Feb-Mar-Apr, May-June-July 1972 - Navy League of Australia

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Spared from the Japanese torpedo attack on 8 February. 1904. the Russian battleship Pobieda fought with the 1st Pacific Squadron based at Port Arthur, entering naval skirmishes of 13 April. 23 June and 10 August Finally, as was the fate of several of her sister ship*. Pob-eda was caught In the inner harbour on 24 No /ember, and was sunk by 11-inch shells fired by the Japanese siege batteries. One month after the war. in September. 1903, she was refloated by the Jepanese and commissioned In the Japanese Navy under the name Suwo Admiral Vitgett assumed command of tha Port Arthur Float after the unfortunate lost of Admiral Makharoff. Fleeing to Vladivostok in August 1904. he was overtaken by Japanese forces and killed with his entire staff aboard his severely damaged flagship, (Tsesarevitch/Crown Prince) weight. His main Battle Fleet consisted now of Mikasa (flagship). Asahi, Shikishima. Fuji. Chin Yen ^ex-Chinese) and the Nisshin and Kasuga. His back-up force consisted of a further eight cruisers, some of which were not present in the first half of the melee to come. The battle began at 1300 hours with long-range firing and continued until after 1900 hours. It was decided by the superior gunnery of the Japanese together with the damage done by their high-explosive shells which were filled with a new Japanese explosive having similar characteristics to British Lyddite. Once again the Tsesarevitch was badly chopped about, and in the process Rear Admiral Vitgeft was killed. FAITH WITHOUT FOUNDATION colonial port of Saigon, and the Askoid, m company with a destroyer. reached Shanghai. The battered Ttaaaravitch with another three destroyers took refuge at Kiaochau. a port in German-leased Shantung Province. All these ships were interned by the French. German and Chinese authorities and detained by them until the cessation of hostilities, at which time they were restored to the Russian Government. The battleship Peresviet. renamed Saga mi by the Japanese was salvaged and recommissioned In the Imperial Fleet Vitgeft's last orders to his Deputy. Ukhtomsky. were to push on to Vladivostok. but that gentleman was not cut from the same bolt of cloth as his late master. As darkness fell, he lost heart, went about, and led the fleet back to Port Arthur. If only he had persevered he migh* have broken through the Japanese fleet as their magazines were almost exhausted when the firing ceased. Reitzenstein. with the cruisers, tried to execute Vitgeft's last order. Tl.d Pallada however left him and followed the battleships. The remainder of the cruiser squadron and their accompanying destroyers were forced to part and only the Novik broke through to the North. The Diana fled South to the French- The Novik failed to get into Vladivostok. but reached a Russian port in Saghalien. where, a few days later, she was tracked down and destroyed by Japanese cruisers. The Vladivostok squadron had come out to meet the unfortunate Vitgeft. The Boyarin was left behind, damaged by an accidental grounding. The squadron was now made up of the three big armoured cruisers Gromoboi, Rossia and Rurik. Paga Twenty THE NAVY February/March/April, 1972 They were approaching the Straits of Tsu-Shima and were as far South as Fusan when they were discovered and attacked by Admiral Kamimura's cruiser squadron on 14 August. Once more good gunnery as against poor Russian marksman- On IS May. 1904. while cruising off Port Arthur inviting the Russian fleet to come out Admiral Togo led his battle line into a field of drift mines and suffered his most grievous loss of the battle. In quick succession the battleship Hatsuse and Yashima and the cruiser Yoshino hit mines and were destroyed. ship decided the issue The Rurik went to the bottom and the Gromoboi and Rossia returned to Vladivostok with riddled funnels, torn-up superstructure and punctured hulls hastily patched with plate-iron telling a deadly story. In all the preceding actions, the Japanese losses had been very light. There remained One Last Battle; the fight to the death at the Island of the Donkeys Ears. The full story of that conflict, and in particular, the ships of both participating nations, will be told in Part Two which will follow in the next edition of The Navy. History, almost always, repeats itself. This is particularly true in the history of warfare. Think upon these points: 1. The attacks on both Port Arthur (1904) and Pearl Harbour (1941) were made without warning and: 2. Without a formal Declaration of War 3. In both cases, pre-battle espionage was superb, being performed (in the main) by personnel living in the target area. 4. Both attacks took place whilst diplomatic manoeuvres were still in progress. 5. In each case the time chosen for the attack was crushingly correct and. therefore, utterly successful. A Pacific Battle Fleet being subdued in each case with minimal effort. 6. In each case, the Japanese struck in several places almost simultaneously with maximum shock effect. 7. The most outstanding point is. that the United States Military Intelligence machine apparently saw no similarity in vulnerability between the Fleet Bases of Port Arthur and Pearl Harbour. It was realised even in the mid-twenties that one day in the future Japan and America would fight. With Japan's military expansion in the thirties, a political/military behavioural pattern should have been detected and acted upon conclusively before international pride, stubbornness and tub-thumping passed beyond the control of reasonable men. Bibliography: Warships ol World War l (Ian Allen) by H M Le Fleming Battleships ol Other Nations (Ian Allen) by Chariest Scurrell The Fleet That Had To Die Hough. SUBSCRIPTION FORM To "The Navy", Box CI78. Clarence Street Posl Office. Sydney. N.S.W.. 2000. Australia. (N EL) by Richard Famous Sea Fights (Mellifont) by J R Hale Clear lor Action' (Bonanza) by F Hailey and M Lancelot Jaqes Fighting Ships 1905-6. and miscellaneous contemporary sources Readers are invited to comment briefly on this article. Should there be sufficient editorial space in the next edition of The Navy, certain of the letters will be included. , Editor I enclose S2.M) being •subscription to "The Na%y" magazine for I*, tears I refer notes below |. Name Street Suburb Slate Date Post Code Please Print Clearly i Please make cheques, postal orders or nionev orders payable to The Navv League' Please place a tick in the square il a receipt is required CH Subscriptions commence in January ol each year at which time a subscription reminder notice is lorwarded to current subscribers — Annual Subscription $1 :Mi •Persons commencing subscriptions to "The Navy" magazine during the quarter commencing APRIL • i.e. sub lor l=i yearsp should remit S2 30: JULY I sub for l 1 . years i K 00 and OCTOBER - sub lor I'. years i SI 60 Subscriptions lor shorter periods than 12 months cannot be accepted Overseas subscription rates i by air sea mail i supplied on request '•bruary/March/Aprll. 1972 THE NAVY Paga Twanty one
FOR ALL INSURANCE PROBLEMS CONSULT THE EXPERTS Periscope on Australia L i j C i r o m m v l Eagle Star Insurance Co. Ltd. EAGLE HOUSE, 473 BOURKE STREET MELBOURNE Telephone: 60 0451 Also at 63 IRVING STREET, FOOTSCRAY. Phone 68-6893 25 LANGHORNE ST., DANDENONG. Phone 792-9324 Pl|9 Twlnty-two THE NAVY February/Marc VAprU, 1972 NEW SIGHTING EQUIPMENT RAN destroyers are to be equipped with updated sighting equipment for their defensive armament in a progressive programme associated with the normal refit of the vessels over the next few years. The equipment, a modified component of the Seacat guided missile anti-aircraft system, consists of a pedestal-mounted rotatable binocular-type director, two pairs of which are to be fitted in each of the destroyers. Each unit will be handoperated; the operator only having to track the target visually, and position information is fed automatically to the ship's fire control centre. NEW DIVING GEAR The navy has recently taken delivery of a new type breathing set for its clearance divers (see photo). The new equipment, manufactured in Western Germany, and known as the Drager FGT1/A. is the most modern of its type available in the world and were only purchased after an extensive series of trials. An R.A.N, diver wearing the new underwater breathing apparatus, emerges from the water at the H.M.A.S. VAMPIRE Diving School. Balmoral. N.S.W RECOMMISSIONED \
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Feb-Mar-Apr, May-June-July 1972 - Navy League of Australia

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