Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 - Battle of Tsushima DOCUMENTARY

the russo-japanese war of 1904 to 1905 changed the history of warfare forever assuring in a new era of conflicts in which naval battles became central to the fate of the struggle it's ending had long-term consequences becoming another factor that made the first and the second world wars inevitable in this video which was voted on by our patrons and to YouTube sponsors we will cover the naval portion of this war with a focus on the Battle of Tsushima this video is sponsored by world of warships world of warships is called the thinking man's action game as it's the perfect balance between action and strategy command a massive naval fleet featuring the most iconic war vessels in history unlock new ships and dominate the oceans populated by seven million players worldwide each ship is based on 3d scans of the real ships and are designed with incredible attention to detail making the battles very realistic and there are over 200 ships available to play across 11 different nations click the link below to play world of warships register with the code play warships 2018 to receive 250 doubloons 1 million credits the hms campbellton premium ship one port slot and three days of premium time in 1868 Japan entered a modernization period called the Meiji Restoration in the same year the Imperial Japanese Navy was formed showing that Japan was now vying for naval dominance in the region lacking industrial capacity Japan relied on Britain in the development of a modern Navy European superpower Russia was also eager to increase its presence in the Pacific it had strong navies in the Baltic and Black Seas but lacked a base in the East in 1860 Russia acquired Vladivostok from China and turned it into a naval base in 1871 Russia also started building the trans-siberian railroad to link Moscow with Vladivostok in 1891 and although Vladivostok was in a prime position to exert naval power it wasn't a warm water port which Russia desperately needed meanwhile China which was reeling from defeats at the hands of the European powers bought two battleships from Germany in 1885 that threatened Japan as it lacked financial resources to acquire its own in 1893 Japan ordered two battleships from Britain but the war between China and Japan erupted in 1894 so Japan had to rely on its cruisers to the shock of the entire world Japan won the in less than a year managing to destroy one of the Chinese battleships and capturing another the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 transferred Korea into the Japanese sphere of influence while China had to pay war reparations and also ceded control of Taiwan and he out on Peninsula to Japan the latter was crucial as this peninsula was home to be strategically crucial naval base of Port Arthur control over this port solidified Japanese power in the Yellow Sea Russia couldn't allow this and enlisted diplomatic support from France and Germany all three threatened Japan with war in what was later called the triple intervention the russian battleship nikolai the first steamed towards the japanese port of nagasaki and as japan still had no battleships it was forced to relinquish control of the our dong and Port Arthur a year later Russia secured a 25-year lease on this territory from China and finally gained a warm water port Japan was humiliated and that created strong revanchist desires for more battleships were ordered from Britain both sides participated in the equaling of the Boxer Rebellion in China but that made the situation worse as Russia increased its military presence in Manchuria and Japan considered it a threat other European powers were weary of the increase Russian presence in Asia especially Britain which entered an alliance with Japan in 1902 all that made the war inevitable by 1903 Japan created a fleet based at Sasebo with six battleships ten cruisers and 40 destroyers meanwhile Russia had seven battleships eight cruisers and 25 destroyers at port arthur at this point we should mention the absolute importance of the battleships it was expected that the naval conflicts of this period would be decided by these engines of war unlike japan russia was able to build its own battleships yet the technology used was mostly British French and German so neither side had a clear technological advantage and a duel between battleships would boil down to the experience and talent of the officers and crews ironically this war would be the first and the last naval conflicts decided by battleships as in a decade submarines and airpower which changed the balance of power yet again in 1904 Japan demanded that Russia demilitarized Manchuria Russia refused and on February 6th Japan severed diplomatic relations tsar nicolai immediately ordered the commander of the fleet at port arthur Admiral Stark to not fire the first shots so that Japan would be seen as the aggressor On February 8th Japan declared war however according to Russian sources the declaration reached Petersburg on the next day so Russia considered the attack on the 8th to be in violation of the rules of war commander of the Japanese fleet admiral togo knew that he needed to neutralize the russian fleet at port arthur as soon as possible as the russian fleets in the baltic and black sea would be able to reach the Asian Theatre in four months conversely Russian strategy was deliberately passive as they just needed to defend around Port Arthur and wait for the reinforcements on the night of February 8th Togo made his first move at midnight his destroyers closed in and launched torpedoes against the Russian battleships - says Arabic and red vision received heavy damage and were towed to be repaired Togo hoped that the Russians were now panicking and at noon on the 9th moved his fleet within range unfortunately for him the Russians were ready and his ships were fired upon by both the enemy ships and the coastal batteries his ships were not able to withstand that and 20 minutes later he ordered them to turn back the blockade of Port Arthur had begun on March 7th Admiral Stark was replaced by Admiral Makarov Togo decided to try a new tactic on March 22nd two of his battleships were sent to the southwest side of the liaodong peninsula where they could not be seen by Russian coastal batteries and started bombarding the enemy fleet dealing some damage before the Russians managed to relocate their batteries and fire back meanwhile the situation on lands changed as Japanese troops were now in striking distance of Port Arthur so togo needed to seal it off to prevent the escape of the Russian Navy on April 12th Japanese destroyers placed 50 mines close to the harbour mouth Makarov spotted them and attempted a sortie with two battleships and four cruisers this was an ambush as suddenly five of togo's battleships appeared from the Mist and open the Russians and the latter had to head back to the safety of the port however the battleship Petropavlovsk struck a mine and sank alone with Makarov another battleship for pietà also hit a mine but was able to make it into the port untested Rear Admiral vid gift was appointed the new commander his approach was more passive and that allowed to be Japanese to land an army to the northeast of Port Arthur on May 5th basically cutting the Russians off Togo resumed skirmishes and in response the gift started mining off possible bombardment positions that worked out as on May 15th Japanese battleships had soozee anti Ashima struck mines and sunk in June the Russians finally repaired read vision says Arabic and poppy era they needed to break out in order to get to Vladivostok and on June 23rd the whole squadron sailed out of the harbour Togo couldn't allow the Russians to escape initially his squadron moved parallel to the Russians out of firing range which gradually closed the distance and long range jeweled although that gift had the numbers on his side he ordered his ships to sail back to port despite all the attempts to delay the Japanese land forces by August 7th they were shelling Port Arthur's Harbor damaging read vision yet again finally on the 10th a direct order from the Czar forced vit gebbs to attempt another escape - bloody Vostok Togo was not prepared for this as part of his Navy was assisting the ground campaign still over the next few hours Togo managed to build up his fleet in the battle that would later be known as the Battle of the Yellow Sea the Japanese used their cruisers as they would do with the battleships closing in fast in order to use these smaller calibre guns Togo crossed the T multiple times despite enemy fire maximizing the use of his guns all the Russian battleships were damaged and fit gaffed was forced to return to Port Arthur covered by the dramatic charge of fresh visit in December Japanese land troops captured the hill overlooking the city and started firing directly towards the Russian ships most of them were sunk On January 2nd 1905 the city fell and the majority of the Russian Pacific Navy was gone meanwhile in May of 1904 the Russians decided to send two more squadrons from the Baltic and Black Seas in order to help the Pacific Fleet the new fleet commanded by Roger Penske managed to depart in October and was in indochina by May of 1905 Roger Spence key had seven old and four new battleships alongside six cruisers and nine destroyers his plan was to move directly to Vladivostok via the Tsushima straits that gave togo ample opportunity to prepare his ships at Masson and plays his radio equipped Scout ships in a fashion that would allow him to learn about the inevitable Russian counter-attack by the time the second Pacific squadron reached the battle scene it was in poor condition on top of their low morale the Russians did not have an opportunity to perform proper maintenance on their ships on the night of May 26th 1905 the Russian fleet attempted to pass the Tsushima Strait in a thick fog but was detected by the Japanese at 4:55 a.m. captain Arakawa of the Shinano Maru sent a wireless message to togo head of the japanese navy and informed him about the russian fleet nearby this was a new technology at the time and it enabled the Japanese to block the Russians very quickly at 1349 the engagement began the Japanese combined fleet consisted of five battleships 26 cruisers 21 destroyers and 43 the Russians started firing on the leading Japanese chef Mikasa puts the Japanese response on the flagship Kenya's Suvarov was more precise by 1445 Admiral Togo was able to cross the Russian team this meant that the Japanese fleet was in a perpendicular position to the north with moving Russian fleet allowing him to fire broadsides while the Russians could only reply with their forward terrorists this was possible due to the superior speed of the Japanese ships which could sustain 15 knots while the Russian ships were able to reach only 14 knots in short bursts in the first hour of the battle the Japanese were able to sink the battleship Austria and significantly damaged two others another battleship tried to break through towards Vladivostok Admiral Togo maneuvered to change the engaged side part of his fleet took a course away from the Russian fleet and then turned around to fire on the left side of the Russian ships which enabled the Japanese ships to have the same fire of the battle after three hours of heavy battle the line of the Russian fleet was broken and disorganized Rogers Fenske was heavily injured and surrendered command to Rear Admiral nee Baga Tov he wouldn't know about this until an hour later the Japanese fleet took a parallel course with the Russians and managed to cross the Russian T again within 20 minutes of this engagement two Russian battleships were sunk the Russian fleet was devastated and the battle was effectively over but Admiral Togo aimed for complete victory over the Russians in the Pacific and thus sought to continue to chase the remainder of the Russian fleet aiming to reach Vladivostok 21 destroyers and 37 torpedo boats were employed to achieve complete victory over the Russians destroyers attacked the Russian Vanguard while the torpedo boats attacked from the east and south of the Russian fleet the Japanese were able to surround the Russians and cause panic among their ranks the night attacks had put a great strain on the Russians as they had lost two battleships and two armored cruisers while the Japanese had only lost three torpedo boats in the morning of May 28th Rear Admiral neiberg at of ordered these six remaining ships under his command to surrender Japan was able to succeed in the Battle of Tsushima thanks to its more evolved gunnery faster pace and better use of the wireless Telegraph along with tactical superiority Russia suffered a heavy defeat with the loss of all of its battleships and most of its cruisers and destroyers while the Japanese Navy only lost three torpedo boats the Russians lost 4380 killed and five thousand 917 captured including two Admirals while Japan lost 117 men the Battle of Tsushima effectively ended the russo-japanese war in favor of japan for the first time in a very long period an Asian power defeated a European powerhouse this weakened the prestige of the Russian Empire which was one of the key triggers of the Russian Revolution in 1905 meanwhile Japan solidified its place as a force to be reckoned with in the Pacific and Far East thank you for watching our video on the russo-japanese war it is often difficult to convey everything in a short video so we decided to start a kings and Generals podcast if you want to learn more about the situation in Russia and Japan prior to and after this conflict you can listen to the first two episodes of our podcast by Aviv link in the description or the pinned comment we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters and channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you can also support us by buying our merchandise by V link in the description this is the kings and Generals channel and we will catch you on the next one

Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 1,998,915

Keywords: Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905, Tsushima, the Yellow Sea, Stalingrad, Kursk, Kings and generals, battle of tsushima, russian empire, empire of japan, world history, military history, battle of port arthur, siege of port arthur, tsushima documentary, liaodong peninsula, boxer rebellion, full documentary, history lesson, animated documentary, decisive battles, documentary film, epic history tv, port arthur, history documentary, war - topic, nicholas ii, extra credits history

Id: jm4w2n1KjfQ

Length: 17min 47sec (1067 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 16 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/RoundandRoundel]

A pretty good basic look at the Russo-Japanese War. There's a bit of an overemphasis on Togo (considering he was the overall commander though that's expected and perfectly fine), but overall really balanced in its approach of discussing the war (was worried about stereotyped Japanese mass attack memes or obligatory Dogger Bank as I saw in another YT documentary).

Some minor corrections/comments:

• The Triple Intervention seems like an arbitrary group of leaders opposing Japan; in reality these were Russia's most sympathetic powers (iirc France and Russia were in an open alliance and the German Kaiser was sympathetic to Russia's ambitions).

• In the final sortie of Port Arthur under Vitgeft, Vitgeft didn't personally make it back to Port Arthur. A lucky shot from Asahi bounced off the conning tower and shell fragments killed him. Some Port Arthur Russian veterans were ordered to try and break out to Vladivostok, but instead went to Shanghai and even Indochina (Diana amongst others).

• K&G depict Tsushima as gunfire/broadsides being initially exchanged in a parallel course before crossing the T. In reality the two lines were running anti-parallel, so Togo did a "U-turn" (sometimes called Togo's Turn) early into the battle to assert dominance before later crossing the T.

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/Battle_of_Tsushima_%28Chart_1-3%29_J.PNG/320px-Battle_of_Tsushima_%28Chart_1-3%29_J.PNG)