These fictional diaries cover the voyage of Russia’s Second Pacific Squadron during the Russo-Japanese War, that travelled from the Baltic Sea to the Far East, only to be sunk in a day. The focus is on notable events and the daily life of the crew, to provide a microcosm of the Russian Empire at the time. The voyage was well documented and highlighted issues of corruption, military incompetence, political instability, and social strife.
The three fictional memoirs are by Vice Admiral Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky, Lieutenant Boris Petrov (his ADC), and Seamen Vladimir Ivanova’s Journal.
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Event 1: The Dogger Bank Incident, October 1904:
Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky’s Diary Entry:
The fleet got into a firefight with British fishing trawlers last night, unbelievable! I really hope we didn’t just initiate a war with the strongest naval power in the world. Given the state of our ships and crews we wouldn’t last a day in a stand up fight.
I had ordered our ships to be alert as intelligence had suggested there could be Japanese torpedo boats in the North Sea… the North Sea of all places! While I thought the idea was fucking stupid the repair ship Kamchatka radioed that it was being attacked by eight ships… incredible. How could they be so incompetent? Though I have to admit I thought I saw a torpedo boat and ordered the flagship to open fire.
The fleet performed abysmally, I had to “discipline” the bridge’s gunner who was trembling during our first engagement of the voyage. Turns out the fleet was firing for 10 minutes before it realized we were facing a fleet of fishermen! For fu** sakes, we have embarrassed Russia in the eyes of the world. What will the Tsar say?
Lieutenant Boris Petrov’s Logbook Entry:
Last night the squadron had a fire fight with five British fishing trawlers. It’s lucky we only sank one ship and killed 2 men. On the other hand, the fact we only sunk one of five stationary, defenceless vessels, after shooting 1000s of shells, suggests the men may need a bit more training. We even lost two of our own men from friendly fire; a sailor and a priest on the Aurora. Given how our voyage has been going so far, we can’t afford to lose any men of god!
The admiral had a fit! He swore up and down the bridge, assaulted the gunner, and threw his binoculars at the poor soul who informed him who we were shooting at. I heard Rozhestvensky had a temper, but even for a Russian admiral he is mad. Looks like my friend in St. Petersburg was right to tell me to order a crate of binoculars for the voyage. There are rumours the British navy is mobilizing for a potential war. At this rate I’ll never make captain!
Seamen Vladimir Ivanova’s Journal Entry:
We had just retired for the evening after a game of cards when a thunderstorm of shells jolted us out of bed. We were ordered to battle stations and told we were under attack by Japanese torpedo boats. I may not be the best at geography but I find it hard to believe there were Japanese ships in the North Sea waiting for us! Score one for military intelligence/ Really wish I hadn’t drank so much vodka for Dmitry’s birthday. The stale bread and meagre meat ration didn’t help.
As we got on deck it was chaos. Beside the deafening sound the search lights and gunfire nearly blinded us. There were rumours that Japanese marines were going to board us, that’s fucking absurd! Officers were panicking and apparently it took us 10 minutes to realize we were facing a powerful armada of five British fishing ships!
Needless to say morale is low and the already low faith in our officers has been shaken. To think I was just a month away from shipping out before our “glorious Tsar” launched this holy voyage to save Port Arthur. What are we even fighting for?
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Event 2: Fish Whale Bay, Namibia (after previous stops at Vigo Bay (Spain), Tangiers (Morocco), and Dakar (Senegal), December 1904
Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky’s Diary Entry:
Everywhere we go we’re at the mercy of coal. The British are pressuring every port to refuse resupply or kick us out after 24 hours. If it weren’t for the Kaiser sending 10 coal ships for the journey we’d be hopeless. I told the Tsar logistical issues was just one of the MANY fucking reasons this whole journey was doomed!
The crews are mostly useless and I told my wife one has to order them five times to do the most trivial thing and then check five times more to see if they’ve forgotten the order or not. The Kamchatka almost mutinied after a botched coaling resupply at Dakar. I told those pathetic scum we’d leave them out to die on the ocean on life boats if they caused any more shit. Didn’t they learn anything from starting the Dogger Bank Incident?
There was an incident on the Oryol at Tangiers when a lieutenant lost his mind, ran across the deck, and screamed “the Japs are waiting for us, we shall all be sunk!” He was locked in the cabin but most of the ship heard him. Morale hangs by a thread, and we haven’t even faced the enemy yet!
Lieutenant Boris Petrov’s Logbook Entry:
At Vigo the Admiral went ashore and was applauded by the people. This was only because the Spanish are angry about Gibraltar and consider the English their enemies. They are naive to think our ragtag fleet could challenge the Royal Navy!
The Anadyr’s anchor got caught on an underwater cable. The admiral lost his temper and ordered it to be cut. Apparently, it was the telegraph cable connecting communications from Europe to North Africa! Didn’t the Dogger Bank Incident hurt our reputation enough?
We have been plagued by constant coaling issues and the admiral gives us nothing but wrath at every point. He even made the officers join in the coaling operations… how humiliating. On the plus side he offers carrots to the crewmen, extra rubles and vodka for those teams that resupply coal the quickest.
Given the tenuous supply situation the admiral ordered the coal capacity for our battleships to be doubled at Dakar. Now we have coal stuck everywhere, including in the bathrooms and officers’ cabins! British naval officers would never accept such conditions.
Seamen Vladimir Ivanova’s Journal Entry:
Coal has become the black death of the Russian fleet, literally. We’ve had near disastrous coaling operations from Spain to Namibia. The conditions have been dreadful, we’ve had to re-coal in subtropical heat, violent waters, and heavy rain. Men are passing out or dying from heat exhaustion. Mag Dog Rozhestvensky has forced us all to store coal in any free space on the ships. We smell coal everywhere and taste the dust in the food.
But hey, at least the officers are offering us more vodka and rubles if we exceed coaling targets! They even had bands playing to help morale at Morocco… like who gives a fuck! We appreciate the vodka to numb our discontent, but who cares about rubles, we won’t live to spend them. On the plus side the Sultan of Tangiers gave us 1000s of tons of frozen meat for the voyage. It’s an upgrade from the disgusting, yellowish Solonina protein we’re forced to endure.
Apparently the admiral is having an affair with a 32 year old blond nurse from the hospital ship. Personally, I don’t begrudge him, but we have yet to find a port with exotic women for the crews’ benefit.
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Event 3: On the Eve of Departure from Three Months in Madagascar, March 1905
Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky’s Diary Entry:
We are finally leaving Madagascar. I went against the Tsar’s orders but the fleet has become too weak and demoralized waiting here for reinforcements little better than museum pieces. The Tsar won’t punish me anyways, he’s weak willed and I’ll say I didn’t get his last cable, as they take 6 days to get here!
Our current ships are either new and untested or too old and crumbling. Our crews were thrown together in haste and we haven’t had time or ideal conditions to train as an effective force. The few maneuvers and fighting exercises we’ve done have been fucking disastrous! In a torpedo exercise only one of seven worked properly. Gunnery practice was beyond pathetic, too shameful to be mentioned. The whole squadron didn’t score a ONE fucking shot on the enemy targets… which were stationary!
Logistics are breaking down. The German coal ships have threatened to leave us. They had a drunken orgy over three days to celebrate the Kaiser’s birthday, just to mock us and show they have the power. Our own supply chain is a joke. The ship sent to give us heavy shells had fur coats and heavy boots instead! They were very fucking useful in Madagascar!
Lieutenant Boris Petrov’s Logbook Entry:
Conditions in the fleet are breaking down. We haven’t seen combat but men are dying everyday. They’re succumbing to heart failure, heatstroke, many have drowned, and dozens have been sent home due to disease. Half the fleet appears drunk at any time. Many of them fall overboard, including one of the flagship’s officers, who drank too much champagne. What a disgrace… a poor example for the men!
The state of our ships is shocking. There are weeds and barnacles covering the hull and without proper ports they’re nearly impossible to clear. Attempts by divers to clear them were called off after some were dragged away by sharks!
There have even been attempts at MUTINY! Some ships refused orders due to mouldy bread and rotten food. The admiral was relatively lenient, not wanting to execute too many of our dwindling numbers. He punished a few ringleaders then quickly fixed the food situation. But in the case of the Malay, one of our new transport ships, he was more ruthless. They mutinied outright so the admiral left four of the rebels to their fate by leaving them behind in Madagascar. They say one of the men broke down and wept.
Seamen Vladimir Ivanova’s Journal Entry:
Madagascar has been an exotic, dangerous prison. The rainstorms, heat, and mosquitoes were unbearable. Some of the officers used their spare time to hunt or collect rare pets like monkeys, parrots, and chameleons, but who fucking cares about that!
The lower ranks mostly succumbed to more debased temptations.
The locals set up shop with alcohol, gambling dens and brothels. Even Mad Dog Rozhestvensky’s harsh measures were unable to deter us from such “activities.” What do we have to lose anyway, the Japanese will make short work of us when we find them. French officials are shocked we gambled away our whole, usually small, pay, but the potential jackpot can afford one of the more expensive French harlots.
The officers rarely inspire confidence but the admiral gave a good speech on Christmas Day, despite the gloomy atmosphere of the flagship. After a brief sob, unheard of from such a tyrant, he said “what fine fellows you are, may God help us to serve Russia honourably, to justify her confidence, not to deceive her hopes. To you, whom I trust! To Russia!” Then he downed his glass of Vodka with one gulp without gagging. That’s our leader!”
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Event 4: Cam Rahn Bay (French Indochina), after crossing the Indian Ocean and stopping at Singapore, May 1905
Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky’s Diary Entry:
We’re leaving Indochina for Vladivostok tomorrow. The rest of the fleet finally got here but they’re fucking obsolete and useless, pretty much flat-irons and galoshes! On the other hand I’m impressed the fleet got across the Indian Ocean without being seen and entered Singapore in good order, even impressed the bastardly British. But in reality, our ships are a mess. There’s a foot of seaweed on all of them, the decks are loaded with coal, and we can only do 8 bloody knots!
Our stay in Cam Rahn Bay crushed morale. All of the issues since leaving the Baltic have added up. There are talks of peace with Japan and I begged the Tsar to let us return to Russia but he insists we go on. He even told me I’d be replaced once we got to Vladivostok… what a fucking slap to the face.
Maybe that’s for the best, I told my wife that I’ve fallen to pieces and can’t go on much longer. It’s the same with the fleet, I think our ships will be sunk once we face the Japanese. Morale has collapsed, my own chief of staff broke down crying during our last meeting!
Lieutenant Boris Petrov’s Logbook Entry:
We’re leaving for Vladivostok but we aren’t ready. Some damn Australian reporter exposed our lingering presence in Cam Rahn Bay and the French are kicking us out. We don’t have enough coal to take the safe route east of Japan, so we’ll have to go through the narrow Tsushima Strait.
The Admiral was so depressed he didn’t even swear. The Mad Dog isn’t doing well…his feet drag, he locks himself up in his cabin, and he’s visibly aged and lost weight. It’s rumoured he’s had a mini stroke. Even the sailors have noticed!
The men are doing even worse than usual. Some have thrown themselves overboard to end the constant fear and suffering. Ships keep breaking down thanks to the lack of maintenance. Our older battleship Sisoi broke down 12 times during the past few weeks!
Morale is at rock bottom. Easter celebration was beyond depressing. During the mass I noticed most officers don’t have proper shoes… their soles are gone! The men feel betrayed and abandoned by Russia. I was approached by one of my more reliable subordinates today and his words put the fear of god into me: “The men have exhausted their strength. When the order comes we won’t hesitate to stake our lives. But while we are without fear, we are also without hope.”
Seamen Vladimir Ivanova’s Journal Entry:
Finally, we’ve left Indochina, there was just as much disease, heat, and death as in Madagascar. The only difference was we weren’t allowed to go to shore much for whores, gambling, and drink. The officers are idiots again, brining aboard more exotic animals like lemurs, tortoises, and even crocodiles and pythons!
We are sailing towards Japan, the end of the voyage is near. Few of us expect to survive. The men are so depressed many keep throwing themselves overboard to drown. The sailors are trading mailing information so they can inform their relatives if they die. We are even betting on which ships will be sunk first.. the favoured is the flag ship!
The food has gotten worse, half of the meat is rotten and the biscuits are full of worms. Apparently even the officers have run out of lobster, smoked meat, and sardines. They don’t get my sympathy. We are even running out of cigarettes!
The admiral is finally losing it. There was a small rebellion on the Oryol, apparently over a sick cow that was slaughtered that the men didn’t want to eat. Apparently, the admiral has never been so angry, knocked out an officer with his latest pair of binoculars.
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Event 5: June 1905, a Week after the fleet was lost during the Battle of Tsushima
Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky’s Diary Entry:
It’s been a week since our fleet was crushed by the Japanese in the Tsushima Strait. I was knocked unconscious by a shell splinter to the head and missed most of the battle. I’m currently a prisoner of war held by the Japanese, although they’ve treated me well.
Mother Russia has been humiliated, we started this war with the third largest navy in the world… now we rank a distant sixth! I will take full responsibility for the disaster.
While our ships and the crew did their best we were hopeless outmatched by the Japanese. Their ships were simply more modern, faster, had more range, and their crews have far more combat experience. Once Admiral Togo crossed the T was his fleet his guns pummelled our ships and wore us down from afar. I don’t know our total losses in terms of ships and men, but the papers are hailing it as the most crushing defeat since Trafalgar!
While the Tsar has shown empathy and concern I have little down I’ll be court-martialled when I get back to Russia. Every leader and failure requires a scapegoat. History will damn my name!
Lieutenant Boris Petrov’s Logbook Entry:
It’s all over… our fleet has been destroyed as a fighting force. The results were more lopsided than feared… 29 ships lost, 7 captured, and 6 disarmed or interned in neutral ports. Perhaps 5000 of our sailors are dead, and 9000 are prisoners. Apparently Japan only suffered 117 dead and lost a mere three torpedo boats. How humiliating for a fleet that severely outgunned them in heavy guns.
I’ve been able to piece together what got wrong from newspapers and intelligence reports. Of course the state of our ships from the long voyage didn’t help, nor did the state of our morale. Now that I can speak freely much of the fault belongs with the leadership. Shockingly, the admiral never developed a real tactical plan for the battle and kept his second-in-command in the dark on most things. We even went into battle with a dead admiral leading the second division!
Looks like the Japanese had better range finders as well, and managed to hit as with a disproportionate number of shells. What was the point of all of this… being sent halfway across the world to die for the Tsar’s pride? No wonder revolution is spreading across Russia.
Seamen Vladimir Ivanova’s Journal Entry:
The fleet is gone and most of my comrades are dead. All the great battleships have been lost. The flagship was pummelled into oblivion, the Borodino blown to pieces after an ammo magazine was hit, and the Olsyabya flooded, rolled over, and sank. There wasn’t a single survivor from the Alexander III!
Our sailors suffered terribly. Most of my team was stuck below and scalded alive when the boilers blew up. On the flag ship a shell pierced sick bay, there was nothing left but bloody chunks of bones, flesh, and clothes.
We performed with courage and duty but it was in vain. Our one chance to inflict real pain on the Japanese, when they slowly maneuvered to cross the T, was botched due to the incompetence of our gunners! After the flag ship was lost order and cohesion broke down. Apparently, a crazed midshipman volunteered to stay behind on the ship to man the forward gun, in a pointless attempt to distract the Japanese.
Doesn’t surprise me, so many of the men have killed themselves during the last seven months, to end the constant misery, depression, and non-belief in such a lost cause. No wonder the more spirited and disciplined Japanese defeated us so quickly.
Why did the Tsar invest so much in a fleet anyway, we have the biggest nation on earth?
Bibliography:
Butler, Shannon R. “Voyage to Tsushima.” United States Naval Institute 26, no. 3 (2012): 58-65. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1081344695.
Grove, Eric. “Tsushima – A Decisive Victory: The Great Naval Battle 100 Years On.” Royal United Services Institute 150, no. 2 (2005): 54-59. https://www.proquest.com/docview/21212 7405.
The Historical section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Official history, naval and military, of the Russo-Japanese War. His Majesty’s Stationary Office, 1920. https://archive.org/details/officialhistoryn03grea/page/724/mode/2up:
Horne, Alistair. Hubris: The Tragedy of War in the Twentieth Century. Harper Perennial, 2015.
Jukes, Geoffrey. The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905. Osprey, 2002.
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The New York Times. “RUSSIAN SHIPS’ LONG VOYAGE TO BATTLE: It Was at First Thought Their Departure Was a Feint.” The New York Times, May 29, 1905. https://www.proquest.com/docview/96560034/
Paine, S.C.M. The Japanese Empire: Grand Strategy from the Meiji Restoration to the Pacific War. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Pleshakov, Constantine. The Tsar’s Last Armada: The Epic Voyage to the Battle of Tsushima. Basic Books, 2002.
Politovsky, Eugene S. From Libau to Tsushima: A Narrative of the Voyage of Admiral Rozhestvensky’s Fleet to Eastern Seas, including a Detailed Account of the Dogger Bank Incident. E. P. Dutton and Company, 1908. https://readingroo.ms/4/9/7/3/49735/49735-h/49735-h.htm