Shinano Maru (1904) - Battle of Tsushima

Battle of Tsushima

With the start of the Russo-Japanese War in February 1904, Shinano Maru was one of the first ships requisitioned by the Imperial Japanese Army for use as a troopship and military transport to convey troops and supplies to Korea and Manchuria. In March 1905, the Shinano was armed and converted into an auxiliary cruiser at Kure Naval Arsenal, mounting 2 x 6 inch guns (one fore and one aft), and was commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy under the command of Captain Morikawa). Shortly before the Battle of Tsushima she was assigned to the Auxiliary Squadron of the Combined Fleet along with six other armed merchantmen and three torpedo boat tenders assigned to patrols of the Tsushima Strait to search for the Russian Baltic Fleet, which had been dispatched around the world to relieve the Japanese blockade of Port Arthur.

On the night of May 26–27 Shinano Maru, America Maru, Sado Maru and Manshu Maru were deployed as a lookout screen in the strait between Gotō Islands and Jeju-do. At 2:45 Shinano sighted a suspicious ship, but the rising moon prevented proper identification. Shinano steamed ahead and properly sighted the opponent at 4:30. It was an unarmed, apparently hospital ship, communicating signals to other enemy ships, invisible in the morning haze. It turned out to be the Russian hospital transport Orel. The rest of the Russian fleet had already sailed past Orel, undetected by the Japanese. Morikawa settled to search and seize Orel and closed in, only to notice half a dozen other Russian ships nearby. He fled the scene and broadcast the report of the sighting on the wireless. However, grid coordinates reported by Shinano were incorrect by 10 to 20 miles, owing either to Morikawa's errors in dead reckoning or to his misunderstanding of Orel's position in the Russian order of battle. The Japanese Third Division hurried to the grid square reported by Morikawa, but could not find the trace of the enemy.

At 6:05 Shinano Maru reestablished visual contact with the Russians, and continued shadowing it at four to five miles distance. Russian officers advised admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky to interfere but Rozhestvensky refused, insisting on continuing his course in strict radio silence. At 6:40 Shinano was relieved by Izumi. Confusion caused by Morikawa's first report was resolved, and now the Combined Fleet had precise information on the Russian advance. This intelligence ultimately led to the decisive Battle of Tsushima.

In the aftermath of the battle Shinano Maru and Dainan Maru located the sinking Sissoi Veliky and forced the captain to surrender it. Shinano Maru took the Russian survivors to captivity in Sasebo.