Battle off Ulsan, Korea – Russo-Japanese War

[paulr]

Battle off Ulsan, Korea – Russo-Japanese War

0520, 14 August 1904

Last Saturday the Wellington Warlords, our semi-local wargames club, held an open day. Pierre the Shy suggested we should attend and play the Battle off Ulsan. I was happy to oblige as it would be the first outing for my new Russo-Japanese ships and give us a chance to test some further tweaks to our Pre-Dreadnought version of General Quarters I/II.

On receiving news of the attempted break out by the Port Arthur Squadron Rear Admiral Iessen left Vladivostok as soon as he could with his three armoured cruisers. For the next two days they headed south hoping to sight elements of the Port Arthur Squadron that had broken through. Rear Admiral lessen informed his captains that at dawn on the third day they would be approaching Tsushima, and that it was his intention not to enter the strait but to cruise all day on the parallel of Fusan.

Vice Admiral Kamimura with his Second and Fourth Divisions had been searching for the Vladivostok Squadron for months and was on high alert after the failed attempt by the Port Arthur Squadron to break out. By chance as he returned from his night patrol area his Second Division stumbled upon the Russians. His Fourth Division was patrolling separately further south and only joined the actual battle very late.

The situation was almost 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 Japanese Squadron between the Russians and their distant base.

I was too focused on the early manoeuvring to take photos. The Russians had initially continued east as the Japanese headed east southeast slowly closing the range working up to full speed. As the Japanese drew ahead the Russians cut back to the northwest attempting to work around to the north behind the Japanese. The Japanese responded by reversing course and later splitting into two divisions to cover both the east and west. Firing at around 8,000 yards during these early moves was of limited effect. The smallest Russian Armoured cruiser, Rurik, was already unable to keep up with her compatriots.
 

Unable to slip behind the Japanese the Russians headed back east and managed concentrate their three Armoured cruisers against two of the Japanese Armoured cruisers. Rossia managed to score some hits on Azuma with both her main and secondary guns and Rurik managed to set Izumo on fire with her secondaries. In reply Azuma hit Rossia hard with both her main and secondary guns starting two fires.
 

Izumo's crew efficiently put out the fire, Rossia's less well-trained crew failed to control either fire. With damage mounting the Russian flagship had to roll for morale, rolling badly enough to withdraw from the action. Apparently, the weather in Tsingtao, the nearest neutral port (German), was wonderful this time of year.

The two remaining Russian Armoured cruisers were forced to turn slightly to port to avoid the risk of collision and closed with the Japanese. The Russians were also forced to rely more on their more numerous secondary guns. Their 8" guns were laid out individually in sponsons on both broadsides rather than in pairs in centre line turrets like the Japanese. This meant that as damage mounted, they more rapidly became less effective.
 

As the Rossia withdrew her crew managed to get the fires under control. She would limp off, at 4 knots, in the direction of Tsingtao, hoping to avoid contact with any other Japanese ships. The Russians decided to attempt to split the Japanese forces with Rurik doubling back to the west. As she closed to within 600 yards, she launched torpedoes as did all the other ships. Despite the close range the results of the gun fire were mixed. The torpedoes were even less effective and both sides agreed that a strongly worded letter to Mr Whitehead was required. Rurik had suffered enough damage to roll for morale and rolled well enough to fight on.


To the east the Azuma and Izumo boxed in Gromoboi but (un)fortunately their fire was ineffective. Gromoboi was able to open up with her, until now, unengaged starboard broadside and managed some hits with her port secondaries. To the west Rurik had managed to open a slight break on the other two Japanese Armoured cruisers.
 

To the east Gromoboi managed to slip behind the two Japanese Armoured cruisers and headed north at her best speed. The faster moving Japanese Armoured cruisers turned in pursuit both sides causing some damage.

To the west Tokiwa and Iwate rapidly closed the range on Rurik. As they did so an 8" shell struck Tokiwa's turret, penetrated and exploded. This set off a huge magazine explosion, Tokiwa would sink within half an hour.


Both remaining Russian Armoured cruisers had managed to get at least level with the Japanese Armoured cruisers and were heading north towards Vladivostok. Unfortunately, both had taken heavy damage and were now significantly slower than the remaining Japanese Armoured cruisers. To make matters worse their guns had also taken heavy damage and in particular their main guns were no longer effective. At this point the Russian commander conceded.

Looking at the victory conditions to win the Japanese had to sink or cripple two Russian Armoured cruisers which they had, or would very soon do. But they also had to do that without loss to their force. We agreed that the Russians had managed to eke out a very lucky losing draw.

Historically the Russians realised by 0830 that Rurik was lost and that withdrawal to Vladivostok by the two remaining armoured cruisers was the only option. Inexplicably after less than 3 hours of pursuit, at 1115, Vice Admiral Kamimura broke off and returned to the position of Rurik's sinking. The Japanese had sunk the Rurik and badly damaged the other two Russian armoured cruisers. In return they suffered some damage and Azuma was slowing.

The further tweaks to our Pre-Dreadnought version of General Quarters I/II worked very well. Morale worked well. The different gun layouts and mix of weapons were well reflected by the rules. The Armoured cruisers expended over half their ammunition to achieve the damage they did, this may have partly explained Admiral Kamimura decision to break off.

[Ithoriel]

Great AAR, Paul, thanks.

The Japanese were unlucky to lose a ship, I think.

With no idea where the Port Arthur force was and with less than 50% ammunition, Admiral Kamimura's decision to break off seems the wise one

[paulr]

...The Japanese were unlucky to lose a ship, I think...

Extremely, I had a 5 in 10 chance of straddling, a 1 in 6 chance of getting a critical hit, a 1 in 10 chance of it being a turret hit and Pierre the Shy had a 3 in 6 chance of the magazine not exploding.

So, about a 1 in 250 chance

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Ouch, sounds like a heavy fight.

[d_Guy]

Nice AAR and enjoyed the pics of your lovely ships in their first action.

Your report provides yet another meaning to Farragut's "D—n the torpedoes".