On 14 August 1904, four days after the great Battle of the Yellow Sea, what has been called the “most important secondary” naval engagement of the Russo-Japanese War took place – the Battle of Ulsan.

The bulk of the Russian naval forces stationed in the Far East were based at Port Arthur, near which intense fighting had raged since the outbreak of the war. The geography of the region made it relatively easy for the Japanese to impose a distant – yet effective – blockade. Vladivostok, however, presented a different situation. Stationed there was the First Cruiser Squadron, comprising the armoured cruisers Rossiya, Gromoboi, and Rurik, the protected cruiser Bogatyr, and smaller vessels. Its primary task was to attack Japanese shipping and thereby force Japan to detach significant forces to protect its trade routes, drawing them away from the main theatre of operations in the Yellow Sea.

From the very beginning of the war, the Vladivostok cruisers began raiding operations. Although they did not halt Japanese troop and supply transports to the continent, they inflicted several highly symbolic blows, forcing the Japanese Admiralty to react ever more actively to the threat. The most famous of these was the “Hitachi Maru incident”, when Russian cruisers sank the Japanese transport Hitachi Maru, which was carrying not only troops but also heavy howitzers urgently needed for the siege of Port Arthur.

Vice Admiral Kamimura, commanding the Japanese Second Cruiser Division, came under increasing criticism, as he was unable to stop these raids.

The situation changed when the Russian command decided to attempt a breakout from Port Arthur. The Vladivostok cruisers (minus Bogatyr, which had been put out of action due to damage) were to carry out another raid, perhaps even linking up with the main forces, or at least drawing off as many Japanese ships as possible.

This time, fortune favoured the Japanese. The Battle of the Yellow Sea ended in their victory, although some Russian ships managed to escape (such as the cruisers Askold and Novik, and the battleship Tsesarevich). The Japanese feared that these ships might join the Vladivostok cruisers – something the Russians themselves had hoped for. It did not happen.

In the early morning of 14 August, Rear Admiral Karl Jessen, commanding the Russian squadron, received a report of ships sighted on the horizon. At first, he thought they might be Russian vessels escaping after the Battle of the Yellow Sea. It quickly became clear, however, that they were not Russians, but Vice Admiral Kamimura’s division, with its powerful armoured cruisers.

The day was just beginning, visibility was good, and the Japanese ships lay between the Russian squadron and Vladivostok. The only option was to attempt to outmanoeuvre them – or to break through.

As commander of the Russian ships, will you manage to outmanoeuvre the Japanese squadron and force your way to Vladivostok? Or, as the Japanese commander, will you redeem your honour and avenge the loss of Hitachi Maru and other transports?

The stakes are extremely high. The destruction of the Vladivostok squadron would give the Japanese full control of the Sea of Japan and further complicate the mission of the Russian squadron sailing from the Baltic to the Far East.

How will this battle be decided?

TURN I

The Russian cruisers began the battle in line ahead formation: Rossiya in the lead, followed by Gromoboi, with Rurik bringing up the rear.

The Japanese chose a rather unusual formation – they deployed abreast, much like the Austrians at Lissa or the Chinese at the Battle of the Yalu River. This could potentially cause significant manoeuvring difficulties.

Farthest from the Russian squadron was the flagship Izumo, next to her Azuma, then Tokiwa, and finally Iwate – the closest to the Russian cruisers.

In the very first turn, the opening shots were fired: Iwate’s 203 mm guns roared, but the salvo fell wide.

The battle had begun.

TURN II

The Japanese continued to advance at an unhurried pace (Half), maintaining the same formation.

The Russians began a clear turn to port.

TURN III

At this stage of the battle, the Russians gained the upper hand in gunnery accuracy (which was also historically plausible). Remarkably, from this point onward, for several consecutive turns, most armour penetration tests – regardless of the number of hits scored – resulted in “5, 5, 6”: three penetrations, including one triggering a critical hit roll. This happened five times in succession, if not more, quite independently of the number of hits!

Rossiya and Gromoboi completed their turn, but did not head directly towards the Japanese (so as not to allow them to cross the T). Interestingly, Rurik, sailing at the rear, turned more sharply to port – the Russian plan was for her to attempt to outflank the Japanese squadron “from behind”.

Meanwhile, the Japanese cruisers began a gentle turn – a sharper manoeuvre was impossible due to their chosen formation. Additionally, Iwate suffered critical hits, resulting in rudder damage (locked straight ahead) and fires. Rurik also sustained critical hits (bridge damage and fires).

Iwate began to slow down to avoid the risk of ramming ships of her own squadron.

TURNS IV and V

From the beginning of Turn III, Sebastian and Łukasz, commanding the Japanese, began rolling to determine whether the protected cruiser Naniwa would enter the battlefield. The attempt failed in Turn III, but succeeded in Turn IV. One turn later, Naniwa’s sister ship Takachiho also appeared. The Japanese thus gained a clear superiority in numbers of ships and guns.

The Russian cruisers concentrated their fire on Iwate – Gromoboi, Rossiya, and Rurik all fired at her with every gun that could bear. The Japanese cruiser suffered increasing numbers of hits, causing fires and mounting flooding.

The Japanese also maintained heavy fire, though they shifted their targets. Rurik sustained several hits that damaged her rudder, forcing her to turn to port and completely thwarting the plan to outflank the Japanese squadron from astern.

Further hits were inflicted on the flagship Rossiya, as well as on Gromoboi. Rossiya set a course to “parade” across the bows of the Japanese ships, while Gromoboi attempted a turn to port in order to circle around the Japanese squadron from the rear.

Ultimately, however, concentrated Russian fire and severe flooding led to the sinking of Iwate.

For the Russian squadron, the sinking of the flagship Rossiya was a heavy blow. Only Gromoboi and Rurik remained in action.

TURN VI

Gromoboi closed to point-blank range with Tokiwa, inflicting mortal blows upon her. Tokiwa struck back effectively, and the remaining Japanese cruisers – especially Azuma – joined in the fire, causing numerous fires and flooding.

Concentrated Japanese gunfire ultimately led to the sinking of Gromoboi.

Only Rurik remained in action. She managed to repair her rudder and slowly began closing the distance to Takachiho.

Naniwa and Takachiho steadily approached the Russian cruiser, opening fire with their guns.

TURNS VII and VIII

Although the pump crews aboard Tokiwa worked with the utmost dedication, they were unable to save her – the heavily damaged Japanese cruiser eventually sank.

It seemed that Rurik’s fate was sealed. At that very moment, however, the Japanese formation adopted at the beginning of the battle made its presence felt. Azuma and Izumo collided. Fortunately for both ships, neither was sunk, but both were brought to a halt.

Meanwhile, as Rurik was closing on Takachiho, she suffered another hit to her rudder, locking it straight ahead.

TURNS IX and X

Rurik succeeded in sinking Takachiho, although she herself sustained further damage. Naniwa attempted to assist her sister cruiser, but she was too far away to intervene effectively.

Azuma, which had suffered heavy flooding as a result of the collision, fought a desperate battle against the water pouring into her hull.

Izumo slowly got under way and began firing at Rurik from long range, even managing to score several hits.

TURN XI

Azuma struggled fiercely against the flooding when, quite suddenly, a true miracle occurred. Though she had been on the verge of capsizing, her valiant crew managed in a single turn to contain all flooding!

Meanwhile, Izumo continued firing at the increasingly damaged Rurik, who had already lost most of her artillery on that side. Naniwa joined the bombardment.

At last, barely staying afloat, Rurik was struck by another salvo from Izumo. The shells penetrated into her ammunition magazines, engulfing the ship in clouds of steam.

Rurik sank.

The battle was over.

SUMMARY

The battle ended differently than in real history. All three Russian cruisers were sent to the bottom, but at a far greater cost to the Japanese. Iwate and Tokiwa were sunk, as was Takachiho, while Azuma was heavily damaged – her repairs would certainly have taken a considerable amount of time.

Historically, the Japanese sank only Rurik, losing no ships of their own, and effectively eliminated the Russian squadron from further operations. The remaining two Russian cruisers never sailed on another raid, and all Japanese ships were able to take part in the Battle of Tsushima.

In our battle, the Japanese achieved a similar strategic result – permanently eliminating the Vladivostok squadron – but the cost they paid was significantly higher.

In terms of points, however, Japan emerged victorious.

Sincere thanks to Jakub, who commanded the Russian squadron (with a little help from Torgill), to Sebastian and Łukasz, who commanded the Japanese forces, and of course to our distributor – Bolter.pl – where the battle was played.

We will certainly want to play more scenarios from the Russo-Japanese War.

Full steam ahead!