Naval battle at Ulsan
The Russian armored cruiser Rurik is sunk.
Depiction on a contemporary propaganda postcard
| date | August 14, 1904 |
|---|---|
| place | Sea of Japan , off Ulsan , Korea |
| output | Japanese victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 3 armored cruisers | 4 armored cruisers 2 protected cruisers |
| losses | |
|
One armored cruiser sunk, two more badly damaged |
Slight damage to several cruisers |
Port Arthur (Sea Battle) - Chemulpo - Yalu - Nanshan - Te-li-ssu - Hitachi-Maru Incident - Motien Pass - Tashihchiao - Hsimucheng - Port Arthur (Siege) - Yellow Sea - Ulsan - Korsakov - Liaoyang - Shaho - Sandepu - Mukden - Tsushima - Sakhalin
The sea battle at Ulsan ( Japanese 蔚山 沖 海 戦 , Urusan-oki kaisen ; English Battle off Ulsan ) on August 1st jul. / August 14, 1904 greg. , also known as the Sea Battle of Japan , was a battle, four days after the Russian defeat in the Sea Battle of the Yellow Sea , between two armored cruiser squadrons in the Russo-Japanese War , which also ended in a Japanese victory.
prehistory
After the Russian cruiser squadron stationed in Vladivostok , consisting of the armored cruisers Rossija (1896), Gromoboi (1899) and the outdated Rurik (1892) as well as the protected cruiser Bogatyr (1901), attacked Japanese ships several times in the first months of the war and sank two troop transports in June had the Japanese naval Command stationed four armored cruisers and four protected cruisers under Vice Admiral Kamimura Hikonojō in the Korea Strait , to prevent further activities.
The Russian ships lying in Vladivostok were supposed to unite with the First Pacific Squadron coming from Port Arthur when it attempted to break out, but were not ready to march when the order to do so arrived on August 11th, as a telegram from Port Arthur had received six days earlier Admiral Withoft had announced his intention to remain in Port Arthur, and Withoft only afterwards and on the direct orders of the Tsar had decided to attempt a breakout.
Although it was hardly possible to help Withoft with the critical breakthrough through Tsushima Street due to the elapsed time , the Russian leadership assumed that the breakthrough would be achieved, and Rear Admiral Karl Jessen on the armored cruiser Rossija was commissioned to lead the three armored cruisers Rossija , Gromoboi and Rurik to the rendezvous with Withöft in the Sea of Japan. When on the morning of August 14th, after more than 24 hours of driving and almost at the height of Pusan , there was still no sign of Withoft's fleet to be seen, Jessen ordered the march back to Vladivostok.
During the night, Vice Admiral Kamimura with the four modern armored cruisers Izumo , Azuma , Tokiwa and Iwate and the two protected cruisers Naniwa and Takachiho passed the Russian unit in the opposite direction without either side noticing. Since 1:30 a.m. on August 14, Kamimura had been marching back from his nightly patrol and was now heading straight for the Russian cruisers. Jessen had barely set course for Vladivostok when he saw the four Japanese armored cruisers in front of him. His situation was immensely bad: he was far from his base; superior enemy forces blocked his way there; it was early morning on a clear summer day; and he had the rising sun in his eyes.
The battle
At 5:20 a.m. on August 14, 1904, the opponents had come within 8 km of each other and opened fire. The Rurik , the last and weakest ship in the Russian formation, was shot at by the last two ships in the Japanese formation. The Rurik , badly hit, soon lost almost all of her officers and fell back, but continued to offer desperate resistance. The other two Russian ships, also under heavy fire, turned and made a U-turn so that the Rurik could cut back into the keel line on the opposite course. For reasons unknown, Kamimura, whose cruisers had suffered significantly less damage in this first phase of the fight, kept his course during the Russian U-turn, and his delayed change of course after a few minutes initially increased the distance between the opponents even further.
The Rurik was after a grenade strike on its rudder system no longer capable of Rossiya and Russian cruiser Gromoboi to follow in the order of battle. Although their position was hopeless, Jessen still tried to save them by continuing to maneuver close to them with constant changes of course and trying to attract enemy fire. His two remaining ships received increasingly heavy hits. At around 8:30 a.m., when the situation on the Rurik had become hopeless, it was sunk by its crew themselves. According to Russian reports, this was not done on Jessen's orders, but on that of Lieutenant Ivanov, the only survivor and 13th in the ranking of the Rurik's seafaring officers . Since Jessen saw no way to save the survivors, he turned and headed for Vladivostok.
Kamimura chased the Russian cruisers and scored more hits, but the Iwate and Azuma were also badly hit. Despite his clear superiority and the obviously badly battered opponents, Admiral Kamimura broke off the chase at 11:15 a.m., possibly due to a lack of ammunition, and set course back to Pusan.
literature
- Peter Brook: Armored Cruiser versus Armored Cruiser, Ulsan, August 14, 1904. In: Antony Preston: Warship 2000-2001. Conway's Maritime Press, London 2000, ISBN 0-85177-791-0 .
- Julian S. Corbett: Maritime Operations in The Russo-Japanese War. 1904-1905. 2 volumes. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD et al. 1994, ISBN 1-5575-0129-7 .
- Rotem Kowner : Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War (= Historical Dictionaries of Wars, Revolution, and Civil Unrest 29). Scarecrow Press, Lanham MD et al. 2006, ISBN 0-8108-4927-5 .
- Рафаил Михайлович Мельников: "Рюрик" был первым. Судостроение, Ленинград 1989, ISBN 5-7355-0002-3 .
- Charles à Court Repington : The War in the Far East, 1904-1905. J. Murray, London 1905.
- Francis R. Sedgwick: The Russo-Japanese War (= Special Campaign Series 10). Sonnenschein ao, London ao 1909.
- Denis Warner, Peggy Warner: The Tide at Sunrise. A History of the Russo-Japanese War. 1904-1905. Charterhouse, New York NY 1974, ISBN 0-88327-031-5 .