Bullethead
Storm Eagle Studios
Excuse the blatant copying of Saddletank's style, but IMHO he's now set the standard for how to write AARs 
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From the memoirs of Rear Admiral Bulletoshi:
Dawn on 14 Feb 04 found my squadron continuing its blockade of Vladivostok. Our mission was to destroy the dangerous Vladivostok Cruiser Force of three armored cruisers and one powerful protected cruiser. So far in this new war, the whereabouts of this force remained unknown. Perhaps, like the auxiliary cruiser Lyena and the torpedoboats, these warships had sortied before our arrival on station, but if so they had yet to do any harm. It thus seemed more likely that they were still in port. But as day followed boring, uneventful day, I began to fear that, despite my efforts to remain over the horizon, my presence off Vladivostok had become known to the Russians and they were thus waiting out my coal supplies. The combination of tension and tedium was beginning to wear on me. It was thus a pleasant surprise when this day at last brought the longed-for battle.
My original four 21-knot armored cruisers, flagship Asama with Tokiwa, Iwate, and Idzumo, had been joined by Commodore Bulletomo's slow protected cruisers Akitsushima, Suma, and Idzumi several days before. I had requested their presence because I feared that the Russian cruiser force would flee my more powerful ships. My plan was to station the protected cruisers about 5000 yards ahead, to act as bait. Hopefully, the Russian cruisers would commit to attacking them before they realized my armored cruisers were just over the horizon. As it turned out, however, these old ships played a much more vital and heroic part in the ensuing action than I could have imagined.
At approximately 0800, while on a southerly heading about 90 miles due east of Vladivostok, Akitsushima signalled that she had spotted faint smoke far to the WSW. That being upwind of us, I hoped that the Russians had not yet seen our smoke in return. I guessed that the Russians were probably heading south for the eastern end of the Tsushima Straits, so I ordered my squadron to head SW to get between them and their base. Unfortunately, the distant smoke soon disappeared. I therefore decided that the Russians must have sighted my smoke and returned to base. The jig now seemingly up, I decided to at least verify that the Russians were in port, so turned west to get a glimpse of Vladivostok. Visibility to the NW was obscured by an early morning mist, but I expected that to burn off by the time I was within visual range of the port.
Suddenly, at 0909, the mist cleared away and there, not more than 12000 yards to the north, was the Vladivostok Cruiser Force.* They were abeam of my armored cruisers on a reciprocal course. I expected them to continue east at high speed so rather than take the time to turn in succession, I ordered an immediate turn of 16 points together and reformed the line my last ship, Idzumo. Hardly had we started this maneuver than the first Russian shells crashed down around her. I still considered the range too long for good shooting, however, so held my fire for the moment. Meanwhile, Commodore Bulletomo led his division to the north to cut between the Russians and Vladivostok. I detached him to operated independently while I concentrated on the armored cruiser duel. His standing orders were to remain unengaged until called upon to finish off cripples; little did I know the key role he would play in the battle.
As my armored cruisers steadied on their new easterly course, it became apparent that the Russians, far from attempting to escape, were eagerly seeking battle by turning south straight towards me. I therefore ordered Idzumo to lead us in succession northward to meet them. I could now make out the Russians' order through my spyglass. Rossiya was leading, followed by Gromoboi. Ryurik. and Bogatyr: the whole Vladivostok Cruiser Force. As we both turned toward each other, they ended up fine on my port bow and were concentrating their fire on Idzumo, making uncomfortably good practice for the range. With the range now down to 10000 yards, I gave the order to open fire, with Idzumo and Iwate concentrating on Gromoboi, while Tokiwa and Asama engaged Rossiya.
The firing became brisk as the range dropped rapidly. The nearly bows-on angle of approach evened out the firepower as each armored cruiser could bring only two 8" guns to bear. Idzumo remained the Russians' only target and now began to suffer numerous hits, one of which disabled her forward turret, giving the Russians a temporary firepower advantage. Meanwhile, our fire was having little apparent effect. The Russians definitely seemed to be getting the better of the action so far.
But as the range closed to 6000 yards, I ordered Idzumo to swing 3 points to starboard, followed shortly by 3 points back to port. This allowed us to bring our full broadsides to bear as the lines passed on opposite courses at a mere 2000 yards. Rossiya and Gromoboi now received some punishing hits which started obvious fires and reduced their firing somewhat. This caused my opposite number aboard Rossiya to turn 8 points to starboard, leading his force away from mine. As we continued past the rear of the Russian line, still on opposite courses, I shifted our fires to Ryurik and Bogatyr as they masked the leading Russians, raking them with several full broadsides each. The Russians also shifted fire, and soon all my ships were lightly damaged. As Bogatyr passed Idzumo, I ordered a turn of 8 points to port, cutting across behind Bogatyr to parallel the Russians' new westerly course.
At this point, I was becoming discouraged. The brief but fierce cannonade had proved indecisive. The Russians had given as good as they'd got and were now steaming at full speed back towards their base. It appeared that they would escape and soon be ready to hunt again, while my force would waste much time returning to Japan for ammunition and repairs. But fortunately for Japanese arms, Commodore Bulletomo now bravely intervened. His protected cruisers had been paralleling my armored cruisers several miles to the west. Now the Russians' turn had left him ideally placed to intercept them. This he did, closing from their unengaged bow while their attention was still focused on my ships off their starboard quarter.
As the protected cruisers approached, they concentrated their fire on Rossiya. Once directly in her path, they turned to approach her head-on from both bows. Seeing this, the Russian admiral made a fateful decision. Rather than "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead", he ordered his ships to turn 16 points to port together, back toward my armored cruisers. Commodore Bulletomo, however, not content with this achievement, continued to press his attack. Although he scored no torpedo hits, his quick-firing guns made a shambles of Rossiya's upper works. But he paid dearly for this gallantry. Both Akitsushima and Idzumi were soon burning from stem to stern with most of their guns silenced, and were forced to withdraw NNE, crosswind, to fight their fires. Suma's situation was even more dire. Not only was she a flaming wreck, but her engines were badly damaged and she was flooding rapidly, with her jammed helm taking her SE at a very slow speed.
Bulletomo's sacrifice was not in vain, however. Seeing the Russians reverse course, I bent my division around to the SW and then south, crossing their T with the added advantage of the wind blowing the Russians' smoke into their line of fire. The Russians reacted by turning south to parallel me to the south. Bogatyr, now leading the Russian line, and Ryurik, next astern, were both pounded unmercifully at ranges down to 900 yards. Idzumo soon put a torpedo into Bogatyr and she sank at once, while Ryurik was shattered by Iwate's fire and slowed rapidly. Meanwhile, Tokiwa and my own Asama were quickly gaining the upper hand against Gromoboi and Rossiya, respectively. They were now well afire and almost all their guns were silenced.
Rossiya and Gromoboi then turned ESE together to avoid the wreckage at the head of their line. They were now making no more than 14 knots but I was again behind them, and all of my ships had exhausted their supply of 8" ammunition, except Tokiwa, which still had a few rounds remaining for her aft turret. 6" ammunition was on hand in small quantities, but Idzumo and Iwate had lost a number of their 6" guns. Seeing that Gromoboi was losing speed, I detached these latter two of my ships to finish off both her and Ryurik while I took Tokiwa and Asama in pursuit of Rossiya.
Gromoboi and Rossiya attempt, too late, to escape destruction.
The battle now swept toward the disabled Suma, which was lying dead in the water and obviously bound soon for Davey Jones. By this point, Idzumo and Iwate had left Ryurik sinking and were pummeling Gromoboi. Either they damaged her steering or her captain, unable now to return fire, sought to strike one final blow with his doomed ship, because the dying Russian cruiser crashed directly into Suma's stationary hulk. Both ships were opened up by the collision and quickly sank, their few survivors succombing to the icy water before there was a chance to rescue them.
Gromoboi rams Suma.
Rossiya's end, too, was not long in coming. As Tokiwa and my Asama overhauled her, pouring in countless unanswered 6" shells, she became an inferno and slowed to a stop. As my ships passed ahead so that Tokiwa's aft turret could come to bear, Idzumo and Iwate cut across her stern and delivered the coup de grace with torpedoes. Rossiya exploded and sank with no survivors.
The chronograph on Asama's flag bridge had been shattered by the concussion of the forward turret's firing. Looking at my pocketwatch now for the first time, I was amazed to note that it was only 1011. In disbelief I had to check to make sure it was still running. Less than one hour before I had given the order to commence firing. In that brief time, my armored cruisers had emptied their magazines and 5 mighty warships, and nearly 4000 men, had met their doom. But there was no time to reflect on that. Commodore Bulletomo's remaining ships were still fighting for their lives between their raging fires and the frigid water. Even as my crews fought their own fires and gathered the scattered fragments of their fallen messmates, I reformed my armored cruisers and hastened northward to assist him. Fortunately, his ships were saved. Even more fortunately, we all reached Maizuru without further incident. It would have been the worst dishonor imaginable to have encountered Lyena on the way home and been unable to fire a shot at her.
Track chart:
* (Editor's note: The initial spotting was a 35-second abortion with 36km visibility. 1 hour later, a new battle started at 12kyds, despite the 36km visibility. But this is a good way to spin it )
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From the memoirs of Rear Admiral Bulletoshi:
Dawn on 14 Feb 04 found my squadron continuing its blockade of Vladivostok. Our mission was to destroy the dangerous Vladivostok Cruiser Force of three armored cruisers and one powerful protected cruiser. So far in this new war, the whereabouts of this force remained unknown. Perhaps, like the auxiliary cruiser Lyena and the torpedoboats, these warships had sortied before our arrival on station, but if so they had yet to do any harm. It thus seemed more likely that they were still in port. But as day followed boring, uneventful day, I began to fear that, despite my efforts to remain over the horizon, my presence off Vladivostok had become known to the Russians and they were thus waiting out my coal supplies. The combination of tension and tedium was beginning to wear on me. It was thus a pleasant surprise when this day at last brought the longed-for battle.
My original four 21-knot armored cruisers, flagship Asama with Tokiwa, Iwate, and Idzumo, had been joined by Commodore Bulletomo's slow protected cruisers Akitsushima, Suma, and Idzumi several days before. I had requested their presence because I feared that the Russian cruiser force would flee my more powerful ships. My plan was to station the protected cruisers about 5000 yards ahead, to act as bait. Hopefully, the Russian cruisers would commit to attacking them before they realized my armored cruisers were just over the horizon. As it turned out, however, these old ships played a much more vital and heroic part in the ensuing action than I could have imagined.
At approximately 0800, while on a southerly heading about 90 miles due east of Vladivostok, Akitsushima signalled that she had spotted faint smoke far to the WSW. That being upwind of us, I hoped that the Russians had not yet seen our smoke in return. I guessed that the Russians were probably heading south for the eastern end of the Tsushima Straits, so I ordered my squadron to head SW to get between them and their base. Unfortunately, the distant smoke soon disappeared. I therefore decided that the Russians must have sighted my smoke and returned to base. The jig now seemingly up, I decided to at least verify that the Russians were in port, so turned west to get a glimpse of Vladivostok. Visibility to the NW was obscured by an early morning mist, but I expected that to burn off by the time I was within visual range of the port.
Suddenly, at 0909, the mist cleared away and there, not more than 12000 yards to the north, was the Vladivostok Cruiser Force.* They were abeam of my armored cruisers on a reciprocal course. I expected them to continue east at high speed so rather than take the time to turn in succession, I ordered an immediate turn of 16 points together and reformed the line my last ship, Idzumo. Hardly had we started this maneuver than the first Russian shells crashed down around her. I still considered the range too long for good shooting, however, so held my fire for the moment. Meanwhile, Commodore Bulletomo led his division to the north to cut between the Russians and Vladivostok. I detached him to operated independently while I concentrated on the armored cruiser duel. His standing orders were to remain unengaged until called upon to finish off cripples; little did I know the key role he would play in the battle.
As my armored cruisers steadied on their new easterly course, it became apparent that the Russians, far from attempting to escape, were eagerly seeking battle by turning south straight towards me. I therefore ordered Idzumo to lead us in succession northward to meet them. I could now make out the Russians' order through my spyglass. Rossiya was leading, followed by Gromoboi. Ryurik. and Bogatyr: the whole Vladivostok Cruiser Force. As we both turned toward each other, they ended up fine on my port bow and were concentrating their fire on Idzumo, making uncomfortably good practice for the range. With the range now down to 10000 yards, I gave the order to open fire, with Idzumo and Iwate concentrating on Gromoboi, while Tokiwa and Asama engaged Rossiya.
The firing became brisk as the range dropped rapidly. The nearly bows-on angle of approach evened out the firepower as each armored cruiser could bring only two 8" guns to bear. Idzumo remained the Russians' only target and now began to suffer numerous hits, one of which disabled her forward turret, giving the Russians a temporary firepower advantage. Meanwhile, our fire was having little apparent effect. The Russians definitely seemed to be getting the better of the action so far.
But as the range closed to 6000 yards, I ordered Idzumo to swing 3 points to starboard, followed shortly by 3 points back to port. This allowed us to bring our full broadsides to bear as the lines passed on opposite courses at a mere 2000 yards. Rossiya and Gromoboi now received some punishing hits which started obvious fires and reduced their firing somewhat. This caused my opposite number aboard Rossiya to turn 8 points to starboard, leading his force away from mine. As we continued past the rear of the Russian line, still on opposite courses, I shifted our fires to Ryurik and Bogatyr as they masked the leading Russians, raking them with several full broadsides each. The Russians also shifted fire, and soon all my ships were lightly damaged. As Bogatyr passed Idzumo, I ordered a turn of 8 points to port, cutting across behind Bogatyr to parallel the Russians' new westerly course.
At this point, I was becoming discouraged. The brief but fierce cannonade had proved indecisive. The Russians had given as good as they'd got and were now steaming at full speed back towards their base. It appeared that they would escape and soon be ready to hunt again, while my force would waste much time returning to Japan for ammunition and repairs. But fortunately for Japanese arms, Commodore Bulletomo now bravely intervened. His protected cruisers had been paralleling my armored cruisers several miles to the west. Now the Russians' turn had left him ideally placed to intercept them. This he did, closing from their unengaged bow while their attention was still focused on my ships off their starboard quarter.
As the protected cruisers approached, they concentrated their fire on Rossiya. Once directly in her path, they turned to approach her head-on from both bows. Seeing this, the Russian admiral made a fateful decision. Rather than "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead", he ordered his ships to turn 16 points to port together, back toward my armored cruisers. Commodore Bulletomo, however, not content with this achievement, continued to press his attack. Although he scored no torpedo hits, his quick-firing guns made a shambles of Rossiya's upper works. But he paid dearly for this gallantry. Both Akitsushima and Idzumi were soon burning from stem to stern with most of their guns silenced, and were forced to withdraw NNE, crosswind, to fight their fires. Suma's situation was even more dire. Not only was she a flaming wreck, but her engines were badly damaged and she was flooding rapidly, with her jammed helm taking her SE at a very slow speed.
Bulletomo's sacrifice was not in vain, however. Seeing the Russians reverse course, I bent my division around to the SW and then south, crossing their T with the added advantage of the wind blowing the Russians' smoke into their line of fire. The Russians reacted by turning south to parallel me to the south. Bogatyr, now leading the Russian line, and Ryurik, next astern, were both pounded unmercifully at ranges down to 900 yards. Idzumo soon put a torpedo into Bogatyr and she sank at once, while Ryurik was shattered by Iwate's fire and slowed rapidly. Meanwhile, Tokiwa and my own Asama were quickly gaining the upper hand against Gromoboi and Rossiya, respectively. They were now well afire and almost all their guns were silenced.
Rossiya and Gromoboi then turned ESE together to avoid the wreckage at the head of their line. They were now making no more than 14 knots but I was again behind them, and all of my ships had exhausted their supply of 8" ammunition, except Tokiwa, which still had a few rounds remaining for her aft turret. 6" ammunition was on hand in small quantities, but Idzumo and Iwate had lost a number of their 6" guns. Seeing that Gromoboi was losing speed, I detached these latter two of my ships to finish off both her and Ryurik while I took Tokiwa and Asama in pursuit of Rossiya.
Gromoboi and Rossiya attempt, too late, to escape destruction.
The battle now swept toward the disabled Suma, which was lying dead in the water and obviously bound soon for Davey Jones. By this point, Idzumo and Iwate had left Ryurik sinking and were pummeling Gromoboi. Either they damaged her steering or her captain, unable now to return fire, sought to strike one final blow with his doomed ship, because the dying Russian cruiser crashed directly into Suma's stationary hulk. Both ships were opened up by the collision and quickly sank, their few survivors succombing to the icy water before there was a chance to rescue them.
Gromoboi rams Suma.
Rossiya's end, too, was not long in coming. As Tokiwa and my Asama overhauled her, pouring in countless unanswered 6" shells, she became an inferno and slowed to a stop. As my ships passed ahead so that Tokiwa's aft turret could come to bear, Idzumo and Iwate cut across her stern and delivered the coup de grace with torpedoes. Rossiya exploded and sank with no survivors.
The chronograph on Asama's flag bridge had been shattered by the concussion of the forward turret's firing. Looking at my pocketwatch now for the first time, I was amazed to note that it was only 1011. In disbelief I had to check to make sure it was still running. Less than one hour before I had given the order to commence firing. In that brief time, my armored cruisers had emptied their magazines and 5 mighty warships, and nearly 4000 men, had met their doom. But there was no time to reflect on that. Commodore Bulletomo's remaining ships were still fighting for their lives between their raging fires and the frigid water. Even as my crews fought their own fires and gathered the scattered fragments of their fallen messmates, I reformed my armored cruisers and hastened northward to assist him. Fortunately, his ships were saved. Even more fortunately, we all reached Maizuru without further incident. It would have been the worst dishonor imaginable to have encountered Lyena on the way home and been unable to fire a shot at her.
Track chart:
* (Editor's note: The initial spotting was a 35-second abortion with 36km visibility. 1 hour later, a new battle started at 12kyds, despite the 36km visibility. But this is a good way to spin it
)
