No Negotiations Are Necessary …
In the early hours of January 27, 1904, a Japanese squadron led by Admiral Togo carried out a surprise attack on the Russian squadron in Port Arthur. In the morning, another squadron, led by Admiral Uriu, attacked the cruiser Varyag and the gunboat Koreyets near the Korean port of Chemulpo.
The Varyag arrived at the Korean port as the representative of the Russian state, guaranteeing that the Russian embassy in Korea could work normally. The new ship, built in the United States in 1901, had a displacement of 6,500 tons, good speed (24 knots or 44 km/h), and a crew of 570. It was armed with 12 152-mm guns, 12 75-mm guns, eight 47-mm guns, two 37-mm guns, and six torpedo tubes.
The cruiser was commanded by Captain 1st Rank Vsevolod Fyodorovich Rudnev, an officer brought up in the best traditions of the Russian Navy, whose regulations had for three centuries required it to “maintain the honor of the nation and the dignity of its flag”. On the evening of January 23, Rudnev was informed by captains of foreign ships in Chemulpo that Japan had severed diplomatic relations with Russia. The nocturnal departure of the Japanese cruiser Chioda from the anchorage proved that an attack was unavoidable.
On January 26, the Russian ambassador to Seoul allowed Rudnev to send the gunboat Koreyets to Port Arthur with the alarming news. The gunboat was attacked at the entry to the neutral roadstead by the Japanese, but the three torpedoes launched failed to hit her. The fourth torpedo attack was disrupted by the Koreyets’ captain, Captain 2nd Rank Grigory Belyayev, who tried to ram the attacking Japanese destroyer with his small ship. The destroyer had to turn away without launching the torpedo. Belyayev brought bad tidings to the port: The enemy had more than a dozen ships.
On the same day, the Japanese squadron entered the Chemulpo roadstead. The Varyag and Koreyets got ready for battle, battening down the hatches, getting ammunition from the powder magazines, and checking fire hoses. From a distance of 360 meters, the Japanese destroyers aimed their torpedo tubes at the Russian ships, where the gunners had not slept a wink all night, ready to open direct fire. Admiral Uriu did not dare to attack the Russians on the roadstead but accomplished, nonetheless, half of its mission: the Japanese transport ships landed infantry on the shore. The Russians did not interfere, because war had not yet been declared.
On the morning of January 27 (February 9), 1904, the Japanese Admiral threatened the Russians that they would be attacked at the roadstead unless they left it before noon. Also in the port were British, French, Italian and US cruisers. Rudnev decided to force his way to Port Arthur and avoid fighting at the roadstead, so as not to jeopardize the ships of neutral countries, and warned their captains of this. For the sake of historical objectivity it should be noted that the British, French and Italian captains sent a protest to the Japanese Admiral (the captain of the US Vicksburg refused to sign) demanding peace talks. Uriu received the protest but responded only after the battle was over: “No negotiations are necessary, due to the decision taken by the brave Russian captain.” In all likelihood this was a feature of Japanese military diplomacy: Attack first, negotiate later.
Chronicle of the Battle: “Up, Comrades!”
On January 27, at 9:30 a.m., the Varyag began to get up steam. Rudnev informed his officers of the commencement of hostilities. The decision was unanimous: They would try to break through, but if all else failed they would scuttle the cruiser so she would not fall into enemy hands.
At 10:45, the captain addressed the entire crew lined up on the deck, informed them of the ultimatum delivered by the Japanese, and said: “Surrender is out of question. We shall not surrender either the cruiser or ourselves, and we shall fight as long as we can, to the last drop of blood.” In keeping with tradition, the sailors were dressed in clean uniform, sober, and ready to die: It was believed that drinking before a battle was a sin equal to drinking before communion.
At 11:10, the order came to weigh anchor. Ten minutes later the Varyag moved out, with the Koreyets in her wake. The crews of the foreign warships, lined up on the decks, paid homage to the courage of the Russian sailors heading for a hopeless battle, with their brass bands playing the Russian anthem. Afterward, these crews spoke of the greatness of that moment, and admitted that it was hard for them to watch people facing certain death. According to them, picking up the gauntlet to fight a far stronger squadron was a feat few would dare to do. The Varyag was doomed for one more reason: the Koreyets’ low speed denied the Varyag effective maneuvering, while her obsolete guns had short range and were virtually useless.
Flying the St. Andrew’s cross, the two ships traversed the narrow fairway full of rocks and shallows. Maneuvering in the upcoming battle was out of question. The Japanese squadron was waiting for them at the exit to the open sea: the armored cruiser Asama, protected cruisers Naniva, Takachiho, Niitaka, Akashi and Chioda, eight destroyers and an armed advice ship.
At 11:45, after the Varyag ignored a Japanese demand to surrender, the Asama opened up. The Varyag replied from the right broadside. The Koreyets held fire. Her obsolete large-caliber guns had short reach and were silent for half of the battle. A squall of gunfire hit the Varyag, which used amour-piercing ammunition against her main enemy, the Asama, successfully enough. Russian gunners were firing from a main deck that lacked amour protection. It was there that the crew suffered its heaviest losses.
At 12:05, the Varyag’s captain ordered a right turn, to allow the guns on the left side to fire. At that time, two large-caliber Japanese rounds hit the ship. The Varyag lost control, and her captain was wounded. The Japanese intensified their fire. The Varyag was holed below the waterline, with water rushing into her boilers’ coalbunkers. Fires flared up on board; the crew did its utmost to put out the fire.
The Varyag’s crew putting all its rage into the salvoes it fired from the left side. The Asama received several direct hits. Admiral Uriu’s flagship had its stern gun turret put out of action. Having altered course, the Koreyets covered the retreat of the damaged Varyag. The battle was over at 12:45 hours, as the Russian ships approached the Chemulpo roadstead.
Return of the Heroes – Defeat Glorified in Song
The captain of the French cruiser, Victor Senosa, who went on board the Varyag, later wrote in his diary: “I shall never forget the startling sight that met me: the deck was covered with blood, with dead bodies and parts of bodies scattered all around. Nothing escaped destruction: The paintwork was charred where the incoming rounds had exploded, all the metal parts were pierced, fans were torn off, and sides and bunks were burnt.
At the place where such heroism was shown everything was ruined, broken to pieces and riddled with fragments. The remains of the captain’s bridge were hanging in a sorry state. Smoke was pouring out of all openings and holes on the stern, and the list on the left side was increasing.” The unequal battle took the cruiser out of combat: Almost half the gunners on the main deck were killed in action; several holes below the waterline denied the Varyag her usual speed.
The fate of the Varyag and the Koreyets was sealed. The captains decided against surrendering the ships. The Koreyets was blown up by her crew. At 15:30, the crew of the Varyag scuttled the ship. At 18:10, the Varyag turned onto her side, and sank a few minutes later. The French cruiser Pascal, British cruiser Talbot and Italian cruiser Elba rescued the survivors from the Russian ships. The American captain refused to be involved in the rescue operation on principle.
The Japanese suffered similar losses. The Varyag inflicted considerable damage on two cruisers (in particular the flagship Asama) and sank a destroyer. Vsevolod Rudnev reported to the tsar’s governor of the Far East, Adjutant-General Yevgeny Alexeyev: “The ships of the detachment upheld the honor of the Russian flag, exhausted all their chances of breaking through, prevented the Japanese from winning the battle, inflicted considerable damage on the enemy, and saved the rest of the team.” The Varyag’s crew sustained 122 personnel dead and wounded. The survivors came back to Russia via neutral ports, and were all awarded the St. George Cross. The first ceremonial welcome for the heroes took place in Odessa: ordinary people greeted them all the way to St. Petersburg, and on April 16 the crews of the Varyag and Koreyets marched along Nevsky Prospekt to the sound of music played by the Guards brass bands. Emperor Nicholas II entertained the heroes of Chemulpo at the Winter Palace, following a public prayer. Vsevolod Rudnev was appointed captain of the battleship Andrei Pervozvanny, then still under construction: This was the most formidable warship then in the inventory of the Russian Navy.
In 1905, the Japanese salvaged the Varyag and rehabilitated it in their Navy’s inventory as the Soya, but Russia bought her back in 1916, with the cruiser arriving under its former designation as early as November 16 in Kola Bay to join the Arctic Flotilla. In February 1917, she was sent to the UK for overhaul, but it was not completed before the end of WWI and the Varyag was sold for scrap.
Please notice that all dates are in Julian caledar.
