Produced by Brian Coe, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) THE BATTLE OF TSU-SHIMA FIRST EDITION _December 1906_ _Reprinted_ _February 1907_ _Reprinted_ _March 1907_ _Reprinted_ _July 1908_ _Reprinted_ _October 1909_ _Reprinted_ _September 1910_ _Reprinted_ _January 1912_ THE BATTLE OF TSU-SHIMA BETWEEN THE JAPANESE AND RUSSIAN FLEETS, FOUGHT ON 27TH MAY 1905 BY CAPTAIN VLADIMIR SEMENOFF (ONE OF THE SURVIVORS) TRANSLATED BY CAPTAIN A. B. LINDSAY 2ND KING EDWARD’S OWN GURKHA RIFLES WITH A PREFACE BY SIR GEORGE SYDENHAM CLARKE G.C.M.G., F.R.S. NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 1913 “Captain Semenoff’s little volume, which would well repay translation, is a remarkably graphic and luminous account of Admiral Togo’s great victory, compiled from notes taken by the author during the engagement. His account is all the more interesting as he was also on the _Cesarevitch_ when Admiral Vitoft made his unsuccessful attempt to escape from Port Arthur on 10th August 1904.... Every word of this little volume bears the impress of reality, and enables the reader to form a vivid picture of the various phases of the battle. There is a plan showing the positions of the contending fleets from 1.20 till 7 P.M.” --_Times Literary Supplement_, 17th August 1906. PREFACE The paucity of war experience since the introduction of the steam-driven armoured ship invests the battle of Tsu-shima with supreme importance. Between Trafalgar and the 27th May 1905, there had been only two fleet actions on a large scale--those of Lissa and of the Yalu--and the first was fought before the wooden vessel had disappeared and the rifled gun had become universal. The various minor engagements which occurred during this long period were either destitute of teaching, or failed to provide an adequate basis for conclusions capable of serving as guides to a rational system of tactics or to a scientific shipbuilding policy. It has, therefore, followed, in this country especially, that the evolution of the warship has been frequently capricious, indicating the absence of any clear principles, and entailing an immense total expenditure upon vessels unsuited to our national requirements, but happily not forced to demonstrate their inutility.