battleships Tsarevitch and Retvizan were torpedoed, and survived. The protected cruiser Pallada was also struck, and survived.
Interestingly, the Russians during war games the previous year predicted that the Japanese would begin the war in exactly this manner, in exactly that place.
Those war games showed Port Arthur to be practically indefensible, on top of that it was already known to be wildly impractical as a base to heavy warships, and it was proposed for them to transfer to Vladivostock before war broke out. They didn't try until it was too late.
Japan handed Russia an incredibly humiliating defeat in this war, and it established Japan as recognised great power.
The Japanese attack was carried out by torpedo boats, without a declaration of war, to a great extent echoing the attack on Pearl Harbor some 37 years later. In contrast to Pearl Harbor, however, only the Russian battleships Tsarevitch and Retvizan were torpedoed, and survived. The protected cruiser Pallada was also struck, and survived.
Interestingly, the Russians during war games the previous year predicted that the Japanese would begin the war in exactly this manner, in exactly that place.
Those war games showed Port Arthur to be practically indefensible, on top of that it was already known to be wildly impractical as a base to heavy warships, and it was proposed for them to transfer to Vladivostock before war broke out. They didn't try until it was too late.
Japan handed Russia an incredibly humiliating defeat in this war, and it established Japan as recognised great power.
