AAR by David Taylor.
Game of the Russo-Japanese war 1905 using Tsushima rules in 1/2400.
Russian Player : Dave Brown (Vice Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky)
Japanese Player : Gary Barr (Vice Admiral Togo Heihachiro)
Umpire : David Taylor
Organized, using models and umpired by David Taylor.
The Battle of Tsushima – 27th May 1905
Using Tsushima Rules by A & A Game Engineering (available from Tumbling Dice)
Scale 1:2400. Ships mainly Tumbling Dice with a few 3D prints from WTJ for more obscure vessels (e.g. the Orel).
The battle was played at a 1:2 model to ship ratio. (This keeps the space taken up by the ships on the table in closer proportion to the ground scale as per Paul Hague’s Sea Battles in Miniature). Ground scale 10 cm: 1 nautical mile.
For those who don’t know, at the start of 1904, Japan declared war on Russia over disagreements on zones of influence in China. The Russian Pacific squadron was blockaded by the Japanese in Port Arthur (leased by the Russians from China, on the western side of the Korean peninsula) having failed to break out and get to Vladivostok (in Russia on the eastern side of the Korean peninsula).
To relieve the siege, the Russian’s dispatched the best elements of their Baltic fleet to Port Arthur, however, its departure is delayed and, after it reaches Madagascar (not without incident*), Port Arthur falls. Therefore, the Kremlin orders the Russian Fleet, now renamed the Pacific Fleet, to wait at Madagascar for another squadron of Russian ships, made up of those which had been deemed too outdated and slow to go with the original fleet.
The forces eventually combine and sail on towards Vladivostok past the Japanese islands where the enemy await them for one of the most decisive sea battles of the twentieth century.
The fleets at 1:30 pm when the main battle lines sight each other. In the foreground, the Japanese Battlefleet, the Russian fleet dead ahead and the shadowing Japanese light forces off their port bow.
The Japanese battlefleet. The 4th Division of light cruisers in the foreground. The 1st Division of battleships in the middle and the 2nd Division of armoured cruisers on the starboard side.
The Japanese light forces. Two divisions of light cruisers and 4 divisions of destroyers.
The Japanese objective was to stop the Russians getting through towards Vladivostok to the north. The mainland of Japan lies to the east while the island of Tsushima lies to the west.
The Russian fleet with the first Division of newest (Borodino class) battleships in the fore, with, on the port side, the battle line of the 2nd Division of Battleships, the older 3rd Division of turret ships and coastal battleships and the 4th division of armoured cruisers. Destroyers guard the starboard side and light cruisers and auxiliary ships bring up the rear with the Orel hospital ship at the back.
The Russian’s objective was to exit the north end of the table with at least half of their capital ships and one third of their cruisers/destroyers.
There were certain minor objectives for both sides as well.
The Action
Gary started by angling his armoured cruisers to the east and his battleships to the west to cross on either side of the Russians. His shadowing cruisers turned towards the enemy, closing the range. The Russians countered by moving slightly to the west, but focusing their fire on the Japanese armoured cruisers and light cruisers.
Despite their inferior crews, the Russian shooting was incredibly accurate (DB fired 8 dice from his 1st Division needing 10s to hit on d10s and scored 5 hits). This was to be the way things went for the majority of the game.
Despite his superior crews, Gary couldn’t seem to hit the proverbial barn door.
The fleets engage. Gary crosses the T of the Russian 1st Division, as his armoured cruisers move towards the lighter Russian forces and auxiliaries. His two light cruiser divisions move in from the west, evading to try and avoid the Russian fire. The Japanese destroyers hold back, having been ordered not to engage until the enemy is slowed and taking losses.
The Russian armoured cruisers in the distance fancied their chances against the Japanese light cruisers until a lucky shot hit the magazine of the almost undamaged Oleg, which suffered a catastrophic explosion and sunk below the waves. Despite suffering (the Idzumo had suffered significant hull damage, lost her rear main turret and a couple of secondaries, so had broken off; the Yakumo had taken damage to her engine and been brought to a halt until she could repair it) the remaining Japanese armoured cruiser had got amongst the lighter ships and, with help from the light cruisers coming from the other side, had dispatched the Russian light forces (the light cruiser Vladimir Monomach had also suffered a catastrophic explosion, although she was almost a wreck when this happened) , forcing the surrender of the Orel (although, being Japanese, Gary had wanted to sink it).
The Russian 2nd Division had been engaged closely by the superior Japanese 1st Division and almost destroyed, however, they had done some significant hull damage to the battleship Fuji in return. The Russian 3rd division’s slower ships had suffered with a torpedo almost sinking the Imperator Nikolai I.
The closing stages. In the foreground, the Russian armoured cruiser Aurora makes a break for it (this was one of the minor conditions for David – not to lose the Aurora as she currently sits in harbour at St. Petersburg as a floating museum). In the middle, the Japanese 1st Division and destroyers circle the crippled Russian 2nd Division. Unfortunately, one of the Japanese destroyers had collided with the Mikasa, the Japanese flagship, and gone to the bottom with her hull stove in. The Mikasa didn’t notice. On the top right, the Russian 1st Division heads north to escape, followed by two Russian destroyers. The Japanese 4th (light cruiser) division tries to head them off, but the Tsushima is holed, floods and capsizes, leaving the Naniwa to head for home rather than face two battleships alone.
In the right middle, at an angle, is the Russian 3rd division of older ships. Currently slowed to a crawl by damage. On the right, the Japanese light cruisers and armoured cruisers circle the Russian auxiliaries as the Vladimir Monomach (the three masted ship), the last of the Russian light cruisers, tries to escape north. Next turn she will go under.
We had to call time, however, it was considered that the two Borodino class battleships would have escaped with nothing to stop them. The Aurora would also have likely escaped, along with the two remaining Russian destroyers. However, the rest of the battle fleet would have been lost, with the Japanese 1st Division capable of dispatching the remains of the Russian 2nd Division and the Japanese destroyers capable of dealing with the crippled, slow moving 3rd Division.
It was a great game, with David doing better than the Russians did historically, a result of his excellent gunfire, however, overall it was a minor victory for Gary as the Russians would have been unable to meet their victory conditions.
Gary’s minor condition was not to lose the Kasuga, the third ship in his 1st Division. A junior officer on board was Isoruku Yamamoto. Who would have planned Pearl Harbour if he had gone down?
*On 21st October 1904, Russian ships thought they were being attacked by Japanese torpedo boats while passing through the North Sea and so they opened fire. In the darkness, Russian ships started firing on each other. The Russians had just engaged the Hull fishing fleet. Russian gunnery was atrocious and when the firing stopped, a number of Russian ships had been hit by friendly fire, with one fishing boat sunk and four more damaged, with a number of casualties on both sides. The Dogger Bank incident nearly brought Britain and Russia to war.
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Photos curtesy of David Taylor.
