Russia's 4th Pacific Squadron: A New Hope: This Time It's Personal

Russian Voyage from the Black Sea and Mediterranean to Tsushima

After the Treaty of Constantinople, the Black Sea Fleet readied for the ships' first voyage out of the Dardanelles on New Year's Day 1905. By 7 January 1905, the Russian Navy, consisting of 3 Borodino class ships [one slightly damaged], 10 obsolete [Black Sea and Baltic Fleet; including an assigned cruiser] battleships, 5 cruisers and 15 destroyers [excluding losses to the Ottomans]. After departure, the Suez Canal was crossed [except for the Borodino class] and rendezvous occurred in late March 1905, with refuelling conducted over April. By the time, Port Arthur fell to the Japanese and the Japanese Army, although defeated at Mukden, were retreating to southern Manchuria and preparing to deprive the Russians of their former naval base.

In May 1905, the Japanese were undecided as to the direction their navy should go. Ships were proceeding to the Pacific from foreign ports, but heavy losses [caused by the close defeat of Yellow Sea] resulted in only 3 battleships available plus one capture. Recent purchases yielded only another class of interned vessels, but the Japanese had more cruisers and they would torpedo the Russian Navy if possible with lighter ships.

By June, the former Russian Mediterranean Fleet was in the Indian Ocean and the Russians were besieging Port Arthur after Japan's defeat. Fate would decide the battle course to be taken and after final refuelling off the coast of Vietnam, proceeded to Tsushima straits. Defeat was imminent to the Japanese if they [the Russians] got the ships into Port Arthur.

On 2 July 1905, the Russian Navy arrived at Port Arthur and the Japanese prepared. After the bombardment of the Russian Navy on Japanese fortresses, the Japanese sent torpedo boats to investigate, but one battleship was sunk and another damaged to the extent of scuttling. As the [Borodino class] ships were needed to defend the fleet, the decision was fatal. Refuelling took place over 6 July, but the Japanese were alerted and prepared to torpedo the Russian ships. Tsushima occurred the next day.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tsushima
On 7 July, the Russian Navy approached the Japanese and started the battle. The Russians' south southwest to north northeast course reached a point of intersection which allowed only their front guns to shell; enabling Admiral Tōgō to eliminate most of the Russian batteries' advantage.The Japanese fleet steamed from northeast to west, Tōgō ordered the fleet to rotate and intercept the Russians' course, despite risks battleship consecutively. Although Tōgō's U-turn was successful, Russian guns were surprisingly better then expected and battleship Asahi was hit 21 times in five minutes. Over the engagement's course, Asahi [Mikasa being sunk at Yellow Sea] would be sunk by more than 20 large calibre shells. Rozhestvensky had to initiate "a formal pitched combat." as at 14:08, the Japanese flagship Asahi was hit at about 7,000 meters, with the Japanese replying at 6,400 meters before superior Japanese shells reaped their benefits, with most of the Russian battleships being crippled. Tōgō quickly gained the advantage of surprise since previous naval fights began at a much nearer range.

Commander Vladimir Semenoff, a Russian staff officer aboard the flagship Borodino, noted that "It seemed impossible even to count the number of projectiles striking us. Shells seemed to be pouring upon us incessantly one after another. The steel plates and superstructure on the upper decks were torn to pieces, and the splinters caused many casualties. Iron ladders were crumpled up into rings, guns were literally hurled from their mountings. In addition to this, there was the unusually high temperature and liquid flame of the explosion, which seemed to spread over everything. I actually watched a steel plate catch fire from a burst."
An hour and half into the battle, Japanese battleship Mikasa [a formerly captured Russian battleship], sunk by Rozhestvensky's 2nd Battleship division, was the first warship to be sunk in the battle. Before the sea battle, only 3 battleships were sunk by gunfire at Yellow Sea, and now, Mikasa had gained the unfortunate distinction of being the battle's first as a shell penetrated the magazines of the ship, causing it to explode.
A direct hit on Tri Sviatielta's magazines by the Japanese battleship Fuji resulted in detonation, which sent smoke thousands of feet into the air and killed all of her crew on board as the ship disappeared into the sea. Most of Japanese ships received light damage. Rozhestvensky was fatally injured by a shell fragment that struck his skull. In the evening, Admiral Nikolai Skrydlov took over command of the Russian fleet. The Russians lost battleships Potemkin, Oryol and Tri Sviatielta and Japan lost Asahi to shelling.

At night, around 20:00, 47 Japanese destroyers, cruisers and torpedo boats [excluding the detachment sent to Port Arthur] were thrown against the Russians. The destroyers attacked the rear while the torpedo boats attacked the east and south of the Russian fleet. Continuing their aggressive attacks non-stop for four hours without a break, during the night, there were collisions between Japanese torpedo craft and Russian warships as a consequence. The Russians were now scattered piecemeal to escape northwards. By 23:00, it seemed the Russian ships had disappeared, but they exposed their locations to their chasers by turning on their searchlights — ironically, the searchlights had been lighted to detect the attackers. The elderly battleships Navarin and Rostislav struck mines and were compelled to stop, they were torpedoed four times and sunk consequently with very few survivors.
Sissoi Velliky was crippled by a torpedo in the stern and abandoned. Two armoured cruisers were badly damaged by torpedoes and collision with a Japanese cruiser. They were abandoned by their crews the next morning off Tsushima Island, where they proceeded while flooding, and were scuttled. The night attacks increased pressure on the Russians, as they had lost three battleships and two armoured cruisers, while the Japanese had only lost twelve torpedo boats, destroyers and cruisers.

During night combat, Tōgō's successor had readied his destroyers to destroy any remaining enemy vessels, chase down any escaping warships, and arrange his heavy units. At 09:30 on 8 July, Russian navy remnants were sighted retreating northwards. Tōgō's battleships proceeded to envelope Skrydlov's remaining squadron south of Takeshima island and started main battery fire at 12,000 meters. Realising that his guns were out ranged by at least one thousand yards and that he might be annihilated by Togo, Skrydlov ordered the battleships remaining under his command to fight before surrendering after losing Borodino and Dvenadsat Apostolov to an explosion and shelling respectively. XGE, an international surrender signal, was raised after another three hours of fighting; however the Japanese navy continued to fire as the battleship Fuji flooded since did not find "surrender" in their code books and had to desperately find one that did, although the end was to come for the Japanese battleship left if the Russians continued. Still under heavy fire, Skrydlov then ordered white table cloths raised by the mastheads, but dying Admiral Togo remembered a Chinese warship escape him while flying that flag during the 1894 war and continued to fire his main batteries without trust. Togo's experience was reinforced when Russian cruisers quickly yanked down XGE surrender flags and fled. Running out of options, Skrydlov finally asked the Imperial Japanese Navy flag flown up ship mastheads and all engines halted. The end of the Russian Navy was coming.
 
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List of ships involved in Dardanelles and Black Sea [losses]

[Cruiser battle of Tsushima and Surrender of the Russian Fleet and aftermath of Tsushima will be next chapters.]
Ekaterina II and Chesma: Sunk during battle for the Crimea by shells [Ottoman defeat].
Georgi Pobedonosets: Sunk by torpedoes in battle for Crimea
Sinope: Training ship [Damaged in diversionary Constantinople bombardment.]
Battleships Kynaz Surovov and Imperator Nikolai I: Sunk during battle for the Dardanelles [minefield]
Hydra-class ironclads: Sunk by Ottoman shelling
Battleship Imperator Alexander III: Damaged by shells and repaired [sunk at Port Arthur]
Battleship Oslyabya: Damaged by mine and repaired, sunk at Tsushima.
Cruisers:
Cruiser Dimitri Donskoy: Sunk at Dardanelles by shelling.
Cruiser Pamiat Azova: Sunk by guns
Cruiser Admiral Nakhmanov: Damaged by guns, sunk at Tsushima.
Cruisers Izumrud and Svetlana [one damaged and another recalled, later sunk].
5 destroyers from Baltic Fleet and Black Sea Fleet each.
Minor smaller vessels and several auxiliaries.
Port Arthur Detachment:
Russian battleships Imperator Alexander II and III. 5 destroyers.
[Sunk by Japanese Third Fleet.]
 
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What if battleship Fuji exploded

For something that makes Tsushima more even, how about battleship Fuji exploding?
At 18:30 hours on 27 May 1905, the Russian Navy had lost the battleships Oslyabya and Imperator Alexander III to sinking or damage. Shortly afterwards, there was a miracle for the Russian Navy as the battleship Fuji exploded and morale of the Russian Navy improved as the first Japanese battleship lost disappeared.
[Over the next several hours, the Russians would lose battleships Imperator Alexander III and Kynaz Surovov. The Japanese would lose battleship Mikasa.]
At night, torpedo boats sank the same number of historical ships. By the next day, the Russians had claimed 2 Japanese battleships sunk and decided on fighting. At the moment, the effective strength of the Russian and Japanese battleships were similar, although Borodino was sinking from a torpedo and heavy shell hits.]
On the morning of 28 May, the Second and Third Russian Pacific Squadrons consisted of a Borodino class battleship, several coastal defence ships, 4 cruisers and 9 destroyers. During the early morning combat, the Russians sank a battleship, although the only modern Russian battleship left sank beneath the waves after progressive flooding. Battleship Oryol was crippled and sinking when it was scuttled before it could be surrendered to the Japanese. In the battle, the Russians lost their historically lost ships [more or less], but the Japanese lost 3 battleships [one to progressive flooding], 2 cruisers and 8 torpedo boats due to butterflies.
 
For something that makes Tsushima more even, how about battleship Fuji exploding?
At 18:30 hours on 27 May 1905, the Russian Navy had lost the battleships Oslyabya and Imperator Alexander III to sinking or damage. Shortly afterwards, there was a miracle for the Russian Navy as the battleship Fuji exploded and morale of the Russian Navy improved as the first Japanese battleship lost disappeared.
[Over the next several hours, the Russians would lose battleships Imperator Alexander III and Kynaz Surovov. The Japanese would lose battleship Mikasa.]
At night, torpedo boats sank the same number of historical ships. By the next day, the Russians had claimed 2 Japanese battleships sunk and decided on fighting. At the moment, the effective strength of the Russian and Japanese battleships were similar, although Borodino was sinking from a torpedo and heavy shell hits.]
On the morning of 28 May, the Second and Third Russian Pacific Squadrons consisted of a Borodino class battleship, several coastal defence ships, 4 cruisers and 9 destroyers. During the early morning combat, the Russians sank a battleship, although the only modern Russian battleship left sank beneath the waves after progressive flooding. Battleship Oryol was crippled and sinking when it was scuttled before it could be surrendered to the Japanese. In the battle, the Russians lost their historically lost ships [more or less], but the Japanese lost 3 battleships [one to progressive flooding], 2 cruisers and 8 torpedo boats due to butterflies.

How can they damage or sink the Japanese battleships when the Russian sailors are lacking competency and their equipment is totally inferior? Luck that their fuse actually worked? Their caliber shells suddenly became of British quality out of the blue? Sailors who barely drills aimed lucky shot the correct way at first try?

I think the question about Battle of Tsushima is how badly the Russian navy was. Even if in paper Russian navy was superior than IJN, it was in reality inferior much like the Chinese in 1895. Meaning you need to address the corruption behind their navies or corruption as a whole.

Because I dont see anything addressing in your posts nor your POD those most important factors how the Russians will actually sink a better maintained, better quality, better drilled opponents navies.
 
Surrender and the end at Tsushima

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tsushima

Skrydlov was reluctant to throw away his sailors' lives simply to save his own honour. He conceded to the humiliation of surrender, knowing very clearly he might be executed after his return to Russia and announced clearly to his sailors:
You are young, and it is you who will one day retrieve the honour and glory of the Russian Navy. The lives of the two thousand four hundred men in these ships are more important than mine.

Neither Skrydlov nor Rozhestvensky's captured corpse and subordinates were executed after returning home to Russia, but both were placed on trial. Rozhestvensky had to claim full responsibility for the defeat; but as he was killed in action while the battle was ongoing, the Tsar couldn't demand his execution. Skrydlov, having actually surrendered the fleet at the end of the nearly triumphant naval engagement, was nearly executed, but the charge was later changed to imprisonment for his life and eventually, he was pardoned by the Tsar for service in WW1. Both men's reputations were strained by the defeat.
Until the evening of 8 July, piecemeal Russian ships were chased by the Japanese to the extent of destruction or capture. Three Russian warships reached Vladivostok. Cruiser Izumrud, after escaping from the Japanese despite being an observer at Skrydlov's surrender, was abandoned by her crew after wrecking near the Siberian coast and damaging its pursuer, having evaded torpedoes from the pursuing Japanese cruiser. Some ships returned to Russia or were interned in neutral ports, including auxiliaries and most notably, the cruisers of Oskar Enkvist.

Cruiser and destroyer battle at Tsushima
During the Russian Navy's defeat, it was known that several of its cruisers fought valiantly until the end. At the battle itself, the Japanese lost 2 armoured cruisers to heavy shells, 1 damaged heavily and foundering after shelling by 2 Russian cruisers and another crippled and towed back to port from a torpedo hit. The Japanese lost another protected cruiser to heavy damage from two torpedoes. Finally, shelling from Russian ships sank 5 destroyers and 5 torpedo boats. Overall, the Japanese lost 14 vessels lighter than the 3 battleships lost [one to progressive flooding with the extra Black Sea Fleet ships] in the battle for Tsushima itself, not including the 3rd Fleet losses of ships around Port Arthur. The Russians lost almost everything in their navy [more details to be posted later].
 
The Third/Fourth Voyage of the Russian Navy into the Pacific

After the disaster of Tsushima, the Japanese Navy was decisively triumphant, although the victory was nearly pyrrhic. During the timeframe, Russian reinforcements proceeded to Manchuria by the Trans-Siberian Railroad. However, there would arrive only in 1906, and probably later than that due to the local revolutionary situation. As a result, it was decided to stay on the defensive and repulse the Japanese army invasions for the time being. Simultaneously, the Japanese victory halted the Russian offensive against Port Arthur and led to a devastating September defeat and retreat to Liaoyang.

The Russian Government decided on sending a third fleet to the Pacific with the intention of forcing the Japanese to surrender. Transferring troops by train was a complicated matter as the rails in several sections weren't too completed and suitable for trains to move quickly. In 1906, the troops might be released from fighting revolutionaries and work on the Trans-Siberian, but in the meantime, there was something that needed to be solved. That said, winning the war against Japan at all costs was necessary to maintain prestige and the necessity of Port Arthur under Russian control was still in Tsar Nicholas II's mind as the fleet might need it after its reconstruction if there were any Pacific ambitions for it.

Finally, after several debates, it was decided to prepare the 4th Russian Pacific Squadron. This was assisted by reports of the Japanese Navy losing virtually all its battleships. Shikishima was the only capital ship left in the Japanese Navy afloat and heavy repairs were hindering its operational status, taking nearly one year to complete after its grounding in shallow waters and salvage. Fuji had to be saved in a similar manner before foundering near Kyushu from capsizing. Over the following months, the Japanese lost a cruiser and several lighter vessels during the Japanese invasion of Sakhalin while another Japanese cruiser became unrepairable afterwards. Russia's time was running out had it been not for the troop transfers.

In late October 1905, the Japanese launched a final offensive that was intended to conquer southern Manchuria and defeat the Russian Army for all, assisted by several cruisers and destroyers. The Japanese lost about 100,000 troops in the final offensive attempt, but the Russian Far Eastern Army was decisively defeated and annihilated, with a substantial portion of the casualties caused by the controversial decision to advance even further into Manchuria than ordered after exploiting the Russian Far Eastern Army's surrender during December 1905 in winter conditions. That said, the Trans Siberian was made unusable for Russian troop transport and Harbin was left as the only other city usable for headquarters, others being besieged, lost or isolated.

Over the spring of year 1906, the Russians launched several futile offensives that weakened their strength, but decimated the Japanese and relieved several fortresses. After July, the Russians might launch their first successful offensive against the Japanese besides sending their last but futile attempt in winning the naval war for Russia.

On 15 April 1906, after heavy consultation, the last [4th] Russian Pacific Squadron sent was composed of 2 battleships [one salvaged from the Black Sea, but with transit and repair permitted, the other being Slava], 2 cruisers, 3 coastal defence ships [not sent to the Pacific in this scenario], 16 destroyers and several transport ships. After a controversial decision to pass through the Dardanelles and Suez Canal, the Russian Navy was prepared to refight Tsushima a year later [in this scenario] on 8 July.

On 8 July 1906, the Russian Navy encountered the Japanese Navy at Tsushima and fought to the surrender after several hours. In the battle, the Russians lost every capital ship afloat, 2 cruisers and 12 destroyers while the Japanese lost a battleship [to an explosion], 3 cruisers [to shells] and 8 destroyers and torpedo boats; with another Katori-class battleship wrecked from torpedo damage later. This defeat demoralised Russia severely that peace talks were decided and the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed as the Russian troops in the Far East simply deserted and refused to continue their prolonged and struggling summer offensive with heavy losses. Russia was a weak naval power without battleships and cruisers left.
 
I think the question about Battle of Tsushima is how badly the Russian navy was. Even if in paper Russian navy was superior than IJN, it was in reality inferior much like the Chinese in 1895. Meaning you need to address the corruption behind their navies or corruption as a whole.

The fact that they were caught out at night and in the open after like, months at sea and without any recent combat drills, had nothing to do with it, I suppose.

I mean considering the incredible amount of luck the Japanese navy needed to overcome the Pacific squadron alone I think you may be seriously overstating this supposed disparity between the two.

Because I dont see anything addressing in your posts nor your POD those most important factors how the Russians will actually sink a better maintained, better quality, better drilled opponents navies.

The same way they hit them in the Yellow Sea and off Port Arthur, presumably? And probably sinking them with mines, just as per OTL. Like the whole question is, are they operating out of Vladivostok (or even shitty Port Arthur), or are they sailing through Tsushima? Because those are two completely different scenarios.
 
Reverse Tsushima [in distance] to European Russia after Tsushima

Now, what if the Japanese attempted to destroy the Russian Navy in 1905/ 1906 by entering the Baltic and/or Black Sea? Would this work or would Russia win the battles and proceed to continue the war against Japan?
Black Sea [Baltic Sea is too obvious with Russian torpedo craft and a Russian deficiency in capital ships, but the Russians should win without significant mutinies in the fleets if torpedoes work.]
[Same as below, but with some changes.]
On 7 October 1906, after slightly more than 3 months of voyage from Japan to the Dardanelles, the Japanese Navy arrived at Constantinople and after several days of negotiations, the Ottomans consented to refuelling and supplying before the Japanese sailed to Sevastopol on 11 October, reaching the harbour on 15 October. During the day, the Russians were still surprised although they barely made some preparations. Then, the Japanese came.
The first Japanese shells and torpedoes hit several Russian battleships as the Russians attempted to get underway. Then, the Russians reacted and shells exploded a Japanese battleship. A torpedo charge barely kept the Japanese in line as a Japanese cruiser was sunk by shells and another battleship was damaged by mines. Over the battle, the Japanese lost 4 battleships, 11 cruisers and 12 destroyers while the Russians lost 13 destroyers, 3 cruisers and 7 battleships [plus another becoming unrepairable]. Although the Japanese Navy lost heavily in ships, they won over the Russians when the battle ended on afternoon of 16 October before the damaged ships returned to Ottoman or Balkan Black Sea ports.
After the battle, the Tsar was outraged at the Japanese penetration into the Dardanelles straits and asked for stricter Ottoman entry regulations before a declaration of war. Instead, the Japanese victory resulted in the Russians vary of war against the Ottomans, not knowing the Ottoman Navy was weak, but also helped by foreign responses. Peace treaty and bottom events same with reality but more on the Black Sea than Baltic.
Baltic Sea
After the rejection of the attempted signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth, the Japanese Navy decided to finish the Russian Navy once and for all [with the interrogation of Baltic Fleet sailors about the depositions of the Black Sea Fleet and remaining Baltic Fleet ships being an added issue]. On the decision to make the [nearly] fatal decision to sink the Russian Navy, the rationale given was the strength of Russia's Armies in 1906 and the need to impress other countries in Europe that the Japanese Navy was not only strong but also invincible. The decisions made were supported by the potential of having the Ottomans as allies against a resurgent Russia in the Far East from 1906 or later and a potential world war [although these fears wouldn't be realised following the naval battles].

On 1 July 1906, after the Russian offensive into Manchuria became a serious issue despite the loss of [almost] the entire Russian Navy in the Far East [including bombardments of Siberia], the Japanese Navy prepared for its 'glorious world voyage to Russia'. Assisted by information about the Russian Navy's voyage to Tsushima, the Japanese made the journey with stops at Taiwan, Singapore, India, the Horn of Africa, then passed the Suez Canal and entered the Mediterranean. After negotiations to enter the Dardanelles were rejected without consent from the Ottomans [closer Ottoman-Japanese relations, note that a Russian war with the Ottomans would see the latter defeated with Russia's superior Black Sea Fleet], refuelling occurred before further stops at Italy, passing the straits of Gibraltar to enter Spain, United Kingdom and Denmark; the 4 month Japanese voyage to Russia proper [including 2 Katori class battleships] concluded at the beginning of November with a surprise attack on the Russian Navy in the Gulf of Finland that ended with a victorious Japan before bombarding Petrograd.

Petrograd was bombarded and threatened with flames before the Russian Navy ordered its destroyers to sortie and torpedo the nearly escort lacking [lacking in torpedo boats] Japanese ships. Despite the fact the Russian Navy was supposed to be superior at home although faced with massive inferiority, the loss of ships to flames and deficiency in torpedo boats after shelling made the task of defending Petrograd nearly impossible. Even the only 2 battleships and several lighter vessels left were destroyed for damage or sinking to several Japanese cruisers and destroyers and a battleship. [Other Russian ships were trapped overseas, in Siberia or sunk.]

Although the Russian capital was well protected, the Japanese assault was too much to bear and torpedoes only managed to sink 2 cruisers and lighter as some didn't work. City guns and minefields didn't seem to deter the Japanese effectively as only 3 battleships were actually sunk or damaged despite reports and the number of Japanese cruisers left was even larger. The failure to defend Petrograd effectively in the aftermath of the battle was a humiliation for the Russian government and military despite the naval losses as it was supposed to be Russia's capital city and well defended. Revolutions and mutinies, along with Japanese sea invasion fears, were about to be proven right with the drop in Russian prestige and the government was relocated to Moscow in the aftermath of the destructive Petrograd shelling. The Tsar relocated his armies and military equipment from the Far East, Caucasus and Ukraine to deal with the anticipated gigantic Baltic seaborne-Triple Alliance-local revolutionary-nationalist threat at home in European Russia and the peace treaty to terminate the nearly successful recapture of Manchuria and 2nd [Russian] siege of Port Arthur was signed at Portsmouth on Christmas Day 1906 with similar terms to reality.

Over 1907, the Tsar faced revolutionary and 'stab-in-the-back' threats from the Russian-Japanese fiasco and national chaos. The entire year of 1907 was spent in defending Russia from revolution and counterattacking while fearing an offensive from the Triple Alliance [other details may be found inside a 1905 Barbarossa thread or Russian-Japanese War scenarios]. Although successful, it was very pyrrhic and the Tsar retreated into seclusion until [a different] WW1. Why Germany and Austria didn't exploit the chaos formed in 1907 with WW1 invasions as military objectives was a later question to be answered by historians.
 
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The big problem is that the Russian's lost their most experienced and trained personnel with the ships sunk in the Far East before the 2nd Pacific Squadron arrived. With the loss of Port Arthur the Russians lost some of their best ships and their long service men.

The 2nd Pacific Squadron's crews were mostly raw recruits or reservists called up. The four Slava class ships were not really fit for service, they had not had any shakedown, were in some cases barely complete and if you think that the Prince of Wales was bad on her encounter with the Bismarck, its nothing compared to the Slava's on the 2nd Pacific Squadron.

The rest of the Squadron was older or outright obsolete ships who were far inferior to their IJN equivalents.

On paper the only thing the Russians had was numbers, their 4 lead units were manned by people who still barely knew their ships, they also lacked proper gunnery training, and didn't incorperate the latest developments in gunnery, this system called continuious aim which the IJN did. The Japanese ships were some of the finest in the world, not surprising really as all their battleships were British designed and made and were copies of the latest ships from the RN. Their armoured cruisers were all also exceptionally modern and powerful units. The IJN's ships were a LOT better, their crews were a LOT better and their leaders were far superior.

Also these old 1800's era ships, their guns would have been outranged by the Japanese Armoured Cruisers. Only the Slava and two Black Sea ships are of any use, the others are targets :s

If they tried to send a 4th Pacific Squadron i'd expect mutinies. There's probably no one to lead them, the men are going to be completely demoralized and the ships again would be rushed and then forced to undertake a MASSIVE voyage with all the bad side effects that entails.

Also by the time that these ships are ready the IJN would have repaired its warships and had any captured ones probably looking more servicable. Its just asking for another Tishuma.
 
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Assisted by information about the Russian Navy's voyage to Tsushima, the Japanese made the journey with stops at Taiwan, Singapore, India, the Horn of Africa, passed the Suez Canal and entered the Mediterranean. After negotiations to enter the Dardanelles were rejected without consent from the Ottomans [closer Ottoman-Japanese relations, note that a Russian war with the Ottomans would see the latter defeated with Russia's superior Black Sea Fleet], refuelling occurred before further stops at Italy, passing the straits of Gibraltar to enter Spain, United Kingdom and Denmark; the 4 month Japanese voyage to Russia proper [including 2 Katori class battleships] concluded at the beginning of November with a surprise attack on the Russian Navy in the Gulf of Finland that ended with a victorious Japan before bombarding Petrograd.

I find this part rather extremely unlikely, especially the "surprise" bit. The Russians certainly would have been able to realize the Japanese fleet was coming after the Danish straits at the latest. This would have been such a surprising event, Japanese warships in the Baltic, that if Russian intelligence did not otherwise notice it, then St. Petersburg could have read about it in Danish and Swedish newspapers.

I just went through a few Finnish papers from late 1904 IOTL, and at that time, during the early part of the Russian fleet's journey towards the Far East, they reported about the journey on a daily basis. The news of the Dogger Bank Incident, say, reached Finland in 3-4 days. In this case, there would have been earlier reports about the arrival of the Japanese in the European waters, and at the very least the Danish media certainly would have treated the arrival of a large Japanese fleet as breaking news, and such news would have been relayed to St. Petersburg post haste.
 
Rebirth of the Russian and Ottoman Navies

Source: http://www.neva.ru/EXPO96/book/chap11-1.html
[Overall Russian losses in the war, unless mentioned as such, are more or less similar to reality. Note the hypothetical winter 1905 bombardment of Siberia would add an armoured Russian cruiser sunk, a light cruiser sunk and several smaller vessels destroyed. Japanese losses include actually lost ships outside major surface naval battles besides those mentioned and 1 cruiser off Siberia sunk by the first successful submarine torpedo attack after 1900 there.J

Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War inflicted a devastating blow to Russia's sea domination despite the Japanese losses. After 2 disastrous battles of Tsushima, Nicholas II started radical reforms in the Naval Administration. He began by removing his own uncle, General-Admiral Grand Duke Aleksey Aleksandrovich, as the Naval Commander-in-Chief and Vice-Admiral Aleksey Birilyov was appointed Naval Minister Plenipotentiary in replacement. In early 1907, Nicholas II created a Naval Headquarters with Captain Lev Brusilov in command.
Subsequently, in 1905-1907, both Birilyov and Admiral Ivan Dikov, who replaced Birilyov following the former's failure to suppress rebellions, gave top priority to the restoration of order and discipline that deteriorated after mass mutinies of sailors following the defeats. Although only very few ships [other than torpedo boats and lighter craft] were left in the Baltic and Black Sea Fleets, mutinies were present and it was suspected mutinies were responsible for the 'Second Tsushima' defeat as attacks were made half-heartedly, especially by lighter vessels. Even vessels of the Siberian Flotilla weren't exempt despite the Japanese threat. [Naval uprisings butterflied by the Ottoman and Tsushima campaigns.]

[Unwritten paragraphs in this post are about issues same with reality and totally in text to quoted chapter, but to a larger extent due to losses in the Black Sea Fleet and further but insignificant losses of the Baltic and Siberian Fleets.]

Several years before the next Russian war, the Naval Cadets Corps and Naval Engineers' School produced midshipmen and petty officers who were quickly promoted to officers' ranks for Mediterranean service. In December 1908, on the first of such cruises with a newly commissioned light cruiser in reserve for the Baltic, the seamen of the light cruiser Oleg [released from internment at Manila], armoured cruisers Bogatyr and Admiral Makarov, and the gunboats Gilyak and Koreyets were the first to help the Italian town of Messina over difficulties suffered from a devastating earthquake, providing the Russian Navy a special medal designed to commemorate the event.

In 1910, it was decided to purchase several Japanese-captured ships [other than battleships] and prepare them for a transit through the Black Sea or return to the Baltic. After prolonged negotiations, the wish was fulfilled in 1912. En route to Russia after re-commission, the [2nd] Balkan War started and the newly purchased Russian Navy ships were diverted to assist the Balkan powers while enforcing its claims over the Dardanelles. After the victory, which saw all of Thrace remaining under Bulgarian control except for the Dardanelles since 1905, the Russian Navy prepared to transfer 4 Japanese-purchased and Siberian Flotilla cruisers as transferring battleships would endanger relations with the Ottomans through the Dardanelles, although only 2 were transferred. Then, came the First World War.

Ottoman Navy
In the aftermath of the 1st Balkan-Russian War [1904], revolutionary organizations revolted after Ottoman defeat. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Turk_Revolution 3 years earlier with the official independence of Bulgaria, initial losses of Edirne to Suvla in Thrace to Bulgaria before recapture over a Serbian-Bulgarian-Ottoman War and some islands and recaptured Anatolian territory to Greece, plus Serbian control of Macedonia and a Montenegrin threat over Albania. Bosnia was lost to Austro-Hungarian garrisons.]
After the settling of peace treaties between the Balkan powers, a reconstruction of the Ottoman Navy was underway, with 4 11-inch gunned battleships from Germany, 2 cruisers purchased from Japan and 8 overseas constructed destroyers, besides several smaller vessels and 3 early submarines. The 1912 Balkan War [2nd instead of 1st] would see the Ottomans attacking Greece and Bulgaria to retake Thrace and Anatolia before losing Thrace as mentioned. Over the interwar period, the Greeks purchased 2 battleships from Britain, several cruisers from Italy and destroyers, lighter vessels and another 3 submarines from France.

Balkan Wars:
After the Ottoman Coup and reconstruction of the Ottoman military, the Ottoman Army and Navy, strengthened by an air force, declared war on Bulgaria and Greece on 18 October 1912, following military demonstrations off Edirne. The Ottoman Army forced the evacuation of the Bulgarians from the border after 3 days and a diversionary offensive was launched with troops stationed in Asia to recapture Greek controlled Anatolian coastal regions and islands. Warned by the Russians about the invasions of Bulgaria and Greece and necessary repercussions, the Russian Navy [too weak in the Black Sea to operate effectively] recalled its Mediterranean Squadron of ships being transferred to Europe from the Pacific and intervened, nearly contributing to the declaration of another Russian-Ottoman War. The Russian Navy contributed to the victory of the Christian Balkan states by further enhancing the Dardanelles blockade and leading to a decisive Ottoman Naval defeat on 16 December 1912, although the Russian Navy enforced its claims to the straits against Balkan wishes.

As a result of the Ottoman Naval defeat off Mudros, the Greek Navy and Army were able to land forces recently evacuated from Anatolia at Gallipoli and besiege the Dardanelles after capturing key positions, diverting Ottoman troops from the Bulgarian Front and contributing to the Bulgarian victory at the Calthaca Line that led the nation into Constantinople on 17 January 1913 and a peace treaty 2 months later. Also, reinforcements from Constantinople, Asia and the Caucasus were delayed due to naval and possible Russian involvement.
 
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