Battle of Port Arthur
The Battle of Port Arthur was the first battle of the Russo-Japanese war with it starting on February 8th and ended on February 9th.. The Japanese were led by Admiral Togo Heihachiro, and Vice Admiral Dewa Shigeto. The Japanese had 15 war ships. The Russians were led by Vice Admiral Oskar Victorovich Stark. The Russians had 12 war ships. The Japanese were attempting a surprise attack on the Russians but realized that the Russians were prepared for an attack. He sent 3 ships to attack Port Arthur and 2 more to attack a secondary Russian Base. The Japanese ships encountered Russian patrols which reported the Japanese. In the confusion 2 Japanese destroyers collided and fell behind the other ships.But later four other Japanese destroyers found their way to the harbor undetected. The Japanese caught the Russians off guard and led to the destruction of one Russian cruiser and 2 Russian battleships. After the destruction of the Russian ships, the Japanese left Port Arthur at 2 am. The next morning, Vice Admiral Shigeto reported that the Russians were disorganized and confused, which was not true. After that, Togo and Shigeto decided to attack immediately. Russians then began to fire at the Japanese ships so the Japanese responded which ended with Japanese retreat.The winner of the Battle was indecisive because the Russians had 150 people dead, 7 ships damaged while the Japanese had 90 dead and 4 ships damaged.