THE TSAR’S LAST ARMADA

A stirring reconstruction of one of history’s great—and least-known—naval battles.

On May 14 and 15, 1905, a Japanese fleet destroyed much of Russia’s navy in a pitched battle in the Tsushima Straits, between Japan and Korea. It was the last of many indignities for the Russian fleet, writes Russian historian Pleshakov (The Flight of the Romanovs, 1999), which had traveled halfway around the world to find safe anchorage at Vladivostok but had been dogged by bad luck and misadventure, including an attack on a group of British fishing boats off the coast of Spain; moreover, the Russian ships, though commanded by the renowned Admiral Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky, were badly equipped and antiquated, staffed by ineffective line officers and rebellious sailors, and backed by incomplete and sometimes erroneous intelligence. The Japanese fleet that awaited them in the straits made short work of the Russians, who struggled vainly “to shake off the pursuers like a hunted bear shakes off hounds.” Of 38 Russian ships, only 3 made it to Vladivostok. Imprisoned for a time in Japan, Rozhestvensky and other survivors faced court-martial on their return home; four captains were given death sentences (later reduced to imprisonment), while Rozhestvensky was allowed to resign his commission. Pleshakov does a fine job of explaining the military and political complexities of the conflict and of introducing small-scale but telling details into the big picture of history. He notes, for example, that at least some of Tsar Nicholas II’s animosity toward Japan, which led to the Russo-Japanese War, could be traced back to an incident whereupon the then-prince, visiting the city of Otsu in 1891, was attacked by an insane samurai. Pleshakov also vividly describes the battle itself, which, understandably, does not figure widely in many Russian textbooks.

Fascinating stuff. A boon for students of military history and naval warfare.