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22 October, 1904

At roughly 2:30 AM, elements of the Russian Baltic Fleet, believing that they had made contact with Japanese torpedo boats in the Dogger Bank, were steaming towards the two remaining vessels, both on fire and clearly out of action. Upon their arrival however, the Aurora, the first to come across the supposedly hostile ships were horrified to discover that they were not Japanese torpedo boats, but in fact harmless, neutral British trawling vessels. Immediately, the Russian ships began sending lifeboats to rescue the fishermen thrown overboard in the battle, though only a handful were pulled from the water due to a dual lack of life preservers and ambient light. The reality of what the Baltic Fleet had just done--sinking five British civilian vessels, killing all but a dozen crewmen--shocked the crews into a holding pattern for hours, unsure of how to proceed. What they didn’t understand was the scope of their actions, and how it would have dire consequences for the Baltic Fleet, and Russia itself.

Later that day, after sending the Aurora back towards Russia to release the rescued sailors, the Baltic Fleet had reformed, and returned on its original course to Portugal, in order to rest and refit before moving to the far east to engage the Japanese. To them, the incident was an accident, and would be handled by the Russian diplomatic corp, letting the Baltic Fleet push onwards without delay. They were wrong.


23 October, 1904
British newspapers began printing the story as soon as it hit the mainland, some even sending out sellers to replace editions that had already been printed as more details came through. The British public was outraged, and mass protests were held almost instantaneously outside of government buildings across the nation, demanding a declaration of war against “Russian pirates”. The most intense coal-raking of the Baltic Fleet came in The Times, which had only a small piece to end their article on the “Doggerland Murders” (as it was to be known in the British media).

The Times said:
”To see that the Russian fleet must fire on British civilians to prove themselves right over the asinine delusion of Japanese warships in the waters of Europe is not insulting. It is infuriating. Any inaction on the part of the Royal Navy should be considered dereliction of their duty to the British people.”

Despite the newspaper articles, the mass protests, and the demands from across the nation to prepare for war against the Russian Empire, the British public did not know that Parliament had already made the decision for them in an early assembly that same morning.

War had been declared.

At 4:00 PM, British time, an official diplomatic cable was sent to the British embassy in St. Petersburg, notifying the Russians of a “state of war between the Russian and British nations after the wanton murder of British civilians.” Desperately, the Russian embassy in London pleaded with the British to “reconsider their actions and seek international investigation into the incident.” The cable was reportedly addressed to King Edward VII himself, who is believed to have torn the printed message apart in a fit of rage.

That same night, the British battleships[1] Exmouth, Russel, Formidable, and Goliath, alongside dozens of cruisers and destroyers, were sent on an intercept course with the Russian fleet, who had immediately turned course back towards the North Sea to push on a more northward course, as far away from the Royal Navy as possible. Elements of the newly formed 1st Cruiser Squadron[2] had already begun pushing at full speed to close the gap between the Baltic Fleet and the arriving battleship formation.

The Battle of Doggerland, whether the Russians wanted it or not, was about to begin.


[1] I know that the classification is “Pre-Dreadnought”, but for our sakes we will refer to them as Battleships.

[2] Was not given the name until december of that same year, but it would make sense for the British to refit that designation.
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