Sortie
The warships of the Imperial Russian Navy (IRN) formed in a line abreast at intervals of four nautical miles (7 km) and headed southward at 14 knots (26 km/h), in hourly expectation of sighting the Port Arthur Squadron.
However, the fleet had not been sighted by the following morning. As the Russian squadron approached Busan, Admiral Jessen advised his captains that he had no intention of attempting to pass Tsushima Straits, and ordered the squadron back to Vladivostok. It was a fateful decision.
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was made up of more modern armored cruisers; the Izumo, Azuma, Tokiwa, Iwate, and two protected cruisers Naniwa and Takachiho which were under the command of Vice Admiral Hikonojo Kamimura who had just recently passed very close to the Russian squadron in the dark on opposite courses but neither was aware of the other.
Ever since 01:30 of 14 August 1904, Vice Admiral Kamimura had been heading back from his night patrol area on a course that took him directly to the Russian squadron. When Admiral Yessen started to turn back to Vladivostock, he sighted the four IJN armored cruisers.
The situation was ideal for the Japanese. It was dawn on a fine summer day, and the enemy was as far from Vladivostok as it was possible to be in the Sea of Japan, with the IJN between themselves and their distant base.
Read more about this topic: Battle Off Ulsan
Famous quotes containing the word sortie:
“It is not enough that our life is an easy one. We must live on the stretch, retiring to our rest like soldiers on the eve of a battle, looking forward to the strenuous sortie of the morrow.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)