Fall of Port Arthur, breakout of Russian Squadron

[saddletank]

I'm just constantly amazed how exciting this game is. In my current Japanese campaign I blasted the Russian cruiser and destroyer forces off the oceans by 26th March leaving the 6 Russian BBs, 1CA, 1PC, 9DDs and the minelayer/gunboat units trapped in Port Arthur. I then settled down to a very long siege as Togo based at Elliot Island sat outside the Russian harbour until late January 1905 when the Japanese army on it's third bloody assault overran the Russian trenches and established guns on the heights overlooking the port. I found the news reports of the army's slow but inexorable advance useful and eagerly "read the paper" every day to see what new events had occured.

Admiral Togo now takes up the story...

In October I learned that Tsar Nicholas had renamed his Baltic Fleet the 2nd Pacific Squadron and was sending it 18,000 miles around the world to join in the war. I estimate it will take until May to reach us. A few days later "The Times" reported that a British fishing fleet had been fired upon one night in the North Sea by the Russians who thought they were Japanese torpedo boats!

But finally late January came around, Port Arthur became untenable as a fleet anchorage and in the evening of 25th January the Russians came out.

My fleet of 6 BBs, 8 ACs, 4 PCs and 22 DDs had cruised some way to the east and had swung about on the return leg when we saw smoke issuing out of the port. Full speed was ordered but by a fateful stroke of bad luck in quickly fading light the sun set and we lost contact with the Russians who set a course south east at 10 knots.

That night we had a number of suspected contacts with the enemy but the hazy darkness prevented any coherent squadron management. However at 3:00am the moon rose to reveal that our ships had overtaken the Russian slow squadron of 2 minelayers, 2 torpedo gunboats and a mixed bag of 8 gunboats and clippers. My force was disposed with the fast protected cruiser division leading with the 6 battleships and 8 armoured cruisers astern. 4 destroyers followed the tail of the rear cruiser division. To each flank, disposed 2000 yards out was a column of 9 destroyers. The 2 Russian minelayers appeared out of the gloom some 2500 yards ahead of the fast cruiser division while the gunboat rustbuckets had been overhauled completely and actually were revealed by the moonlight lying between the battleships and the starboard destroyer column.

Complete chaos ensued.

I sent the 4 fast protected cruisers to attack the two minelayers. Within 15 minutes these were overhauled and sunk but not before they had inflicted minor damage on two of the cruisers.

The enemy gunboats never stood a chance. Although they opened fire at once on our starboard destroyer column, disabling Akatsuki leader of 1st Division, which later sank, the other 8 destroyers turned 12 points away together and retired into the darkness. The battleship and armoured cruiser column then opened up with everything they had and the Russian gunboats were shattered and mangled, blazing and sinking, exploding and crippled within 5 minutes. The massacre was over very fast and the action petered out as quickly as it had begun. The last combats being the protected cruisers finishing off the second minelayer.

However we knew the rest of the Russian fleet was close by and not far ahead. However prudence suggested that I should avoid a night engagement with the enemy battleships.

All the next day, the 26th, our squadron pushed on south east. It was a grey hazy day and although twice we saw smudges of smoke ahead of us at over 25,000 yards, visibility was not good and each time we lost contact. We knew they were there though...

We pushed on across the Yellow Sea and entered the Tsushima Strait that night. This time I ordered the destroyer wings to close up to 1000 yards distance for night steaming and I disposed the battleship division in rear, the protected cruisers were displaced 500 yards to starboard, the 21 knot armoured cruiser division in the lead followed by the 20 knot division, then the battleships and the 4 supporting 'centre column' destroyers behind my battleships.

Twice in the night we saw flashes of gunfire in the distance ahead of us. At about 2:00am we made contact with the corvette Hikosan Maru which had suffered slight damage. This ship had been patrolling the strait and found herself passing between a column of unidentified battleships to starboard and a column of torpedo boats to port. The unknown ships had almost passed in the dark when the rear large ship which was a three-funelled cruiser turned a searchlight on the Hikosan and opened fire. The Hikosan crammed on all speed and after 3 hits the enemy turned and continued ESE leaving the corvette to send a W/T report. Unfortunately the other encounter we witnessed in the blackness did not have a happy ending. We again saw the flashes of gunfire briefly for about 5 minutes just before dawn, this time very large calibre guns. At 5:00am we passed a waterlogged ships lifeboat, the name A.Maru painted on it. It was empty and despite detaching a pair of destroyers to search the area we found no survivors.

The third day of the chase, 27th January, dawned freezing and miserable. However the air was sharp and crystal clear with visibility by 8:30 am extending to 30,000 yards. We were passing due east about 10 km south of Masanpo and then came round to a bearing of 45 degrees; north east, when again the foretop lookout whistled down his voicepipe: "smoke on the horizon! Not from a lone Japanese patrol vessel this time but a thick dark bruise as though from a fleet!" came the description.

We had been running at 15 knots through the night. I ordered 17 knots for the battleships and 20 for the three cruiser divisions and the two flanking destroyer columns which began to draw ahead. Breakfast of piping hot spring rolls and tea was served on the bridge. I ordered the normal watch to be kept but every officer down to the most junior midshipman was so excited at the prospect of battle after months and months of excruciatingly dull patrolling that everyone stayed on the bridge. I ordered relays of hot cocoa to be supplied and we turned up the collars of our overcoats against the bitter chill and settled down to a long morning's pursuit...

(to be continued)...

 

[Bullethead]

Damn fine reporting. I'm in suspense awaiting the next installment .

 

[saddletank]

I write this in the cramped and fetid captains office, or hutch is a better description for this nasty little room, aboard the torpedo boat Azura. It is early in the morning of 28th January, about 3:00am but I cannot sleep. My body is still full of energy. Adrenalin pumping through it from the experience it has endured over the last 24 hours. I last had a moment to write my journal a day ago - just a day, is that all? It seems like a week... What am I doing in this little boat? I'll tell you.

The pursuit of the Russian squadron lasted almost all day yesterday. Through the Strait of Tsushima, past Takeshiki, Masanpo, Fusan and Ulsan. We would close the gap on the slower Russians but when we got almost within gun range mist or snow squalls would hamper our vision and the enemy would slip away. This occurred no less than three times during the morning but each time we regained contact I noticed we were closer, gaining steadily on what must have become a very nervous prey.

I adjusted my tactical formation as necessary. I placed the fast protected cruisers at the head of my starboard column with 7 destroyers astern of them. I placed the fast armoured cruisers on the port column, the 20 knot division to port of the battleships and my battleship column in the centre. Each of the three 'heavy' columns had a destroyer division attached. I had noticed a tendency when we approached for the Russians to detach their torpedo boats off to starboard and send their cruisers which were astern of the battleships ahead. It looked very much like the enemy was intending to scatter and let the faster units escape while their slow battleships acted as rearguard. Twice we watched this manouver as we closed only for the Russians to reorganise during times of poor visibility.

In the late morning commencing at 10:50 there was a long range exchange of fire which lasted an hour. Both the enemy rear battleships Pobyeda and Peresvyet sustained light damage but they did not slow. Idzumo and Yakumo also took some damage in return. I then ordered cease fire. The ranges were between 10,500 and 8,500 yards. I later came to regret this long range duel as much ammunition was wasted.

We passed Ulsan at 11:30 at about 8 miles distance, course a steady north east. The opposing fleets were positioned like this:

At 1:30 in the afternoon a lone ship was sighted to the north. This was the corvette Hiei on patrol. By now the Russian destroyers were some 6 miles east of their battleships and Hiei was actually able to steam south at full speed between the two enemy groups. She took fire for a few minutes from their two cruisers but passed through unscathed. At 14 knots she would be no help to us so signalling to her to stand off to the south by lamp, we left her astern. My protected cruiser division and the attached destroyers was now also some miles to starboard and cramming on at 22 knots in pursuit of the Russian destroyers and cruisers who were more and more setting an easterly course.

The fates played a cruel hand to the crew of the B.Maru which came in sight at 2:50pm east of the enemy destroyers. These put on speed to 27 knots and quickly caught her. Still 9,000 yards from the scene our protected cruisers could do nothing to help as we watched the Maru sunk by torpedoes. At 2:55 the Bajan and Diana, now steering due east in pursuit of their own destroyers opened fire on Yoshino at 7,700 yards, all four Japanese cruisers responded, Yoshino and Takasago at the lead ship (Diana) and Chitose and Kasagi at Bajan. The two cruiser forces steamed parallel courses for an hour at ranges down to 5,000 yards. However the Russian ships seemed considerably tougher and first Yoshino left the line, ceased firing and reduced speed in order to fight fires, then the Takasago did also. With Chitose now taking punishment it became obvious the Japanese cruisers were outclassed by the Russian pair at this range so I sent by lamp for them to disengage and steer north west back to rejoin my main body. There was never a chance of catching the Russian torpedo boats but I had hoped to be able to cripple one of their cruisers but this was not to be. As my protected cruisers turned together, the destroyers now leading, Bajan turned hard starboard and brought Chitose under a heavy fire at about 4,000 yards. Chitose received hits from several heavy shells and fires broke out again. It was fortunate that Bajan seems to have been under orders to withdraw and after a few minutes she ported her helm and made off with Diana already some miles ahead. Chitose however was in serious trouble and heavily ablaze. She dropped astern of her consorts eventually stopping. She lay about 15,000 yards off to the south east of the main action for the rest of the day but I am pleased to say although very seriously damaged by fires, her crew got these under control in the evening and after the battle I sent two destroyers to give assistance only to find her bravely limping at 4 knots in the direction of Takeshiki. However, other more serious things happened to take my attention off Chitose.

Bajan and Diana in action at about 3:30pm.

The cruiser action; defeat of the Japanese 4th Division.

Chitose disabled later in the afternoon.

At 4:00pm the Russians evidently came to a fateful decision. My 14 armoured ships were now only 8,000 yards south west of them. Their Tsesarevitch had sped on ahead at 18 knots and was now about 10,000 yards ahead of the other 5 who were clearly hampered by the second ship Petropavlovsk being capable of only 16 knots. The 5 suddenly reversed course with a 16 point turn to port together and opened a heavy fire on my port armoured cruiser division at 6,000 yards. My captains and I had discussed what we should do in the event of such a move. Both cruiser divisions swung 8 points to port in succession crossing the T of the now south-heading Russians. I continued north east and all ships commenced firing, catching the Russians in a frightful crossfire. They were brave but foolhardy men and the hail of shells was simply appalling. I had discussed prior to the action that with 5 enemy ships each cruiser division would fire in unison at 1 enemy and the other 3 would be engaged by my battleships firing in pairs. Through my Zeiss binoculars I could see hit after hit from our heavy shells, parts of plating, smashed boats and other light equipment being blown into the air. The Russian ships absorbed an immense amount of punishment and their speed never slackened although fires started to break out. We were not having it all our own way however and first Yakumo fell out of line, almost staggering under the blows like an outclassed boxer, well ablaze her speed dropped off to 8 knots while her division raced past firing hard. The Mikasa and Asahi, lead ships of my battleship line were also taking a pounding and Mikasa's forward 12" turret was disabled at 4:20. A serious loss, the after turret at 4:34. Fires now took a steady hold in the bowels of my ship. Looking astern through the thick acrid smoke Asahi too was burning. The Russian southward turn had slowly bent further and further around to starboard or westwards under the force of our gun fire and with ranges now of 3,000 yards both Pobyeda and Peresvyet showed heavy damage and began to lose seaway. The Russians were joined by Tsesarevitch coming to help from the north.

The armoured cruisers go into action around 4:05pm. Tsesarevitch is in the distance steering a reciporcal course to the other Russian battleships. In a few minutes she will join their formation.

Tsesarevitch comes down from the north and joins the battle about 4:10pm. Note that in the last 5 minutes the Russian battleships have reversed course a second time. Japanese armoured cruisers in the left distance.

Mikasa engaging Tsesarevitch at 4:10pm.

Leaving Pobyeda and Peresvyet un-engaged, four of my battleships switched to this new target and Tsesarevitch was smothered in heavy fire and began taking serious damage at once at ranges of between 4,000 and 3,000 yards.

The situation at 4:15pm. This view shows how the Russians were caught between Togo's battleships and the cruisers. Mikasa has shifted out of line to fight fires.

Tsesarevitch and Sevasopol in close company at 4:19pm.

Yakumo disabled.

Some of my destroyers manouvering to keep up with the cruisers were caught by Russian secondary guns and Ikazuchi was hit and sunk at 4:25pm, Yugiri also being damaged and set on fire.

 

[saddletank]

I brought my battleships round westwards and then reversed course to south and east, the 7 remaining cruisers that had headed northward turned to starboard and stationed themselves astern of the battleships. Our long line of 11 ships (Mikasa and Asahi could no longer contribute much) pounded the six Russians at murderously short ranges. Peresvyet was now stationary and as my battleline passed her at 800 yards each battleship fired torpedos in passing. I counted no less than 5 of them hitting and four of these detonated. Peresvyet finally ceased firing all guns at 4:55. She rolled over to starboard at 4:58, lay on her beam ends for a few seconds then turned completely over and sank with a roar of steam and the awful noises of large heavy objects (presumably her engines and boilers) tearing loose and crashing down inside her hull. The Yoshino division destroyers had come up to the main engagement now and Murasame stopped to pick up survivors.

4:30pm, the seven armoured cruisers pile on the power to form up astern of Togos 1st Division.

The terrible 'wall of steel' to which the Russians had no effective reply.

The Russians however had not been completely mad but in fact rather devious it seems. In the twisting turning fight I had miscalculated the direction of the action and the Russians had swung right round through three half circle turns and now were heading north again. Pobyeda was stopped and ablaze as was Tsesarevitch. Sevastopol was limping away north westward at 8 knots but Poltava and Petropavlovsk still in formation and making 14 knots steamed northwards. At this critical moment Mikasa was forced to quit the line and cease firing, burning from three separate large fires. Torpedo boat Azura came alongside and I transferred to her with my staff. We first went to Asahi the next in line but yelling through a loud hailer her flag lieutenant shouted that her bridge had been hit early in the action and almost all the executive staff were casualties. She had a very bad fire in her port 6" battery and the traversing gears of both her 12" turrets had become jammed by armour plate bowing inwards from heavy hits. Asahi was clearly not a suitable ship from which to command the battle so we headed towards the third in line, Fuji.

Mikasa disabled.

Peresvyet finally succumbs to numerous torpedoes.

Tsesarevitch disabled in the gloom of a winter evening.

However by this time it was getting dark. The two fast-steaming Russian battleships were some 13,000 yards to the north. My four remaining active battleships were down to 11 knots in formation and all seven remaining armoured cruisers were knocked about to varying degrees. The main problem though was ammunition. Or rather the lack of it. Many magazines were dry and only a few hundred shells remained for most of the 6" guns. Should we need to defend ourselves or renew the action tomorrow some ammunition must be kept in reserve.

The battle plots looked like this:

Yoshino, Takasago and Kasagi arrived from the east and made a textbook torpedo run on the crippled Tsesarevitch which turned turtle and sank at 5:14 pm. In the gathering gloom the seven boats of the 4th and 6th destroyer divisions attacked Pobyeda and although Sagi was hit by two large shells which would later cause her to founder, several torpedo hits were reported on the Russian and with a roar and immense splash of water she turned completely over at 5:17 remaining afloat upside down for about a minute. We saw many Russian sailors standing on her upturned hull who seemed to make no effort to save themselves. A line of 30 or so stood and saluted as the ship made her final plunge. Torpedo boats Hibari and Hashitaki picked up only 14 survivors with not a single officer among them. In the icy water no-one could live long.

Pobyeda sinking surrounded by torpedo boats. In the left distance Sevastopol limps away, at right distance Petropavlovsk and Poltava disengaging.

I was now faced with a difficult decision. Darkness was fast upon us. It was 5:30 and the two escaping Russians were all but out of sight. My seven cruisers could easily catch them but both Russians still had heavy guns in action and my ships were desperately low on ammunition. Coal too was becoming short - we had been steaming at high speeds for 48 hours now. Mikasa, Asahi, Yakumo and way off to the south Chitose, were all crippled and dead in the water. Destroyers Yugiri and Sagi were also in trouble (the last named would sink with the onset of darkness - no one would notice her loss and there were no survivors). I could order a torpedo attack on the limping Sevastopol but if I delayed recovery and towing operations much longer it would be dark and I could be facing the loss of up to four heavy units. Given the escape of two, possibly three enemy battleships, and the rest of their squadron to Vladivostok, and the loss of two of my own, plus an armoured and a protected cruiser and two destroyers this would be a clear defeat. With considerable anguish I flashed to Fuji to use her powerful lamps to order the cease fire and recall. The least damaged armoured cruisers were detailed off to pass tows to Mikasa, Asahi and Yakumo and my battered and smoking fleet turned it's face to the south. Behind us the three fast protected cruisers split up and swept the sea for survivors.

It was a long and difficult voyage back to Takeshiki. The main body of the fleet came in around midnight. Asahi had so much water in the forepart of her hull that she had to stop outside the harbour and be towed stern first over the sand bar by tugs. I however, am still off the bay with Fuji and Hatsuse in company. The Takeshiki Duty Squadron has sent out it's 8 old torpedo boats to escort in the cripples. The last man home half an hour ago was Chitose, blackened and mangled and with a broom handle lashed to the stump of her mainmast with a rising sun flag tied to it. Towing her in was Hiei. The old corvette had proved useful after all.

Tabulating the ships in the action I note we have:

1) Russian

Battleships:
Tsesarevitch - sunk
Petropavlovsk - damaged
Poltava - damaged
Sevastopol - crippled
Peresvyet - sunk
Pobyeda - sunk

Cruisers:
Bajan
Diana

Destroyers:
9 boats

2) Japanese

Battleships:
Mikasa - crippled
Asahi - crippled
Fuji - damaged
Yashima - damaged
Shikishima
Hatsuse

Armoured cruisers:
Idzumo - damaged
Iwate - damaged
Asama
Tokiwa
Yakumo - crippled
Adzuma - damaged
Nisshin - damaged
Kasuga - damaged

Protected cruisers:
Yoshino - damaged
Takasago - damaged
Chitose - crippled
Kasagi

Destroyers:
22 boats - Ikazuchi and Sagi sunk, Yugiri damaged, most others lightly damaged.

In view of their escape from Port Arthur to Vladivistok with the loss of three battleships plus the (largely irrelevant) old gunboat force, the Russians must be counting themselves very lucky and I don't doubt that the St Petersburg morning newspapers will be claiming a victory. However all my damaged ships can be repaired and I count myself fortunate to have sunk three Russian battleships without losing a single heavy unit. Within a few days I will have a strong squadron. Then begins again the long patrols and waiting off Vladivostok, until the spring when the second Russian Pacific squadron should be near. I very seriously doubt that the forces at Vladivostok will sortie now that Port Arthur is lost. I imagine they will lick their wounds and come out in an attempt to link up with their rescuers in May. Until then though I must be vigilant and make sure neither of their cruisers can come out to attack shipping. It's going to be a long hard tedious winter yet...

 

[SunScream]

Beautifully written!
It all sounded a little too exciting. Togo would not be the first or last admiral who ended up playing the "find a new flagship" game.
I just hope everything will be patched up enough for when Rozhdestvenski gets there.


Im surprised that they just dragged Asahi over a sandbar. I would have used lighters as camels

 

[saddletank]

I think this game may just be the best $65 I ever spent. I played that campaign day in real time over Sunday and didn't finish the battle until 2:30 am. I was dripping with sweat and had to shower before I was fit to go to bed!. Tremendous stuff.

 

[Bullethead]

Excellent report!! My hope is to merely equal your work in my future posts .

 

[saddletank]

Trying to work out a coherent track chart was a nightmare. I relied on screenshots for most of the dispositions, times and compass directions plus some scribbled notes as I went along. I took upwards of 50 shots in that battle and kept only the most useful for the report.

I used good old MS Paint to draw the charts but need something better I think, certainly to tidy up the graphic of the squadron turns etc.

 

[Vas FURY]

Wow, that was indeed impressive! A Rep point well earned.

 

[Zakalwe]

Excellent!

Z.

 

[Daedalus]

After reading the story here of the battle it make me start the game up again. And I just have been off for an hour.

I have had to major battles with the japanese fleet in the last two days. I have lost one CA. But in return I have managed to sink 4 Jap CA,s and two BB,s . I cought them off on patrol and had them traped along the cost. With that I was able to move in on them as they tried to get around the shalow water and back to deap ocean I was able to damage the CA,s and then sink the four ships.
Now with the Two BB,s and four of there fast CA,s gone , and with my sinking of 6 other warships of the japanese fleet with the shore guns That came to close to Port Authur in an attack, I can see that I may win the war,
If I am carefull I can manage the shipping and wait till the Baltic fleet gets here and then take on what is left of there main battle fleet. I hope I can hold on and pull this off.
I can say that in the last few years I have never had so much fun with a game. It is almost like a really good movie that you get to make as you go along.
And everytime I go to sea I am wondering what will happen next. Just when I think I have seen all in the game I get amazed at something else that pops up.
Just unreal this game is. And it is just the first installment of the game with more to come.
I'll be playing this game for years. There has only been one other game that even come close and it still has not matched what this game is, and that was IL2.
A very good sim and still is. But this game has something that I cannot put a finger on, something that grabs a hold of you and will not let loose.

 

[Shanghai Slim]

Very nicely written battle narrative! A lot of work, well done!


And I agree with Daedalus that DG is a very cinematic game!

 

[Rhetor]

I must say that this is by far the best DG AAR I have ever read. Congratulations!

 

[rgreat]

+1.

Write more.

 

[Morildar]

you can tow heavily damaged units to port? how?

Whenever a unit 'turns orange' I always end up losing her.

As innane and noobish as it sounds can someone explain to me how to prevent "orange" units from sinking, something I've never been able to accomplish?

 

[PepsiCan]

Ports like Port Arthur and Vladivostok have a marked area with a big anker in it. If you put your ship in that area it will be salvaged.

 

[Morildar]

what kind of screen cap utility did you use to get those shots, surely you didn't just alt+PrtScr did you.

Because then you would need to minimize the game every time you take a screen

 

[PepsiCan]

There is a build in screen shot taker. I forgot the key combination, but it is in the manual. Don't forget to rename the file in Wndows Explorer before you take the next picture.

 

[Bullethead]

what kind of screen cap utility did you use to get those shots, surely you didn't just alt+PrtScr did you.

SHF-F8 takes screenshots. They're saved as .jpg files in the main game folder.

One caveat. The screenshot files are given a default name, which is "scenario name_game time stamp". Thus, if the game is paused, all screenshots will have the same name so will keep overwriting each other and you'll only end up with the last one you take. To avoid this, double-tap the pause key to advance time ever so slightly between pics. Or, if you can minimize the game on your system without hosing it (or are running in a window instead of fullscreen), you can rename the pics as you take them.

 

[Morildar]

SHF-F8 takes screenshots. They're saved as .jpg files in the main game folder.

One caveat. The screenshot files are given a default name, which is "scenario name_game time stamp". Thus, if the game is paused, all screenshots will have the same name so will keep overwriting each other and you'll only end up with the last one you take. To avoid this, double-tap the pause key to advance time ever so slightly between pics. Or, if you can minimize the game on your system without hosing it (or are running in a window instead of fullscreen), you can rename the pics as you take them.

awesome!! thank you, i was attempting to take screens for an AAR i'm in the proccess of making

Using the PrtScr method I had to minimize the game everytime I took a shot, and that would inevitably crash the game after a few screens