The Third Russo-Japanese War

[desdinova]

Since other people are posting anecdotes and stories about their experiences, I thought I'd join in. I've been keeping a log of things that happen during games in order to analyze what's working and what isn't, but didn't really consider doing an AAR or anything, but I wrote it up for my own amusement and decided a couple days later to post it. This war took place at the end of my longest game yet, starting as Japan with 80% tech rate. I usually stop playing at or shortly after 1925, so this was my first late-game war. Anyway:

The Third Russo-Japanese War, November 1934-August 1936



Relations between Japan and the Russian Empire never truly stabilized after the first and second Russo-Japanese wars of 1915 and 1917; the loss of Sakhalin and then Port Arthur were bitter blows to the Russian nationalist ego. While Japan wrestled with France and Germany for control of Southeast Asia, the Russians began an extensive rearmament program, hoping to one day avenge their past defeats and reassert themselves as masters of the pacific. The Japanese annexation of Northern Korea in 1932 further escalated tensions, with revanchist elements in the Russian Imperial administration openly calling for war. By 1933, Russia had 23 capital ships in service, the Japanese, only 15, and had twice as many new dreadnoughts under construction.



But the announcement that year of a Japanese-British alliance ruled out direct action. The Russians turned to subterfuge, funneling support and materiel to terrorist elements throughout Manchukuo, Korea, and Japanese Indochina. Then, in October 1934, a Russian-backed anarchist faction detonated a bomb at an official function in Seoul, killing or wounding several Japanese dignitaries. As evidence of Russian involvement was uncovered, Japan immediately declared war. British diplomats would try, futilely, to negotiate a peace settlement, before the British government decided to honor its alliance and declare war on Russia. The British delay allowed the bulk of the Russian Atlantic fleet to slip through the English channel. Knowing they would be doomed against the full force of the Royal Navy, they chose to take their chances in the Paciifc, where their forces would be ostensibly superior.

[desdinova]

Imperial Japanese Navy Order of Battle, November 1934 (excluding destroyers, patrol vessels, submarines and auxiliaries)


Kawachi-class battleship (1915). Built under an international arms limitation treaty that limited capital ships to 12" main armament and 20,000 tons, although Kawachi exceeded that figure at full load. Veteran of the decisive Battle of the Yellow Sea against the Russians in 1917. Modernized 1930, receiving new boilers and having her main armament of 12" guns in triple turrets replaced with dual-turreted 14" guns. Original configuration pictured. Complement: 635.


Ise-class battleship. Ships in class: Ise (1917) and Hyuga (1916). 1931 modernization pictured. First Japanese post-treaty superdreadnought. Ise and Hyuga also fought at the Battle of the Yellow Sea in 1917. Built in the United States. Complement: 832.


Settsu-class battleship (1920). Ships in class: Settsu, Nagato, Sagami. Built in Great Britain. First Japanese 16"-gunned and last coal-fired capital ship, converted to oil-firing during 1931 modernization. Complement: 704.


Fuso-class battleship (1932). Japan's first indigenous designed-and-built battleship since the Kawachi-class of 1915, and the first true Japanese fast battleship. A slight update to the design became the nearly-identical Shikishima-class, with Shikishima, Suwo, and Iki entering service in late 1936, too late to see combat. Complement: 601.


Ikoma-class battlecruiser (1913). Ships in class: Ikoma, Haruna. Two more Ikoma-class battlecruisers, Kongo and Kurama, were built but both were lost in the second Russo-Japanese war in 1917. Ikoma and Haruna were modernized in 1932 with new boilers and their original 12" armament replaced with American-made 16" guns. Complement: 710.


Mimasaka-class battlecruiser (1918). Ships in class: Mimasaka, Mishima. Built in USA. 1930 modernization pictured. Complement: 897.


Kirishima-class battlecruiser (1923). Ships in class: Kirishima, Kurama. Modernized 1933. Complement: 737.


Katsuragi-class battlecruiser (1926). Ships in class: Katsuragi, Kongo. Post-war refit pictured. Complement: 725.


Asama-class heavy cruiser (1926). Japan's first modern heavy cruiser. While other nations began building large, relatively slow, and heavily armed 10"-gunned cruisers, the Japanese saw these ships as too big and too vulnerable, as all potential rivals maintained large battlecruiser forces. The Japanese wanted an inexpensive ship that could serve as a fleet scout and escort, as well as protect Japan's sea lanes from marauding enemy surface raiders. Asama failed to reach her design speed during sea trails, so only two ships were completed. Ships in class: Asama, Izumo. 1934 refit pictured. Complement: 573.

Tokiwa-class heavy cruiser (1929). An improvement to the Asama-class, redesigned to reach 30 knots. Mounting a heavy torpedo armament, reflecting its intended role as a fleet scout and escort. Ships in class: Tokiwa, Nisshin, Kako, Yakumo, Iwate. Complement: 613.


Yoshino-class light cruiser (1915). Japan's first modern light cruiser. As the cruiser fleet was somewhat neglected during the inter-war years in favor of capital ship construction, the Yoshino-class was modernized in 1925 with new boilers and their original 6" armament replaced with superfiring 5" guns. Ships in class: Yoshino, Takasago, Niitaka, Kasagi, Otowa, Tone. Four others had been built, but Tsushima and Akashi were lost in the first Russo-Japanese war of 1915 to mines, and Chitose and Yahagi were sunk in battle with the German fleet in the late 1920s. Complement: 367.


Naniwa-class light cruiser (1927). Ships in class: Naniwa, Takachiho, Izumi, Akitsushima. Complement: 507.


Unebi-class light cruiser (1934). Based on the design of the Naniwa-class. Ships in class: Unebi, Suma, Tsushima, Akashi, Chitose, Chikuma. Complement: 533.

[desdinova]

Russian Navy Order of Battle, November 1934 (excluding destroyers, patrol vessels, submarines and auxiliaries)


The Knyaz Suvorov (1912) was the last survivor of the Georgi Pobedonosets-class. Designed and built while an international treaty limited new battleships to 20,000 tons and 12" main armament, two ships of the class, Andrei Pervozvanny and Mikhail Kutuzov were sunk by the Japanese at the Battle of the Yellow Sea in 1917. The remaining ships were scrapped in the late 1920s to free up funds for Russia's modern dreadnought program.


The Dvenadtsat Apostolov (1919) class ships were Russia's first post-treaty superdreadnoughts, an answer to the Japanese Ise-class. Ships in class: Dvenadtsat Apostolov, Imperator Pavel I, Imperator Nikolai I.


Gangut-class battleship (1922). Ships in class: Gangut, Tri Svyatitelya, Retvizan.


The Pervenets (1929) was the flagship of the Russian fleet and the largest warship in the world at her commissioning, although finally exceeded in 1936 by the 48,000 ton British Indomitable-class battlecruiser. Due to budget concerns, only a single ship was built.


Fokshani-class battlecruiser (1915). At least Eight Fokshani-class battlecruisers were built by the Russians from 1915 to 1919, with five of these sunk in the 1917 war with Japan. By 1934, only Sinop and Ochakov were still in service.


Izmail-class battlecruiser (1921). The first Russian superdreadnought battlecruiser, of which only one was constructed.


Evstafi-class battlecruiser (1922). Another unique Russian design.


Kinburn-class battlecruiser (1925). Ships in class: Kinburn, Rymnik.


Tsesarevich-class battlecruiser (1925). Only one ship built.


Chesma-class battlecruiser (1926). Ships in class: Chesma, Arhipelag, Hotin.


Grengam-class battlecruiser (1930). Ships in class: Grengam, Fidonisi.


Imperator Aleksandr I-class battlecruiser (1931). Ships in class: Imperator Aleksandr I, Tendra.


Afon-class battlecruiser (1934). Only one constructed.

Another battlecruiser, the 39,000-ton Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya, would enter service in 1935 but never left port due to the British blockade.


Varyag-class heavy cruiser (1933). Ships in class: Varyag, Bayan, Pamyat Azova.


Flora-class light cruiser (1925). Ships in class: Flora,  Nadezhda, Diana, Svetlana.


Pamyat Merkuriya-class light cruiser (1931). Ships in class: Pamyat Merkuriya, Velikii Knyaz Konstantin, Vladimir.

Additionally, The Boyarin-class of light cruiser was begun during the war, although only one ship, Boyarin, would be commissioned before the war's end. Boyarin was lost in July 1936, torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.

[desdinova]

1/23/1935 - Battle of Phusan
The first action of the war is fought when Japanese battlecruisers Kurama, Kirishima, and Ikoma are engaged by Russian battlecruisers Afon, Rymnik, and Chesma. The Russians have the tonnage advantage, with the Afon displacing 43,000 tons and armed with four double 15" turrets, and the 39,000+ ton Rymnik and Chesma armed with 10 14" guns each. The Kirishima and Kurama are only 34,000 tons, and the Ikoma 22,000. The Japanese have a range advantage in the Ikoma, which has just been modernized and her main armament replaced with 16" guns.

The Japanese maneuver to keep the range open, focusing most of their fire on the Rymnik, which falls out of formation, her rudder jammed. The heavy cruisers Tokiwa, Yakumo, and Nisshin close in to harrass the enemy battlecruisers, scoring over a hundred hits on the Afon and Rymnik, before being forced to withdraw when the Russians turn their 14" guns on them. Tokiwa is blasted by seven heavy shells, but limps back to port, badly flooded. Afon is knocked out of the fight, having lost three of her four 15" turrets, and her superstructure shredded by 6" fire from the Japanese cruisers. The loss of the Russians' biggest guns turns the tide in favor of the Japanese, and they press the advantage, disabling and sinking the Rymnik. With Kurama badly damaged, struck by 23 heavy shells, the Japanese are forced to return to port, as nightfall covers the Russian retreat. Chesma survives, badly damaged, but Afon sinks some five hours after the battle when a bulkead gives way.

[desdinova]

2/8/1935 - Battle of Vladivostok
Cruisers Kako, Nisshin, and Yakumo, raiding enemy shipping on a clear night outside Vladivostok, encounter the heavy cruisers Pamyat Azova and Bayan. In a close-range night battle, the range and penetration of the Russians' 10" guns are no advantage, and both ships succumb to the volume of fire from the Japanese 6" guns. Both heavy cruisers are sunk, along with the destroyers Lovki and Zharki. Kako and light cruiser Naniwa are badly damaged.

4/7/1935
Japanese cruiser Naniwa is sunk by torpedo, Tokiwa and Iwate are badly damaged after the three ships engage a Russian destroyer squadron and all three are hit by a spread of torpedoes launched at maximum range. Russian destroyers Ostri and Bditelni sunk.

9/9/1935
Nisshin, Tokiwa, and Izumo sink the light cruiser Velikii Knyaz Konstantin.

10/7/1935
Akitsushima and Takachiho sink the destroyers Trevozhni and Likhoi.

11/13/1935 - Battle of Formosa
Haruna, escorted by heavy cruisers Iwate and Yakumo, runs into five Russian battlecruisers and the battleship Pervenets. The Russians are lurking in ambush off Formosa during a severe storm, with visibility of only about 1000 yards. Iwate is lost immediately to a magazine explosion. Haruna's conning tower is destroyed by a Russian shell, and unable to maneuver, she runs directly into the guns of the Russian fleet and is sunk. Light cruiser Chikuma is torpedoed by a Russian destroyer and sunk. Yakumo escapes but founders in heavy seas, only a few miles from port. The only Russian loss is the battlecruiser Izmail, although the Grengam, Arhipelag, and Pervenets are badly damaged by Japanese torpedoes. It is the bloodiest day in the history of the Imperial Japanese Navy, despite being a strategic victory – Japan has lost two heavy cruisers and an elderly battlecruiser, but the Russians have lost a modern superdreadnought with three more put out of action for months, including their flagship, who survives despite being struck by three torpedoes.

December 1935
Russian light cruiser Vladimir and destroyer HMS Swale sunk in battle, the only casualties of the war in European waters.

[desdinova]

12/20/1935 - Battle of Yellow Sea
The Japanese battleships Fuso, Settsu, Sagami, and Nagato are returning to Port Arthur. A scouting division is several miles ahead of the main force, consisting of the battlecruisers Mishima, Kurama, Kirishima, and Mimasaka.The weather is terrible, with pounding rain and gale-force winds limiting visibility to less than 2000 meters. At 0250 zulu time, 1150 local time, the Japanese battlecruiser force runs head-on into a Russian battlecruiser group consisting of the Hotin, Imperator Aleksandr I, Tsesarevich, Sinop, Kinburn, Chesma, and Tendra. Imperator Aleksandr I is immediately torpedoed twice by destroyer Hayate, and put out of the fight. Less than a thousand yards away, surrounded by enemy battlecruisers and their escorts, the Japanese attempt to charge right through the Russian line. Mimasaka, with no room to maneuver, rams Kinburn. Hotin is blasted apart by Mishima, her 9.5" belt armour like so much paper against Japanese high-velocity 14" guns. After twenty minutes of withering fire she begins to roll over, and sinks within three minutes. The Japanese shift their fire to the crippled Kinburn as the other Russian battlecruisers disengage. Kinburn hits Mishima with a torpedo as she passes, but only a minute later a 14" shell from Kirishima fired from less than 400 yards penetrates Kinburn’s midships turret and the 41,000-ton superdreadnought disappears in a tremendous fireball.

Mishima is badly hurt by the torpedo, and, unable to control the flooding, races back to Port Arthur. She makes it, just. Meanwhile, Mimasaka has lost electric power after ramming Kinburn, been showered with flaming debris, and is being battered by the high seas. Kurama has lost visual contact with the division and separated herself from the group. The Japanese battleships, racing to assist, encounter the vanguard of the Russian battleship fleet. The lead ship, Knyaz Suvorov, is an elderly dreadnought of only 22,000 tons, and the 16" guns of the Japanese reduce her to burning wreck in less than ten minutes. Kurama's captain makes the fatal mistake of running south, perhaps to link up with the battleship force, for the rain clears at 0500 leaving Kurama under the guns of the entire Russian battlegroup. Within minutes, five battleships turn their guns on her. The Japanese battleships are less than 10000 yards away but are unable to come to her rescue. In her dying moments, Kurama hits the battleship Retvizan with a salvo that disables the Russian's electrical power. Moments later, Retvizan is fatally torpedoed by Japanese cruisers.

The approaching Japanese battleships scatter the Russian fleet momentarily, but they reform, and by 0540 the fight briefly becomes an old-fashioned pitched battle as both sides line up and exchange broadsides at about 10,000 yards distance. The Russians have four battleships left, the Tri Svyatitelya, Gangut, Imperator Pavel I, and Dvenadtsat Apostolov. The numbers are even, but the Japanese battleships have just been modernized and are armed with the latest American 16" guns. The Russians have more guns on their side, but their 13" guns, even at such short range, can't count on penetrating the 13.5-14" belt armour of the Japanese dreadnoughts, while the Russians might as well have no armour at all. Within fifteen minutes, the Tri Svyatitelya is knocked out of the line, mortally wounded. Flagship Settsu loses her fore- and aft-most turrets to enemy fire, but stays in the fight with her B and X turrets. She will be the only seriously-damaged Japanese battleship. Dvenadtsat Apostolov is next to fall out, badly holed by a salvo from Fuso. Imperator Pavel I is then hit by a shell that jams her rudder to port, sending her spinning towards the Japanese fleet. She is hit by two dozen 16" shells in quick succession at point-blank range, and is already beginning to capsize when her magazines go up. Gangut, alone before the enemy’s guns, turns and runs.

At this time, the damaged Mishima and Mimasaka have withdrawn towards Port Arthur, and Kurama has been sunk. Kirishima, finding herself alone, turns southwest to try to find the rest of the Japanese fleet. She ends up face-to-face with the retreating Dvenadtsat Apostolov and Gangut, the dying Tri Svyatitelya, and the battlecruisers Sinop and Tsesarevich, who are attempting to reinforce the beleaguered Russian battleships. Fired upon by five capital ships, she is hit several times, including a 13" shell from Apostolov that destroys her B turret. She is probably saved by the cruisers Asama, Izumo, and Nisshin, who cross the Russian battlecruisers' T, unleashing a hail of 6" shells and torpedoes. The torpedos miss, but the Russian battlecruisers are forced to turn away.

It is now 0700. The battlecruisers have moved away from the cruisers to chase Kirishima, which is now running North. The battlecruisers are out of sight from the Japanese battleships, who are pursuing the crippled Russian battleships. Light cruisers Akitsushima and Tsushima pull alongside the Russian battlecruisers, and although their torpedoes miss, they inflict heavy damage on the leader, Tsesarevich, setting her superstructure on fire with rapid fire from their 6" guns. Kirishima lands a hit on Tsesarevich which disables electric power, leaving her dead in the water and ending the chase just as the Japanese battleships come into view. Tri Svyatitelya begins to capsize, and the Japanese battleships shift their fire onto the Apostolov. With Apostolov's guns silenced, Kirishima forms up behind the line of battleships and they pursue Gangut and Sinop. The disabled Tsesarevich is an easy target for Japanese destroyers, hit with four torpedoes, and goes down.

After a short chase, Gangut is a smoldering wreck. Twilight falls; Sinop is putting distance between herself and the Japanese fleet and about to pass out of sight when the light cruiser Kasagi makes a close pass, raking her superstructure with her 5" guns. Sinop loses electrical power and is hit minutes later with a torpedo from destroyer Mikazuki. The Japanese battleships catch up with her, and a few 16" shells seal her fate. With rough seas and failing light, the Japanese return to Port Arthur. The Japanese have lost a battlecruiser, Kurama, and two destroyers, Minazuki and Hayate, with two more battlecruisers damaged and two light cruisers severely damaged. The Russians have lost six dreadnoughts and four battlecruisers, with a fifth, Imperator Aleksandr I, severely damaged. Russian destroyers Tochni and Metki were also sunk.

The battle leaves the Pervenets as the last surviving Russian battleship, but she too is out of action after being torpedoed a month earlier. With 12 14" guns and excellent protection, the 47,600-ton superdreadnought might have made a real difference for the Russians. While the Russians still possess 9 battlecruisers, at least four are under repair from the action of the last two months, and the threat of the Russian surface fleet has largely evaporated.

[desdinova]

3/27/1936 -Battle of Northern Marianas
Katsuragi and Kongo chase down and sink Russian battlecruiser Ochakov and destroyer Tverdi, defeating an abortive Russian invasion of the Northern Marianas islands.

8/16/1936
Russian battlecruiser Imperator Aleksandr I sunk after she is intercepted by the battlecruisers Mimasaka and Mishima. Light cruiser Suma badly damaged.

With Japanese armies advancing in Kamchatka and what remains of the Russian surface fleet trapped in port under the guns of the blockading Japanese and British fleets, Russia surrenders, ceding the Kamchatka peninsula to Japan.

Commerce raiding
Japan and Great Britain did not employ commerce raiders, putting all available ships towards enforcing the naval blockade. Russian commerce raiders fared poorly, with the light cruisers Diana and Svetlana being sunk by Unebi and Suma, respectively. Russia possessed far too few cruisers for commerce raiding to be viable. Several Russian armed merchantmen were used as raiders and sunk over the course of the war, but most were used for anti-submarine duty.

Submarine & mine warfare
The third Russo-Japanese war was the first war in which both sides maintained large submarine fleets throughout the conflict. Over the course of the war, Japanese submarines sank 101 merchant ships, with 55 submarines lost. The Russians claimed 128 merchant ships sunk, with 73 submarines lost. The battleship Imperator Nikolai I, light cruiser Boyarin, and the destroyer Bodri were all lost to Japanese submarines, while Russian subs sank the destroyers Uzuki, Shigure, Arashio, Nokaze, and Shiokaze. Both sides employed Q-ships in large numbers, although with limited success and a high attrition rate in Japanese service, probably due to poor training as ships were rushed into duty.

The Russians employed naval mines more effectively than the Japanese, with all available minesweepers on patrol duty to protect Japan's vital overseas trade from being choked off by the Russian submarine threat. The destroyer Asagiri and the light cruisers Unebi, Yoshino, and Tone were all sunk by Russian mines. Striking a mine in early 1936 put battleship Fuso out of action for the remainder of the war.

[desdinova]

Summary of casualties

Japan:
BC Haruna
BC Kurama
CA Yakumo
CA Iwate
CL Naniwa
CL Chikuma
CL Tone
CL Unebi
CL Yoshino
DD Asagiri
DD Minazuki
DD Hayate
DD Uzuki
DD Shigure
DD Arashio
DD Nokaze
DD Shiokaze

Great Britain
DD Swale

Russia:
BB Knyaz Suvorov
BB Dvenadtsat Apostolov
BB Imperator Pavel I
BB Gangut
BB Tri Svyatitelya
BB Retvizan
BB Imperator Nikolai I
BC Rymnik
BC Afon
BC Kinburn
BC Hotin
BC Sinop
BC Tsesarevich
BC Ochakov
BC Imperator Aleksandr I
CA Pamyat Azova
CA Bayan
CL Velikii Knyaz Konstantin
CL Vladimir
CL Diana
CL Svetlana
CL Boyarin
DD Lovki
DD Zharki
DD Ostri
DD Bditelni
DD Trevozhni
DD Likhoi
DD Tochni
DD Metki
DD Tverdi
DD Bodri

[director]

Great reading - thank you for sharing!

[fightingflattops]

"The Japanese maneuver to keep the range open, focusing most of their fire on the Rymnik, which falls out of formation, her rudder jammed. "
Which control mode did you use?

After Italy, Japan is the best to play!

[desdinova]

Dec 15, 2016 10:29:05 GMT -6 fightingflattops said:

"The Japanese maneuver to keep the range open, focusing most of their fire on the Rymnik, which falls out of formation, her rudder jammed. "
Which control mode did you use?

After Italy, Japan is the best to play!

I always play on Rear Admiral mode

[davedave]

Awesome stuff mate. Always nice to come out on top in a decisive fleet action!

Made me nostalgic for some of the IJN games I've had—rebuilding old BB's is a necessity post-1920ish, isn't it? I always try to get at least 3 triple turrets on 1910's Japanese designs for later up-gunning, I can see you must've followed the same path.

[garrisonchisholm]

EXCELLENT post!!!! This is exactly the kind of thing I love. I wish I could replicate your work. I encourage you to consider more!