Naval HQ, Far East Fleet. Port Arthur
17th February 1904, 8:30 am
Vice Admiral OV Stark, to His Imperial Majesty Emperor Nicholas II of All The Russias, Grand Duke of Finland, King of Poland etc
In accordance with my despatch of yesterday, I sailed with the 1st Pacific sqd in the forenoon of yesterday. The fleet did not encounter any blockade on clearing the harbour. At mid afternoon, about twenty past 3, at the extreme southern extent of my intended sortie, Palladia, my starboard wing cruiser reported smoke bearing N by E, at extreme range. I ordered both wing cruiser sqds to investigate, whilst working the battle line to 15kts, and turning north. About half an hour later, the scouts reported the old chinese battleship Chin Yen, and 3 old PCs, at c18000m, course NW speed 13kts. I ordered my escorting destroyers to join the cruisers, and the two scouting groups thus formed to probe past the enemy to east and west to ensure they had no support. The battleline was turned to intercept the enemy, course slightly north of W by N. The enemy opened an ineffective fire at c11000m. I closed to 8000m, by which point the enemy scored its first hit on Sevastopol (see technical annex). I turned 2 points to port, to open my arcs, and opened fire at c7500m. Four ships enaged Chin Yen (2nd in the line), with Sevastopol engaging the lead PC, and the other 2 engaged by 1 ship each. The enemy concentrated fire on Sevastopol. I progressively closed the range, and angled parallel to the ene,y, who maintained course NW throughout. By half past 4, range was 4200m, and Chin Yen was on fire fiercely, with all the PCs damaged to an extent. Sevastopol was the only ship damaged of our side. She suffered increasing fires, and disengaged to manage her damage. By twenty to 5, Chin Yen was heavily damaged and down to 8kts, range 3500m. The entire enemy force was crippled by this point, and the 4 ships sank between 10 to, and 10 past 5. Only Sevastopol, and Petropavlosk were damaged on our side. This is a significant victory, and will force the enemy to reorder their blockade arrangements.
On other matters, the 2ndIPCS has reported intercepting 2 neutrals with contraband. They were interned in a neutral port. In addition they sank an Aux Cruiser just north of Shinminato.
LAst night, the 1st Destroyer division of 9 DD was despatched to patrol off PA. They encountered Fuso and Takao in the dark. Unfortunately in the ensuing confusion, no torpedo hits were scored, and 3 destroyers were lost. In conjunction with the failed attack on PA last week, it must be viewed that torpedos are much over rated. Unescorted destroyers have no role in modern battle, and I would advise against building any more.
I remain, sire, etc
OV Stark.
Att: Technical annex on action by 1st Pac sqd.
The enemy fire on Sevastopol from 11000m to c8000m was surprisingly effective. No hits were scored, but significant numbers of light guns were disabled by near misses (splinters and blast).Whilst most were repairable, this was not possible in the action. At c 8000m hits were scored. The first of these started a small fire. With crew at action stations and speed near maximum, this proved very difficult to control. Further hits (often by lighter guns) caused additional fires, to the point that the ship was in grave danger. She had to drop out of the line, cease fire and slow to 4 kts to enable the fires to be got under control. She was able to rejoin the line after about 30 mins. Few if any shells penetrated her armour and no major mounts were effected by the enemy shells, but the fire would have affected them if not controlled when it was. Petropavlovsk would have suffered the same fate, as fire transferred to her when Sevastopol dropped out, however by then enemy fire had considerably slackened.
Tsesarevitch found her torpedos useful, and fired at Chin Yen in the final stage of the battle, however Chin Yen capsized before the end of the expected run time. Thus there has not been a single effective torpedo attack (with the exception of the lucky hit on Askold).
Our fire was increasingly accurate below 4000m, and at 3500m several ships scored 2 and 3 hits per salvo. Effective range in battle situations would appear to be somewhat longer than was feared, although the fantastic suggestions of engagements in excess of 6000m are not realistic. It is difficult to see how sustained fire at these ranges will ever justify the expenditure of ammunition.
The use and mounting of light guns on battleships needs review. Had a light force attacked us late in the battle, the ships that were engaged by the enemy (Sevastopol, Petropavlovsk) would have had not guns to engage tham with.
