Im halfway through reading Pleshekov's "TheTsars last Armada" and enjoying it greatly.
It takes a slightly different tack in its portrayal of Admiral Rozhestvensky in that he is not painted as a "complete imbecile" as I have seen in other works.
The sheer hopelessness of the misison remains however, and I am left wondering what ...if anything... the Russians should have attempted.
Im left with some possibilities.
1. An earlier breakout attempt from PA to Vladivostok. PA was a deathtrap with its ring of hills, and Im wondering what a do or die attempt at breakout early in the conflict would have accomplished.
2. A quicker voyage from Rozhestvensky. The poor admiral was stuck in Madagascar for weeks on end waiting for the useless 3rd Squadron whiel Togo's fleet was allowed ample time to return to drydock and completely refit.
Im wondering what a quicker attempt to reach Asia would have resulted in, with Togo's battleships in worn out poor conditionfrom almost a solid year on station blockading PA.
3. An alternate route to Vladivostok.
Possibilities include the simple of avoiding Tsushima straits to the radical attempt at Cape Horn and across the Pacific.
Im interested to hear yalls ideas on the subject.......was it necessarily a hopeless cause? What would you have done?
It takes a slightly different tack in its portrayal of Admiral Rozhestvensky in that he is not painted as a "complete imbecile" as I have seen in other works.
The sheer hopelessness of the misison remains however, and I am left wondering what ...if anything... the Russians should have attempted.
Im left with some possibilities.
1. An earlier breakout attempt from PA to Vladivostok. PA was a deathtrap with its ring of hills, and Im wondering what a do or die attempt at breakout early in the conflict would have accomplished.
2. A quicker voyage from Rozhestvensky. The poor admiral was stuck in Madagascar for weeks on end waiting for the useless 3rd Squadron whiel Togo's fleet was allowed ample time to return to drydock and completely refit.
Im wondering what a quicker attempt to reach Asia would have resulted in, with Togo's battleships in worn out poor conditionfrom almost a solid year on station blockading PA.
3. An alternate route to Vladivostok.
Possibilities include the simple of avoiding Tsushima straits to the radical attempt at Cape Horn and across the Pacific.
Im interested to hear yalls ideas on the subject.......was it necessarily a hopeless cause? What would you have done?