Editors of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Friday, March 2, 1906
The year began with a hodgepodge of reports, none of which were anything special. January and February 1906 were among the most boring months ever for a chronicler of Imperial Japan.
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At the beginning of March, however, this changed radically. As if the Boxer Rebellion had never been a disaster for China, insurgents rose up again. Several European countries have sent armed forces to deal with the situation and Japan is interfering!
It did not do this with diplomatic notes, as it used to do, but with ships of the line. In particular, the Grande Nation did not like the massive appearance of the Imperial Japanese Navy at all and the otherwise so good relations with the British Empire went off the rails.
France's threats did not cause Japan to back down. Rather, the Japanese Navy let the rest of the world know that Japan now also had good 13inch guns and knew how to use them if necessary.
Osaki Satoshi was surprised that Japan allowed itself to jeopardize its relations with England so negligently. After all, quite a few of the most important ships in the fleet came from English shipyards. With such bad relations, there would be no more new ships built in England anytime soon and this country was still years ahead of the Japanese shipyards.
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Morning edition of the Tōkyō Shinbun of Monday, April 9, 1906
>> Strongest eruption of Mount Vesuvius in almost 400 years <<
More than a hundred people died as a result of the strongest eruption of Mount Vesuvius since 1631. The eruption of the volcano, which has been active again since 1904, blew away the entire tip of the volcano, which is now almost 200 meters lower than before. Most of the fatalities were found in the collapsed church of San Giuseppe.
>> Navy announces commissioning of new ships and advances its research projects <<
The Imperial Japanese Navy has commissioned six more submarines and a new torpedo boat over the past week. Breakthroughs in shipbuilding were also reported. It is striking, however, that fleet construction seems to be stagnating. No new orders have been awarded to Japanese shipyards for several months, although the naval budget has turned significantly positive since most ships were laid ashore.
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Morning edition of the Tōkyō Shinbun of Thursday, April 19, 1906
>> San Francisco devastated by severe earthquake <<
Once again, a natural disaster has claimed human victims. The most severe known earthquake in the region has razed large parts of San Francisco to the ground. There are thousands of deaths and the number of homeless people is in the six-Picture range.
Morning edition of the Tōkyō Shinbun of Monday, August 13, 1906
>> Massive economic boom causes controversy <<
The Japanese economy is doing brilliantly. Now that the shackles of the war have finally been cast, Japanese industry has been on the upswing for months. Several entrepreneurs have called on the armed forces to disband more troops and decommission ships in order to meet the demand for labor.
Because of the high tax revenues, there has been a rift between the Navy and the imperial family. While the Navy wants to use the funds to build new ships, the Tennō has reiterated its demands for a new Imperial yacht in order to be able to supervise the work on the planned new palace from See.
As a laughing third, the army wants to emerge from the dispute and raise several new divisions at once. The army points out that the navy is not planning any new buildings at all and that the senior officers instead want to divert the money into their own hands.
In fact, the Navy cannot deny that it currently has only three ships under construction and that a fourth is in the process of being transferred to the equipment quay.
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>> assassination attempt on Russian Interior Minister <<
The Japanese government has denied any involvement in the assassination attempt on Russian Interior Minister Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin. In the attack on Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin yesterday, 27 people were killed, while Stolypin survived. It is rumored that Stolypin belongs to a group of revisionists within the Russian state apparatus who do not agree with the concessions to Japan and are calling for another war against Japan to bring the Liadong Peninsula back under Russian control.
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Ministry of Navy of the Imperial Japanese Navy – Friday, September 28, 1906
Minister of the Navy Saitō Makoto greeted the two journalists of the Tōkyō Shinbun in the most polite manner, but it was noticeable that he was not interested in this conversation.
As open as his predecessor Yamamoto Gonnohyōe had been to the press in order to harness it for the purposes of the navy, Saitō Makoto had been closed so far. It had taken months to be able to conduct this interview, and if it hadn't been for some pressure from the Chief of the Admiralty Staff – none other than Kaigun-Taishō Tōgō Heihachirō – this date would certainly have been postponed further.
After the inevitable greeting ritual, Osaki Satoshi began his questions bluntly, fearing that this interview would be too short.
"Minister, is it not a joy for Japan that the British King Edward VII has awarded the noble Kaigun-Taishō Tōgō Heihachirō with the Order of Merit? Was it an appropriate reaction by Japan to offend the Royal Navy so much about China just a few days later?"
"Mr. Osaki, as you have already been able to see, the waves have calmed down again since March."
"Yes, but it could have turned out differently. After all, we are dependent on English shipyards?"
"We have no efforts to make use of English shipyards at the moment."
"Yes, of course, Minister. The Navy has not ordered any new ships for months. Despite numerous new technologies, the Imperial Japanese Navy is in danger of becoming obsolete?"
"The Navy is pursuing its plans, Mr. Osaki!"
"Yes, certainly, but what are these plans? Many sailors have been dismissed, most ships are rusting away and nothing new is being built. The gap to the big European nations is getting bigger and bigger."
"We have learned our lessons from the Russo-Japanese War and will implement them."
"But even Russia already seems to feel strong enough again to seek another armed conflict?"
"If you are alluding to the revisionists, they are a small, insignificant group of eternally yesterdays. Port Arthur is ours and is currently being expanded. Nothing will change in this regard. Not by us or the Tsar or anyone else."
"And now you must excuse me, gentlemen, I have obligations."
Editorial office of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Monday, October 2, 1906
Osaki Satoshi had to admit one thing: In fact, the tensions had subsided somewhat. Nevertheless, these were not completely eliminated. He looked at the known facts about the situation of the major colonial powers and the position of Japan.
In Northeast Asia, Japan clearly had a stable situation. With Sakhalin and the Liadong Peninsula in Japanese hands, all potentially hostile positions were practically encircled. But even a look at the fleet strengths revealed that a blockade would be difficult. With the exception of Russia, all other nations were far superior and even Russia had already caught up significantly. This was all the more true since the Russian ships were state-of-the-art newbuilds, while Japan's ships were gradually getting on in years.
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Sagawa came to the editorial office and hurried to Satoshi.
"What is there such urgent Sagawa?"
"Steel!"
"Steel?"
"Yes, the prices for steel have exploded today! Resentment is spreading in the emerging economy."
"How do you know that?"
"From a colleague from the Daily Telegraph who has been looking for answers for weeks as to why Japan buys large quantities of steel from abroad, although no major project is known to explain this amount. It is more than is supported by the economic upswing. And the special thing is that it is without exception steel, as it is particularly suitable for shipbuilding."
"Oh, so? Shipbuilding steel, in other words!"
"You were with the minister, weren't you? Did he say something that no one else is allowed to know?"
"No, he didn't. On the contrary, he avoided the topic."
"Then you'll like it too: Soldiers are on the move all over the country, visiting old comrades and asking them to come back to the navy."
"What?"
"I experienced it myself."
"But if the navy needed personnel, it would place advertisements in the newspapers and put up posters everywhere."
"They are all officers and not simple sailors!"
"If you upgrade, would you perhaps start with the experienced officers to recruit them as instructors?"
"Yes, now at least you know and the colleague from the Daily found it interesting that in the room next to his in the Imperial Hotel lives another Englishman, who probably works for Sir W.G. Armstrong-Whitworth & Co. Ltd."
"Thunderstorm! And that despite the tensions?"
"Well, the navy will probably want to build something new?"
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Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun of Monday, October 8, 1906
>> Great excitement at the Japanese shipyards <<
Navy Minister Saitō Makoto announced this morning that the Imperial Japanese Navy will undergo a major overhaul of all torpedo boats in the coming years. He rejected rumors that the Navy has now also ordered new ships. The navy is only examining options of what is technically feasible. However, all available funds would flow into the modernization of existing ships. Newbuildings would take too long to supply the fleet with sufficiently competitive ships.
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Ministry of Navy of the Imperial Japanese Navy – Tuesday, October 9, 1906
Kaigun-Taishō Tōgō Heihachirō sat with a serious face opposite the Minister of the Navy, Saitō Makoto. The minister had just presented him with detailed construction plans of an English ship design, which the secret service had recently obtained. He didn't like what the admiral saw at all.
But he was not surprised, as it was no secret that the English shipyards were years ahead of all other nations in shipbuilding. He saw the plans of an English battlecruiser and he knew that Japan had nothing that could compete with eight 15-inch guns. He didn't find the armor particularly sensational, but it was just a battlecruiser.
What technical data did English battleships want to have?
Shipbuilding entered a new era and Japan could not keep up!
"Torpedo boats, Mr. Minister – torpedo boats!"
"Are you certainly an admiral?"
"As big as these English ships may be, enough torpedoes and they will sink just like the Russian ships of the line."
"So we're pushing torpedo research?"
"Yes, I don't have any other answer at the moment. The British can build such ships by the dozen, we can only do that with torpedo boats. If we have enough torpedo boats, it could be enough."
"And England is the destination?"
"The English fleet is the most dangerous for us, but even English ships cannot operate without bases. Let's take Weihaiwei, northeast Asia belongs to us."
"This is – as you say – a dangerous game!"
"It could be our downfall..."
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Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun of Friday, December 7, 1906
>> JAPAN IS PILLORIED BY THE WORLD <<
Visibly meek, Navy Minister Saitō Makoto had to admit at noon today that Japanese spies have been unmasked in several countries. The ambassadors of almost all European countries today jointly submitted a note of protest to the Foreign Ministry.
According to this, Japan is called upon to immediately end all intelligence activities and to limit itself to its home waters in the future. Otherwise, Japan would have to reckon with severe sanctions.
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Editorship of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Wednesday, January 16, 1907
Of course, Japan would not end its espionage activities, Osaki Satoshi had immediately realized that. Therefore, it did not surprise him that plans for an American battlecruiser were leaked to him from the environment of the naval design department. Even in the past, he was always well informed about ship constructions.
Nevertheless, it was not as productive as ten years ago. It was no longer a secret that something was going on in Japan's largest dry dock, but no one knew what it was. The fact that huge quantities of steel plates have been delivered every day since the beginning of the year could not be overlooked, but nothing more either. The dock was very well shielded and the only word that could be elicited from the shipyard workers was "Large".
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Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Tuesday, April 2, 1907
>> Japan duped European naval powers <<
During an international regatta, the Imperial Japanese Navy caused a scandal with Russia. The captain of the Japanese ship described the Russian ship as a rotten dung heap that he would defeat even if he was forced to reverse his ship.
The envoy from France who was present wanted to moderate the dispute and was told that France should be more careful that its white bread ships did not soak up water and drown.
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Ministry of the Navy of the Imperial Japanese Navy – Saturday, May 11, 1907
Once again, Kaigun-Taishō Tōgō Heihachirō was invited to the Minister of the Navy to discuss foreign ship designs. The conversation went little better than the previous one.
"The Russians have caught up, Minister, there's no denying that."
"Yes, but did the Russians overtake us?"
"Not yet, but not much is missing. But I am more frightened by the similarity of this design to one of our designs!"
"You mean the Russians stole our draft?"
"You could almost believe that."
"And how are things progressing with us?"
"The Iwami is no longer on schedule. We simply have too little steel, Minister."
"And how can we change that?"
"Production capacities are only increasing slowly, Mr. Minister, but some of our conversions have currently been completed. The rest could be finished at the beginning of July. Then we will have capacities free."
"But only if we do without further renovations - do we want that?"
"No, Mr. Minister! Tensions are rising faster than planned. Our new ships still need almost three years before they can be taken over. We could have all the torpedo boats converted by the end of the year if we put the big projects on hold."
"Tell me, Mr. Admiral, are we overextending ourselves? Are our plans too ambitious for the capabilities of our Navy?"
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Editorship of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Friday, June 28, 1907
Osaki Satoshi had to get used to the new situation. The navy remained stubbornly silent about its own shipbuilding plans. He didn't even have any information about what had been modified on the torpedo boats. Instead, construction plans by the British, French, Americans and Russians seemed to be doing the rounds all over the world.
Only Japan could be behind it.
So Satoshi knew what the potential enemy had, but it didn't do him any good because he didn't know what Japan had. He couldn't compare, but the assumption that Japan's new buildings were weaker was obvious.
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Editors of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Tuesday, August 6, 1907
For lack of information, Osaki Satoshi had resorted to having errand boys count the torpedo boats that had left the shipyards one after the other in recent weeks. He concluded that most of the Japanese torpedo boats must now have been converted. No other torpedo boats had been docked so far.
The global tensions over Japan had not escalated further, but had reached an above-average level with almost all nations. Somehow this fact sounded familiar to him.
He wondered what would get the ball rolling this time?
The last time a Russian warship exploded, the navy would probably not allow itself to do that a second time. So what then?
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Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Thursday, September 12, 1907
In recent weeks, the Navy had issued a completely unusual firework of messages. Almost all of them concerned advances from the research departments, but one report concerned a new protected cruiser.
The Takasago belonged to the Akashi class, which had been commissioned during the war and the details of which were known. However, the fact that it was not the eponymous lead ship of the class that had been completed first made people sit up and take notice, but the second ship.
Were there any problems with the construction of the Akashi?
This would not really be something new, years ago the Japanese shipyards had to admit that they would not be able to cope with the upcoming orders. Was that the case again now? The navy remained silent.
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Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Thursday, December 5, 1907
The year 1907 drew to a close in a strikingly similar way to the year 1906. In November, the espionage scandal boiled up again, and in response, a dispute broke out at the beginning of December over the financing of the fleet. Osaki Satoshi sensed that troubled times were ahead.
Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Friday, February 10, 1908
>> IS THERE A THREAT OF A NEW WAR? <<
Off the Korean coast, the new cruiser Takasago has run aground. Officially, the ship was on its first sea trial. Now the naval command had to admit that the ship had dropped several spies ashore and was surprised by the onset of low tide in shallow water.
The governments of the German Empire and Russia have protested in the strongest possible terms and once again called on Japan to stop its espionage activities.
The German Empire has announced that it will send a large naval force to Asia, which is able to defend Germany's interests and teach Japan the necessary respect.
Foreign Minister Hayashi Tadasu has rejected the increasing foreign aggression against the Japanese Empire, saying that the Imperial Japanese Navy knows how to deal with this threat without any problems.
Editors of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Friday, February 10, 1908
Japan is preparing for a new war. Osaki Satoshi had recognized the unmistakable signs. Constant pestering of the other nations and at the same time significantly increased financial resources for the military. At the moment, however, the money flowed less into new warships and more into the expansion of bases, the training of soldiers and war-related industries. The naval budget had already almost returned to the amount it had at the end of the war with Russia.
And there was no war yet!
For the Japanese economy and population, this expenditure was an enormous burden. In international comparison, this is also quite respectable, but too small compared to the potential closest war opponents. And these potential war opponents were far from having converted to a war economy.
Much more frightening, however, were the fleet conditions, despite the huge Japanese expenditures.
Even though some recognized shipbuilding experts were of the opinion that the technological advantage was smaller than assumed and that some warships, especially American ones, were not very frightening, it was not so much the combat power as the sheer number that worried Satoshi.
England alone had 36 standard ships of the line. That was more than the number of all Japanese unit ships of the line, armoured cruisers and protected cruisers combined. The fact that England already had two of these monstrous dreadnoughts and three battlecruisers was not even taken into account. The Royal Navy had almost as many large warships as Japan had torpedo boats. These torpedo boats had tipped the scales with their numerical superiority over the Russian ships of the line and cruisers.
But what if the enemy had large warships in a ratio of 1:1 to the Japanese torpedo boats?
How could the military be so crazy? And how could the politicians be so stupid? Did no one see that?
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Morning edition of the Tōkyō Shinbun of Wednesday, March 5, 1908
>> Japan's first battlecruiser commissioned! <<
In Yokosuka yesterday, Japan's first battlecruiser was handed over to the Navy in a ceremonial act. This is Japan's first ship of this new class of large warships, which is far more powerful than any previous design. Even though the Tsukuba is now the largest and most powerful ship in the Imperial Japanese Navy, it will only be a matter of time before even larger ships join the fleet.
The Minister of the Navy is still silent about what is going on in the largest dry dock in the country, but it can only be a ship of the even more powerful new type battleship.
As it became known on the sidelines of the celebrations, the Russian government has described the commissioning of the Tsukuba as an act of war and called on Japan to end its rearmament.
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Morning edition of the Tōkyō Shinbun of Friday, April 10, 1908
>> The British Empire warns the Japanese government <<
After the announcement by the Japanese Navy that it would start building new, larger torpedo boats this month, the British government has now also warned of the renewed Japanese warmonger and summoned the Japanese ambassador.
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Editors of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Friday, May 22, 1908
In the meantime, Osaki Satoshi maintained a complete army of shipyard informants. These were mainly children, whom he usually rewarded for information with sweets, but also with Rin or Sen. He even donated yen for really important information. These shipyard informants were his eyes and ears, because he could not constantly observe the goings-on in Japan's ports and shipyards and his correspondents also had more important things to do.
His wife Natsuko reproached him for this and had asked him if he would also use his twins for it, if only they would be old enough for it?
But he had no ear for these sentimentalities. He needed information. If he didn't get it from the minister, then it was in this way. Drunken bums hanging around in the harbor dives were not useful for this, because they were too inventive for a free drink and claimed to have seen the entire Royal Navy before Kure, and the shipyard workers had been silenced.
Curious children playing on the streets or on hills near the harbours, on the other hand, were hardly noticed. At best, they were harshly pushed aside if they were in the way, but there was no more attention.
This time he gave two thirteen-year-old ruffians one yen each. Which was a fortune for the two of them. However, Satoshi found the information remarkable.
The Navy had taken several armoured cruisers out of reserve and transferred them to dry docks
So there were renovations on the agenda, about which no official announcements had been heard so far.
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Morning edition of the Tōkyō Shinbun of Wednesday, June 17, 1908
>> ESPIONAGE AT JAPANESE SHIPYARDS! <<
On the 小野浜造船所 (Onohama Zōsenjo) (Kure Naval Shipyard), a spy of the German Empire was unmasked yesterday. The Japanese shipyard worker was caught trying to sell construction plans of a recently docked armored cruiser to an employee of the German embassy.
Foreign Minister Hayashi Tadasu then summoned the German Ambassador Alfons Mumm von Schwarzenstein to hand over a personal letter of protest from the Tennō to the German Emperor.
Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Wednesday, July 1, 1908
It was like a copy of the procedure from four years ago. Japan irritated the other nations to the bone and when you thought it was enough and now Japan would give in, the government or the military went one better. This was also the case in July. The German Emperor forbade reprimand for the espionage incident, as it was merely a reaction to Japanese espionage activities.
The Minister of the Navy ruled with an unusual measure. He personally informed the naval attachés of the European nations in the capital Tokyo about the latest Japanese technology that is currently being installed on Japanese ships.
Everyone knew this was a blatant lie, but the message was unmistakable!
Editorship of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Wednesday, August 5, 1908
The situation with Russia and the German Empire was on the verge of exploding and the military had nothing better to do than to rekindle the recently relaxed situation with France.
It seemed as if the Japanese military itself did not know who it actually wanted to wage war against and therefore simply took on trouble with all nations.
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Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Thursday, December 17, 1908
The second half of the year gave Osaki Satoshi a lot of time to spend with his family. Japan left no stone unturned to start a war, but the major European powers avoided taking up arms. Once again, the Navy did not do much with new buildings, as everything was based on the further development of technology.
Behind closed doors, Satoshi had learned that Japan could not even begin to keep up with shipbuilding, so they wanted to build few but advanced ships in the future.
In the meantime, the work at the shipyards had progressed so far that everyone could see certain details. The Navy still did not provide any information, but the basic data had been leaked.
The two Iwate-class armoured cruisers would be classified as battlecruisers in the future and were otherwise only completely overhauled.
The Asama class received a new engine system and gained two knots of speed, but of the six units only two were being converted.
Much more exciting was Japan's first battleship, which was under construction. The name was presumably Iwami and there was a significant anomaly. At twenty-two knots, it would be four to five knots faster than most battleship designs from Europe.
In fact, the Iwami as a battleship was more comparable in speed to the European battlecruisers and that might be a hint.
From the rest of the data, the Iwami was rather weakly armed with ten 13inch guns.
Satoshi was most impressed, however, by the presumed information of two new armoured cruisers. It could not be overlooked, because the Iwami and the two cruisers were next to each other. The ships had practically the same dimensions and an unmistakably huge secondary artillery. The designers had actually set up the usual main caliber of armored cruisers as secondary artillery and given the two ships 12inch guns as the main artillery.
To classify these ships as armored cruisers would probably have to be an understatement and might serve political purposes. All other nations would probably put this type into service as a battlecruiser.
The two new protected cruisers were also very large and here the names have already been announced. This was hardly avoidable, as both cruisers would probably be commissioned at the turn of the year. The Akitsushima and Kasagi embodied what the Minister of the Navy described as the lesson of the war. These cruisers had a planned speed that only torpedo boats had previously had and the number of guns had been almost doubled with fourteen gun barrels.
What the Navy had not liked at all was the fact that the term "colonial cruiser" had found its way into the press. The Akitsushima class was intended to play a role outside of Japan's home waters.
Osaki Satoshi surveyed all the information and summed it up in one word:
"Speed"
The navy had clearly placed the emphasis on fast ships.
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Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Tuesday, February 2, 1909
The turn of the year was largely uneventful, but had personal consequences for Osaki Satoshi. The many free times towards the end of the year had led to Natsuko being hopeful again. If the twins were already keeping him on his toes, it would now get even worse.
The biggest headline came at the end of December, after an earthquake destroyed Messina in Sicily and more than 70,000 people died.
Now, at the beginning of the year, the smoldering conflict with France gained momentum, but all nations still shied away from the armed conflict.
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Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Monday, March 1, 1909
>> STROKE AT THE BEGINNING OF MARCH! <<
Navy Minister Saitō Makoto ordered the mobilization of the entire fleet this morning. He did not give the exact reasons for this. Evasively, he stated that the seaworthiness of all ships should be checked in order to be able to determine which ships are to be overhauled and which are to be scrapped.
This is the first time that the Navy has spoken of scrapping in the last ten years, but in view of the international situation, scrapping Japanese warships is not very credible.
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Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Wednesday, March 17, 1909
Osaki Satoshi did not want to believe what his "boys" had told him. So he went to the harbor himself. Although the fuse was already burning in Asia, the Minister of the Navy had followed his words with deeds. In fact, four armoured cruisers and almost twenty torpedo boats had been docked for shipyard overhaul.
The powder keg could explode at any time and the navy put a significant part of its ships into the shipyard for months?
Then it dawned on him!
Tensions with Europe had been at a high level for more than a year, but no one wanted to take the first step. But if Japan were to dock a fifth of its fleet, it could lure a potential enemy out of cover.
The already weak Japanese fleet significantly reduced its operational ships.
It had to be!
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Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Saturday, June 19, 1909
Osaki Satoshi was to be proved right. Only later did he learn that he had a better vision than the military. In fact, several weeks after the events, a high-ranking Japanese officer admitted that the Navy had not expected a new war before 1911 or 1912 and was downright surprised by the events of June 19, 1909.
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Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Saturday, June 19, 1909
>> WAR – WAR WITH RUSSIA! <<
>> RUSSIA HAS DECLARED WAR ON JAPAN AGAIN! <<
Japan is again at war with Russia. A few hours ago, Russian envoy Nikolai Malevsky-Malevich handed over the declaration of war to Foreign Minister Hayashi Tadasu.
The beginning of hostilities must be expected today. Rumors say that the Navy was completely surprised by the declaration of war and that only a few ships were ready to sail.
Foreign Minister Hayashi Tadasu explained that Russia is demanding the return of the Liadong Peninsula and high reparations for the damage caused by the 1904/1905 war.
In fact, this time the Japanese military were taken by surprise by their own arrogance! Japan was willing to seek conflict with the British Empire towards the end of 1910 or the beginning of 1911. By this time, the most important construction projects of the Imperial Japanese Navy would have been completed. No one thought a second war with Russia was conceivable, which is why numerous ships were docked for overhaul shortly before the outbreak of hostilities. It is speculation whether this was exactly the reason for Russia to seek the fight, at least it cannot be ruled out.
The 聯合艦隊 (Rengō Kantai) was commanded by Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō, who was hastily reassigned to the command, which he had only relinquished at the end of 1908. Since then, the post has been vacant.
Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō served under Tōgō Heihachirō in the First Russo-Japanese War and made a name for himself through the development of the "Ijūin Fuse". During his first time as commander in 1908, he was feared for the fanatical drill he imposed on his subordinates.
Now it had to be shown what the constant drill was worth!
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The command on the Russian side was held by Admiral Nikolai Ottowitsch von Essen, but he was sitting in distant Europe far away from the scene of the action and could therefore only contribute with strategic guidelines. The fighting was fought by less respected officers, who saw the transfer to Asia more as punishment than as an opportunity.
Among these officers was Vice Admiral Karl Petrovich Yesen, who had been reprimanded for his misdemeanours during the first war against Japan, but was nevertheless entrusted with new tasks in the Tsar's fleet at the instigation of Admiral Nikolai Ottowitsch von Essen.
Now Vice Admiral Karl Petrovich Yesen led the Russian Pacific Squadron into the second war against Japan.
In June 1909, the following units were under construction:
1 Imperator Pavel I-class battleship (19,800 tons)
1 Tri Svyatitelya-class battleship (21,800 tons)
1 Pobeda-class battleship (22,100 tons)
3 Izmail-class battlecruisers (20,600 tons each)
7 corvettes of various classes (900 tons each)
10 corvettes of various classes (600 tons each)
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Comparison of forces between Japan and Russia:
In terms of tonnage, the superiority of the Russian fleet was significantly lower than in 1904 at the outbreak of the first war between Russia and Japan. This was all the more true since the heaviest units were all under construction. There were 486,000 tons in service and under construction on the Japanese side against 539,900 tons on the Russian side. This shows that the Russian fleet was still suffering from the war of 1904-1905 and that the old tonnage was far from being reached. In contrast, the Japanese Navy had a good 140,000 tons more to offer than five years earlier.
Nominally, Russia had 9 modern battleships and battlecruisers operational or under construction, while Japan could only muster 2 of these types. The number of standard ships of the line was identical, but the Russian types were all more modern and correspondingly had a larger tonnage.
Russia was already at the top of the armoured cruisers with 10 to 6 units, but the Japanese armoured cruisers were all larger. The protected cruisers were balanced with 21 Russian units to 17 Japanese units, which also affected the tonnage.
Japan's strength was again the torpedo boats with 97 to 32 units. Japan was also able to muster significantly more corvettes and had almost three times as many submarines ready for sea.
Russian superiority in 1909 thus consisted mainly on paper. If you only compared the operational ships, Japan was equal, if not superior. Russia's advantage was that most of the ships were modern newbuilds, while Japan primarily sent the old guard into battle. Although the torpedo boats in particular had been modernized, this only made them more combative to a limited extent.
Russia relied on the surprise effect because Japan had not expected a war with the supposedly weak Russia.
>> Convoy battle off Mordvinova Bay, 19 June 1909 <<
This time it was Russia that wanted to use the momentum for itself with a surprise attack. Russian spies had found out that Japan was expecting a very important convoy from the United States of America. This convoy sailed the dangerous northern route to avoid being spotted on the normal shipping routes. What exactly the cargo ships transported is still kept secret today, but it must have been so important that the convoy was escorted by heavy combat units that were unaware of the declaration of war. However, the Russians were not aware of this either. Vice Admiral Karl Petrovich Jessen therefore expected to have an easy time with an unprotected convoy.
Unexpectedly, he found himself in battle with Japan's best warship – the battlecruiser Tsukuba!
On the morning of 19 June, the Tsukuba was at the head of the convoy formation, surrounded by numerous escort ships, east of Mordvinova Bay off Sakhalin.
When Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko set off with the Tsukuba and its convoy to receive the convoy near the Aleutian island of Adak, no one expected the outbreak of hostilities with Russia. With the Japanese 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla and the Japanese 3rd Reconnaissance Division, more than enough escort ships had been planned in peacetime, especially since the freighters had already been accompanied by four torpedo boats since leaving San Francisco.
In the waters off Sakhalin, two cruisers and several other Japanese torpedo boats were also on a routine patrol.
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At around nine-thirty, Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko learns of the Tsarist Empire's declaration of war from a corvette. Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko immediately begins to regroup his ships and takes a battle formation in front of the convoy.
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At about ten o'clock fifteen an unknown ship comes into view. The protected cruiser Naniwa reports smoke on the horizon.
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Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko immediately orders his small formation to intercept the unknown ship.
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Shortly afterwards, the unknown ship sets a direct course for the Naniwa.
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Protected cruiser Naniwa classifies the approaching ship as an armoured cruiser.
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Shortly thereafter, more ships come into the Naniwa's field of vision.
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At half past eleven, the cruiser is identified as a Russian Oslyabya-class armoured cruiser.
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Two minutes later, the enemy opens fire on the cruiser Naniwa.
>> Convoy battle off Mordvinova Bay, 19 June 1909 <<
The protected cruisers now detect several torpedo boats and open fire on these enemy ships. Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko signals the protected cruisers to seek cover behind his formation. The Tsukuba turns around to be able to return fire with full broadside, while the torpedo boats head towards the enemy at full speed.
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The Japanese 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla begins its attempt at the Russian armoured cruiser, which in turn is shielded for the moment by its own torpedo boats. While the Japanese protected cruisers concentrate on these torpedo boats, the Tsukuba takes the enemy cruiser under heavy fire to cover the call of the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla.
As in the first Russo-Japanese War, it is once again evident that the Russian torpedo boats are not able to effectively shield their cruiser.
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Vice Admiral Karl Petrovich Yesen has to realize that he has run into the guns of an enemy who is far superior in terms of artillery. The Russian torpedo boats try to make it impossible for the enemy to find a target solution in an uncoordinated manner, but finally lose contact with their armoured cruiser. This cleared the way for the Japanese 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla to attack the armoured cruiser head-on.
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The flotilla leader begins the torpedo attack with the Harukaze. Despite the short distance, the enemy has not yet managed to hit the Japanese torpedo boats. However, this changes abruptly from one second to the next.
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The weak defense of the armoured cruiser, which is mainly concentrated on the Tsukuba, then also allows the first torpedo hit on the enemy ship.
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Shortly afterwards, the Russian squadron begins to break away. The water around the Oslyabya-class is crisscrossed by the trajectories of Japanese torpedoes.
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The armoured cruiser has no chance. It doesn't matter in which direction he dodges, everywhere he gets caught in the path of torpedoes and is hit again several times. A Russian torpedo boat can just about avoid such a torpedo.
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The enemy armoured cruiser is badly hit and drastically loses speed.
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The enemy armoured cruiser has no chance of escaping and the resistance is almost non-existent. More torpedoes seal the fate of the Russian warship.
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For the first time, shells from the Tsukuba hit the doomed cruiser and shredded the superstructure.
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The armoured cruiser tries to ram it, but is unsuccessful. The Namikaze escapes by a hair's breadth.
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The protected cruiser Itsukushima narrowly escapes its own Japanese torpedo, while the guns of the Tsukuba finally turn the armoured cruiser into a sieve.
>> Convoy battle off Mordvinova Bay, 19 June 1909 <<
The Tsukuba had zeroed in on the enemy cruiser. Even though it was of no significance because of the numerous torpedo hits, the higher hit rate compared to the previous conflict could be considered a welcome development.
The cruiser was ready and the Tsukuba now tried to hit the enemy torpedo boats, which were much more difficult to hit.
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The Russian torpedo boats fled after the Tsukuba rained down on hers. However, the hit rate was modest for these targets. This was not least due to another well-known Japanese problem, a malfunction in the turrets' mechanics.
While the Tsukuba turned so as not to get out of range, Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko was able to watch through his binoculars as the Russian armoured cruiser capsized and sank.
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Now the danger posed by the enemy torpedo boats had to be eliminated. Due to the speed of the enemy, it was hardly to be expected to be able to sink the boats, but it was enough to push the enemy away to know that the convoy was safe.
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Around half past eleven, the Tsukuba set course for the position of its own cargo ships. The torpedo boats were clearly uncatchable for the Japanese battlecruiser and so it was safer to have the battlecruiser back with the freighters in case another group of enemy ships should be in the vicinity.
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The Japanese torpedo boats pursued the enemy, but fired their ammunition more or less without sufficient results.
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Shortly before twelve o'clock the order was given to break off the hopeless pursuit.
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At half past one, the Tsukuba resumed its position in front of the convoy, and after several hours of no further enemy unit being sighted, Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko officially declared the battle officially over at four o'clock in the afternoon.
>> Memorandum of Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō on the convoy battle off Mordvinova Bay 19 June 1909 <<
Distinguished officers and members of the 大本営 (Daihon'ei),
to my shame, I must confess that I was completely surprised by the outbreak of hostilities with Russia. The 聯合艦隊 (Rengō Kantai) has been drawn into an unprovoked war unprepared. In my defence, I would like to point out that the high level of training of our sailors and officers, which I initiated, has more than compensated for this disgrace.
It was also a wise providence to escort this important convoy from the United States, which will greatly advance our Navy, from the beginning.
In the end, there is no doubt about the courage and determination of the noble Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko, who led the battlecruiser Tsukuba excellently in his baptism of fire and always had the fight as his goal. Once again, it has been shown that our torpedo boats, also thanks to the extensive modernizations, are up to date and were the decisive factor for success.
Whatever goals Russia may pursue, the 聯合艦隊 (Rengō Kantai) will know how to prevent them. As an incentive, I can confirm that among the survivors of the battle is Russian Vice Admiral Karl Petrovich Yesen. This gives us a valuable pledge for the negotiations that will certainly soon be forthcoming, when the enemy seeks peace.
Thus, the officers of the 軍令部 (Gunreibu) of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the 参謀本部 (Sambō hombu) of the Imperial Japanese Army, and the 海軍省 (Kaigun-shō) may take good note of the prepared and illustrated course of the battle for the convoy battle off Mordvinova Bay on June 19, 1909 of that year.
Long live the Rengō Kantai, long live the Imperial Japanese Navy, long live the Emperor!
Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō, June 20, 1909
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Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Sunday, June 20, 1909
>> RUSSIA SUFFERS HUMILIATING DEFEAT! <<
After the unprovoked declaration of war by the Russian Tsarist Empire, the Russian East Asia Squadron has suffered a humiliating defeat in a cowardly attack on a Japanese trade convoy.
The pride of the Japanese fleet – the new battlecruiser Tsukuba – has taught the enemy to fear. The responsible Russian fleet commander was captured. Vice Admiral Karl Petrovich Jessen could have to answer to a war tribunal today.
Russia does not seem to have learned the lessons of the past war and will now be reminded once again by our heroic fleet led by the noble Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō who is in charge in Japanese waters.
Long live the Rengō Kantai, long live the Imperial Japanese Navy, long live the Emperor!
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Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Sunday, June 20, 1909
Russia must be crazy, even Osaki Satoshi was aware of that! In the last war, Russia was clearly superior and had to accept a bitter defeat that the country was far from overcoming. But it was incomprehensible that this same Russia sought conflict even with inferior forces.
According to all known information, significant parts of the Russian war fleet were in the Baltic Sea. Japan, on the other hand, had a fleet of torpedo boats modernized from the ground up, which Russia had already brought to its knees in the last war.
The first battle in this new war had impressively demonstrated this. For the Japanese torpedo boats, it was easier than ever to sink a large warship at the technical level of the turn of the century without causing much damage or even losses. The battlecruiser Tsukuba did not come within range fast enough to prove itself. Four torpedo boats had caught a big fish – on their own.
Russia had to be truly crazy!
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Ministry of the Navy of the Imperial Japanese Navy – Monday, June 21, 1909
Kaigun-Taishō Tōgō Heihachirō was the last to arrive at the Minister of the Navy.
Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō saluted in a befitting manner, then Navy Minister Saitō Makoto began the confidential meeting.
"Well, noble Kaigun-Taishō, what did your visit to the shipyards reveal?"
"There is a lack of everything, workers, materials, overseers, designers. The completion of all ships is repeatedly delayed. It is not clear whether the conversion of the Nisshin will be completed next month as promised."
"This is a disaster Kaigun-Taishō Heihachirō, how am I going to fight this war if my most important ships are not finished? Can you tell me?"
"Dear Kaigun-chūjō – of course those responsible at the shipyards are aware of the problem, but Japanese industry is still lagging behind the European powers by at least ten years. If our steel mills are not able to supply sufficient quality steel, the shipyards simply have nothing to use to build the ships we demand."
"Noble Kaigun-Taishō – that's a brazen lie from the shipyards. You know that exactly! A total of three ships of all ships in the shipyards are newbuilds. Only these need new steel. Two of these three ships are nearing completion, so strictly speaking, only the Ashigara needs steel from the blast furnaces. Everything else is conversions."
"Kaigun-chūjō, moderate yourself," Navy Minister Saitō Makoto interrupted the dispute between the two most important admirals of the fleet. "That's not how we make progress."
"Mr. Minister – two days ago we were lucky. If the Tsukuba had not used its training trip to accompany the convoy for a while, our valuable cargo would have been lost now. Who knows if this happiness will continue?"
"Yes, Kaigun-chūjō, we need more and better ships. Let's hope that the Nisshin and the Kako will be handed over next month, but until then you will have to make do with the Tsukuba as the core element."
"The Tsukuba is a good ship, but Russia already has three battlecruisers. And they are new ships, while we only have the Tsukuba. The Iwate and Nisshin are merely reclassified. The combat power of these two cruisers is no higher than before."
"But the two armoured cruisers of the Kako class are particularly strong in combat."
"At the expense of speed."
"These ships should also fight and not flee!"
"We won't get any further like this, gentlemen," interrupted Navy Minister Saitō Makoto again. "We are adjourning and waiting to see whether the two ships will be delivered as promised. Then we will reassess the situation."
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Editors of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Friday, July 2, 1909
July began with the usual war reports. Advances in research, convoy warfare and a famously cowardly Tsar's fleet.
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Therefore, Osaki Satoshi began to think about what there was for Japan to gain in this war against Russia, and the result was sobering:
NOTHING!
Occupying the Russian heartland was out of the question. The other European nations would certainly never tolerate that either. Only Kamchatka remained, and that was out of reach of the landing craft.
Satoshi wondered whether the Japanese military would take this war as an opportunity to invade Korea as a kind of protecting power, in order to deny Russia this land grab now or in the future? But invading a neutral country without cause could also result in undesirable reactions from European nations.
He would probably have to wait and see how things developed.
>> Battle of the Convoy at Cape Mayak Ostrovnoy 7 July 1909 <<
At the beginning of July 1909, Russia took the initiative again. Now the objective of the renewed conflict has become clear.
Russia was desperate to regain control of Sakhalin.
Japanese agents had managed to capture information about an imminent invasion of Sakhalin. On July 7, the Russian transporters left Vladivostok. Russia itself had made the whole world believe in advance that the Korean Peninsula was the target of the enterprise. Russian warships showed up off Korea to force Japan to act.
Japan responded and sent most of the Rengō Kantai towards Korea, following the Russian squadron. The Tsukuba, however, patrolled north in the Sea of Japan with some escort. The Russian escort fleet could not be too strong and Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō assumed that the Tsukuba would be enough to stop the troop transport.
The afternoon had long since dawned when the two opponents met.
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Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko was again in command of the Tsukuba. He was assisted by the Japanese 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla as an escort for his battlecruiser, as well as the Japanese 3rd Reconnaissance Division with the protected cruiser Izumi, which had been accompanied by the Japanese 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla.
Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko followed the reconnaissance division at a distance so as not to let the enemy immediately recognize who he was dealing with.
There was a calculated meeting point to the enemy, towards which both Japanese columns were heading.
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Twenty minutes to four o'clock in the afternoon of July 7, 1909, the expected enemy came within sight of the Izumi. The Tsukuba followed the Izumi group just at the limit of visibility and was therefore undetectable by the enemy.
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However, it took almost fifteen minutes before more ships came into view. On board the Izumi, it was believed that only the rearguard could be found. But then the enemy was classified as a battleship.
That couldn't be a rearguard – on the contrary – that was a nightmare!
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At sixteen o'clock and six minutes, the Japanese torpedo boat Kuroshio reported the sighting of two battleships and another ship. Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko signaled "stay the course – attack the enemy". What better reinforcement test could there be for the Tsukuba than a battle with two modern battleships?
He asked himself whether Russia had been able to complete these ships so quickly, after all, Russia should also only have battlecruisers, but in the end it didn't matter.
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As they approached, numerous escort ships now appeared. Had the enemy deceived the Japanese? Was the core fleet of the Russian Pacific Squadron located here and not a transport fleet?
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Then the crew of the Kuroshio realized their mistake. These were enemy armoured cruisers and not battleships. No sailor of the Kuroshio actually had any idea of what Russian battleships looked like, but the idea of the approaching battle fired the imagination of the young men.
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"The order is attack!"
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Fifteen minutes after four o'clock, the first troop transporters appear. However, the enemy cruisers shielded only one of the two groups. Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko commands the Izumi group to the north to lure the enemy away from the transport ships. The Tsukuba was still out of sight of Russian warships.
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The enemy does not go along with the maneuver and approaches his transport ships. However, there is now the tactical possibility of being able to put the enemy in the pincers. The Tsukuba group comes into sight of the enemy, who now has to decide whether to block the way of the Tsukuba or intercept the Izumi, who now performs a flanking maneuver.
>> Battle of the Convoy at Cape Mayak Ostrovnoy 7 July 1909 <<
The Japanese 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla is approaching the northern column of transport ships. The enemy reacts and seems to start an interception maneuver. Shortly afterwards, shells hit in front of the Japanese 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla and the torpedo boat Hayashio reports engine damage due to the high speed level.
South of the enemy's main force, another armoured cruiser is reported. Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko decides to attack this affiliated unit.
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Protected cruiser Izumi turns south to connect with Tsukuba. The protected cruiser would be inferior to two armoured cruisers, so it is supposed to lure the enemy into the gun range of the Tsukuba and thus also allow the torpedo boats to attack the northern convoy line. This identifies the first modern enemy ship – an Iskusni-class torpedo boat.
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The third armoured cruiser is now only referred to as a torpedo boat. The Izumi is under heavy fire from the Russian squadron. The lure of the enemy ships does not succeed, they effectively shield the transports from the Japanese torpedo boats and force them to turn away.
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The torpedo boat Hayashio receives a hit from the enemy armoured cruisers. Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko reassesses the tactical situation. The Japanese 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla is now supposed to lure the enemy to the north and try to keep the enemy at a distance at the same time due to the superior speed. This would clear the way for the Tsukuba to attack the transport ships.
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The flotilla leader of the Japanese 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla decides to run the pursuing Russian warships into a volley of torpedoes. With a bit of luck, a hit will be scored, or at least the enemy formation will be thrown into disarray.
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The tactic seems to be working. The two southern convoy lines are practically unprotected. Only two Russian torpedo boats are within range, but are now facing the protected cruiser Izumi.
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The enemy armoured cruisers have recognized the danger and are now running towards the Izumi. However, this puts them within range of the Tsukuba, which immediately opens fire on the enemy cruisers. The Japanese 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla turns around to be able to shield the Tsukuba from the enemy cruisers.
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The tactical situation has changed abruptly again. The Russian torpedo boats have lost contact with their cruisers. On the other hand, the two Japanese torpedo boat flotillas are now able to lead a pincer attack on the armoured cruisers, while they are distracted by the Tsukuba and Izumi.
The two individual Russian torpedo boats try to lay a smoke screen between the Tsukuba and the transports.
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The two enemy armoured cruisers do not seem to recognize the danger and run directly into the combat area of the Japanese torpedo boats. When the enemy finally assesses the situation correctly, it is too late. The starting position of the Japanese is excellent and the Russian shielding is once again not on the spot. For this, the Japanese torpedo boats now have to endure the furious artillery fire of the enemy cruisers.
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The situation is ideal! The two southern convoy lines are completely unprotected. The Russian armoured cruisers try to outmaneuver the approach of the Japanese torpedo boats, while the Izumi inflicts heavy fire on the two individual Russian torpedo boats.
Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko announces the transport ships as a new target!
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Just in time, the Russian torpedo boats manage to shield their two cruisers.
>> Battle of the Convoy at Cape Mayak Ostrovnoy 7 July 1909 <<
The enemy had a problem!
The Tsukuba was able to shoot down the troop transports completely unmolested, the Izumi scared away two enemy torpedo boats and her own Japanese torpedo boats led a textbook torpedo attack on the enemy main force.
In fact, it was the indecision of the Russian commander that led the Russian fleet to this terrible position. If the Russian commander had not timidly considered whom to attack, but had resolutely chosen a target and attacked from the beginning, the battle would have been different.
What was about to happen was a slaughter among the Russian transport ships and the soldiers on them!
One of the most modern and powerful battlecruisers in the world was able to start effective shooting unmolested and the Japanese knew no mercy. The first volleys were already covering, followed by the inevitable hits on the enemy.
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The 12inch guns of the Tsukuba had an almost catastrophic effect on the unarmored troop carriers. Even before the first ships were hit so badly that they threatened to sink, the Russian infantrymen sought their salvation in the sea and jumped overboard.
On the other hand, the torpedo boat Kuroshio stood in the best tradition of the samurai and continued its attack in defiance of death despite immense damage. Only after the torpedoes were in the water did the commander ask to be allowed to leave the formation.
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But the enemy also had a new quality and dealt out a lot with his artillery. The Kuroshio turned into a floating wreck and sinking would probably only be a matter of minutes. The torpedo boat was ablaze with flames!
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Then the Japanese torpedo boats began a new tactic, which they had to train again and again under Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō. Two flotillas approached the enemy in unison and then swerved at a ninety-to-hundred-and-twenty-degree angle and took the enemy under fire. The enemy could not simply continue, as the first direct torpedoes were guaranteed to hit him. He could only dodge. No matter which way he swerved, he would offer either his port side or his starboard side to one of the two flotillas as a huge target.
It took unbelievable bad luck not to score in this situation.
The sailors almost insultingly called the maneuver the "Gorō tongs" due to the brutal drill.
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Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko saw only smoke. The burning Kuroshio blocked the view. To the fierce battle. So he could hardly give his torpedo boats reasonable orders and concentrated on the task they were here – troop transports – the first capsized and sank!
So he couldn't see that the Russian torpedo boats were trying very hard to protect their armored cruisers this time – they succeeded very well for the moment – they constantly blocked the way of the Japanese attackers.
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The Japanese torpedo boats obviously had trouble finding gaps to get a clean firing solution with the torpedoes, but they always succeeded.
Then the Russians resorted to their most successful tactic to date – ramming strikes!
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An enemy cruiser wanted to continue the work of its torpedo boat and took the Hayashio as its target. However, it also drove in front of the torpedo tubes of the Japanese torpedo boat. However, the cruiser was faster.
One broadside was enough to pulverize the Hayashio.
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However, two torpedoes of the Hayashio also found their target and inflicted heavy damage on the Russian cruiser. It was the last thing the crew of the Hayashio saw before the torpedo boat was finally torn apart and sank by another shell from the cruiser.
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Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko did not notice the drama of his torpedo boats. He was pleased with the extremely good performances of his gun crews. A hit rate of about ten percent with the heavy artillery was a new record in the Imperial Japanese Navy, even if the targets were only slow and cumbersome cargo ships.
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Battered torpedo boats were probably the specialty of the Russian cruiser commander. The Kuroshio was a floating torch and now became the target of this cruiser, which had just sunk the Hayashio.
However, the crew of the Kuroshio did not think of giving up and already had a torpedo in the water. A second one followed immediately!
>> Battle of the Convoy at Cape Mayak Ostrovnoy 7 July 1909 <<
North of the transports, a naval battle was raging between the Japanese torpedo boats and the Russian cruisers. Slowly, the torpedo hits on the Russian armoured cruisers made themselves felt, and the Japanese torpedo boats attempted another coordinated attack.
The Tsukuba continued its work of destruction undisturbed.
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The enemy cruisers did everything they could to counter the danger, and the Arashi narrowly escaped a ramming blow.
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The Kuroshio continued to face a cruiser, but at least it did not come any closer when it saw the torpedoes coming towards it in the water. However, two Russian torpedo boats have now been added to support the cruiser.
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Success came faster than the flotilla leaders expected. Several torpedoes caused severe damage to one of the cruisers.
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On the Kuroshio, the situation became dramatic. The enemy had long since recognized this and pulled away. The torpedo boat could explode at any time.
Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko ordered the Izumi to turn away in the meantime and attack the third convoy group.
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The Kuroshio had to be abandoned, but most of the sailors just got off the ship.
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Then the familiar behavior became apparent. Once the large warships were hit, the Russian torpedo boats kept a respectful distance instead of intervening to save what could be saved.
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The Japanese torpedo boats were in their element and the enemy armoured cruisers had long since been doomed. The Tsukuba made short work of the troop transports and hundreds, if not thousands, of infantrymen were already swimming in the sea, also facing death.
The protected cruiser Izumi came within effective range of the previously unmolested transport ships.
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The Bayan-class armoured cruiser hardly made any speed, so the battle-ready torpedo boats switched to the Oslyabya-class armoured cruiser, which was also already considerably damaged, but nevertheless posed a greater danger.
The Izumi opened fire.
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Several Russian torpedo boats again laid smoke screens, but the wind drove the smoke away in uncritical directions.
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Protected cruiser Izumi can sail undisturbed along the enemy column and carry out a torpedo attack. An enemy torpedo boat makes no attempt to intervene.
The fight for the Kuroshio was over. A large column of water vapor rose into the sky above the sinking site and burning debris continues to float on the water.
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At least one commander of a Russian torpedo boat understood how to protect a cruiser. However, he was alone on a lost cause. If all enemy torpedo boats had acted like this one Bistri-class boat, it would have been questionable whether the armoured cruisers would have been hit at all.
>> Battle of the Convoy at Cape Mayak Ostrovnoy 7 July 1909 <<
Like the Tsukuba in the south, the Izumi can also attack the northern column undisturbed. The Oylyaba-class armoured cruiser is now again on its own against the Japanese torpedo boats, but defends itself to the best of its ability.
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The torpedo boat Yamagumo scores the final torpedo hit. Immediately after the torpedo hits, a powerful explosion occurs on the enemy armoured cruiser and tears the ship in half.
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The enemy is now completely disorganized and all the fighting is a local measure.
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Only now that the Russian armoured cruiser has sunk do the Russian torpedo boats intervene in the fight and a fierce torpedo boat battle develops.
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An enemy torpedo boat now pursues the Tsukuba, but is immediately under massive defensive fire from the Japanese battlecruiser and turns away.
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Several Japanese torpedo boats receive hits and are massively impaired in their combat capability. The Hatsukaze is about to sink. The badly hit Bayan-class cruiser capsizes and sinks. Incomprehensibly, the will to fight of the remaining enemy ships has awakened right now.
The Tsukuba leaves a trail of annihilation, misery and suffering behind it. Russia has already recorded thousands of dead infantrymen. Even if the Tsukuba were to be stopped by a miracle, the Russian invasion has failed.
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The Japanese torpedo boats are now trying to catch up with their cruisers. But they are suddenly exposed to brutal shelling.
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The enemy is focused on the badly damaged Hatsukaze. While the Tsukuba again sends several salvos towards the intrusive torpedo boat. Cruiser Izumi is now supported by the torpedo boat Arashi.
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Then the inevitable happens and the Hatsukaze is hit again and sinks.
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The protected cruiser Izumi leaves the transports to the Arashi and seeks out the fight with the enemy torpedo boats himself. However, it is the Tsukuba who gives these opponents the first direct hit.
The Tsukuba is now trying to keep its distance and fight the enemy with clearly superior artillery, without him being able to defend himself.
In the meantime, almost all enemy torpedo boats in the north are back in orderly formation and pursue the Japanese torpedo boats.
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The enemy torpedo boats break off the pursuit of the Tsukuba. Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko does not think about letting these ships escape so easily, however, now turns around and pursues the enemy with the Tsukuba. However, this is too fast for the battlecruiser.
The Japanese 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla is now again under heavy fire and is clearly inferior to the enemy due to existing damage. The Hagikaze cannot keep up with the drop-off maneuver and loses touch.
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Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko decides to run towards his torpedo boats to support them in the fight against the Russian torpedo boats.
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The Hagikaze is now being shot down by the enemy.
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There is no salvation for the Hagikaze. The torpedo boat is hit hard and begins to sink. For Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko it is completely incomprehensible why the Russian torpedo boats are only looking for the fight now, when the disaster for Russia is already a fact!
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Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko gives orders to all units to rally. All Russian troop transports are sinking or have already sunk and due to the approaching dusk it is too dangerous to maneuver with the cruisers alone without cover.
The Russian torpedo boats recognize the situation and keep their distance.
At ten minutes past nineteen, the last Russian troop transport sinks.
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The Japanese ships begin to take survivors on board. The opponent keeps his distance, but does not stray too far either.
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The cruisers Tsukuba and Izumi cover the rescue operations of the torpedo boats and prevent the enemy from attacking with their presence. With the onset of dusk, contact with the enemies is lost.
Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko orders as many survivors as possible to be taken on board before nightfall. As soon as complete darkness spreads, further rescue measures are too dangerous.
This is proven when several silhouettes appear at the edge of the line of sight, heading for the Japanese ships.
This can only be the Russian torpedo boats, which smell their chance in the darkness - night battle is looming!
>> Battle of the Convoy at Cape Mayak Ostrovnoy 7 July 1909 <<
The detected enemy ships came closer, but remained clearly out of range of the Tsukuba's guns. Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko therefore gave the order to bring all units into formation and run away. The mission was fulfilled, sinking more enemy torpedo boats was of little use, but the danger of being torpedoed itself could still compensate for the excellent result so far.
But then the enemy was too bold to attack the Arashi and the Izumi immediately reacted with barrage fire.
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Now the opponent wanted to know and he started his run-up. The Russian torpedo boats approached the Izumi at high speed. That would clearly be a torpedo attack. The Izumi, for her part, tried to break up the enemy formation with torpedoes.
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Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko brought the Tsukuba into attack position and fired one broadside after another. He didn't want to score any hits at all to fight down a single torpedo boat. It was enough for him if the enemy reconsidered his request and gave up because of the heavy defensive fire.
However, it turned out that Russians could be just as stubborn as Japanese!
For the infantrymen, who were still swimming for their lives in the water, however, the shell impacts finally meant death.
+ + +
Now, however, the Russians felt the full potential of the Tsukuba. The battlecruiser's large number of small 3inch guns were built in precisely to be able to fight enemy torpedo boats at short range. How sensible this design decision was could no longer be denied. The Russian torpedo boats literally sailed through "boiling" water.
Nevertheless, the enemy came into position to complete its torpedo attack.
+ + +
Only a broadside of the medium artillery at the shortest distance made the Russians turn away. Even though no one had observed the firing of torpedoes, Die Tsukuba and Izumi turned away immediately if torpedoes were in the water.
+ + +
The onset of complete darkness was imminent. Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko ordered all units to sail for Japan at the highest possible speed. Another torpedo attack in complete darkness would not be thwarted as successfully as with the current residual light of twilight.
The artillery would very soon be as good as useless.
+ + +
The mission was fully fulfilled, now it was only necessary to get back to Japan without further damage.
+ + +
An hour after the last enemy sighting, the situation seemed to be safe and Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko studied the damage reports of the remaining ships.
+ + +
Another two hours later, Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko declared the battle over!
+ + +
Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Thursday, July 8, 1909
>> TENS OF THOUSANDS DEAD – RUSSIAN INVADING ARMY DROWNED! <<
Yesterday the noble Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko led the Japanese battlecruiser Tsukuba into battle again. The Kaigun-daisa Hirose Katsuhiko succeeded in sending a complete Russian invasion fleet to the bottom of the Sea of Japan. Tens of thousands of Russian infantrymen drowned along with the transport ships.
Furthermore, the Tsukuba managed to sink two enemy cruisers.
The enemy has suffered a proverbial brutal defeat!
+ + +
From the War Chronicles of Imperial Japan:
>> Memorandum of Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō on the convoy battle at Cape Mayak Ostrovnoy on 7 July 1909 <<
Honored officers and members of the 大本営 (Daihon'ei),
a few words may suffice. The strategy and tactics of our plans have been impressively confirmed. The enemy was defeated. At least one entire Russian division drowned off Cape Mayak Ostrovnoy.
Once again, the beginning of the battle showed the familiar Russian face of the battle leadership. At the same time, it is remarkable to point out that this face has completely changed after the loss of the two Russian armoured cruisers. From this point on, the Russian flotilla leaders did with their torpedo boats what torpedo boats are for.
I cannot state this circumstance clearly enough. The flotilla leaders of the tsarist navy have learned to fight.
Now the distinguished officers and members of the 大本営 (Daihon'ei) may ask why this happened only after the loss of the armored cruisers?
My explanation is simple!
With the loss of the armored cruisers, all the senior officers of the Russian Pacific Squadron had also fallen or at least were unable to give orders.
I believe that the failure of the Russian torpedo boats so far is solely due to the failure of the higher ranks within the Russian Navy!
After the lower ranks were left to their own devices, these young commanders were able to prove what they are capable of and they did so impressively. I must confess that it was a fortunate circumstance that neither the Izumi nor the Tsukuba were not hit by torpedoes in the last minutes of the battle.
I ask you to take this fact into account in the coming battles against the Russian fleet.
Thus, the officers of the 軍令部 (Gunreibu) of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the 参謀本部 (Sambō hombu) of the Imperial Japanese Army, as well as the 海軍省 (Kaigun-shō) may take good note of the prepared and illustrated course of the battle for the convoy battle at Cape Mayak Ostrovnoy on July 7, 1909 of the year.
Long live the Rengō Kantai, long live the Imperial Japanese Navy, long live the Emperor!
Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Friday, July 9, 1909
Osaki Satoshi had to acknowledge that the last two battles had brought impressive victories for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Nevertheless, the war was not yet won. Reports that large parts of the European fleet units of the Russian fleet were on their way to Asia could be confirmed.
A large squadron of Russian warships had made some impression off West Africa. As soon as these ships reached Asia, the balance of power was markedly different.
+ + +
Editors of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Monday, August 2, 1909
August brought important progress for the Navy in the expected great battle of the battle fleets. The converted Nisshin came out of the shipyard and was now classified as a battlecruiser. Certainly this did not correspond to the facts. A true battlecruiser was something different from a combat value upgrade, but on paper it looked good for Japan's nominal strength.
+ + +
However, it also became clear that the navy again placed greater emphasis on small units. In this case on the U-boat Force, because 10 more U-boats were ordered.
+ + +
Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Friday, September 3, 1909
>> PUNCH IN TŌKYŌ – RUSSIA CAPITULATES! <<
Russian envoy Nikolai Malevsky-Malevich made the formal surrender of Russia to Foreign Minister Hayashi Tadasu this morning!
According to unconfirmed rumors, serious riots broke out in the European part of Russia after the population learned of the senseless deaths of thousands of soldiers. It is said that the Russian army itself took part in the protest marches in Saint Petersburg.
According to Foreign Minister Hayashi Tadasu, Russia has acknowledged sole war guilt and will compensate Japan for all damage caused by this three-month war. In addition, Russia recognizes Sakhalin as Japanese territory.
Editorial office of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Monday, October 4, 1909
The Navy's celebrations of its renewed victory over the Tsarist Empire were short-lived. War-weary Japan's budget cuts were drastic, and many observers wondered if the latest commissioning’s would be the last for a long time?
+ + +
Osaki Satoshi got an overview of what the result of the war was? And the result was short:
NOTHING!
Most of the ships in the shipyards before the war were still there.
And the number of torpedo boats had decreased due to the losses suffered. There were no land gains, nor had Russia really been weakened.
There were thousands of dead soldiers, that was all.
An intermezzo without sense or reason!
+ + +
So what would come next? For Osaki Satoshi, it was clear that the warmongers were stronger than ever before. But the Japanese people would never tolerate a new war. You could feel that. But it could also be assumed that this would soon be forgotten.
Osaki Satoshi had to admit: He had no idea what would happen next!
+ + +
Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Wednesday, December 22, 1909
Osaki Satoshi couldn't believe it. Editor-in-chief Kamata Itachi had actually had it thrown out of the building. It is soon Christmas and New Year and he should kindly spend time with his family.
Osaki Satoshi had just sorted out the last reports of the past few months when the editor-in-chief burst into the editorial office and asked everyone to leave the building.
Something had happened – that much was clear – not all men were simply sent home without cause. But there was no rumor, no hint, no clues.
Osaki Satoshi grabbed his bag, packed some documents and left the editorial office. His wife would certainly not be pleased if he turned his home chambers into his office, but what was left for him?
Editors of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Monday, January 3, 1910
Osaki Satoshi had not worked much. At least not the work he had set out to do. The twin brace had ruined all plans. While the first two twins were out of the woods at five years old, the other two twins were now just three and a half months old.
Why he and Natsuko only had twins justified his own research, but his area of expertise was the navies of this world and not medicine.
Natsuko, at least, had kept him on his toes for the last few weeks. The apartment was too small for six people and so it had been his task to look for a new place to stay. He wondered if editor-in-chief Kamata Itachi and his wife were in cahoots and therefore so generously prescribed a lot of free time, but immediately dismissed this idea.
Satoshi finally found what he was looking for in 多摩丘陵 (Tama-kyūryū), a hill coast southwest of the capital Tōkyō. The spacious elderly farmhouse had certainly seen better days, but the surroundings were beautiful and from the elevations you had an extraordinary view of the entire 関東平野 (Kantō heiya = Kantō plain). The building was located outside the center of Atsugi, a young village that had only been formed in 1889 from the merger of several settlements. From here it was a stone's throw to the shipyards of Yokohama and Yokosuka. But the way to the ministries was now a little longer.
The editorial offices were located in Kōjimachi (today Chiyoda Special District: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_wards_of_Tokyo) and thus in the immediate vicinity of all important government institutions, including the Imperial Palace. What was not in Kōjimachi was housed in Yotsuya or Kyōbashi. The distances here were therefore comparatively short. The ministries could also be reached quickly from his previous apartment in Sumida. All you had to do was cross the river of the same name and you were as good as in Kōjimachi.
His wife and parents would have to take care of the actual move, because after the New Year he had to return to the editorial office.
He saw changes from afar. A new large sign with the inscription "Tōkyō Shinbun" was emblazoned between the rows of windows on the fourth and fifth floors and was visible from afar. The interior had been renovated. In fact, the entire five-storey building now belonged to the publishing house. Previously, there had been other companies here. The entire editorial office was now spread over three floors. Its old editorial office was located in the left wing of the third floor.
When he arrived there, above the entrance door was written "Editorial Office for the Naval affairs". Above the door of the right wing of the office was written "Editorial Office for the Army affairs".
The rooms of the entire previous editorial office were now reserved exclusively for the editorial staff who dealt with the Navy? Equally large rooms were available for army questions?
If this was already hard to believe, it got even better in the "new" editorial offices. He had his own office separated from the open-plan room – with a meeting corner. At the end of the open-plan office stood a gigantic table on which a map of Japan and the surrounding sea areas was painted. The map stretched from Alaska in the north to Australia in the south. From Burma in the west to Hawaii in the east. All the important colonies of the great powers were marked, along with the main port cities.
Editor-in-chief Kamata Itachi approached him from behind:
"Well, Satoshi – that's your editorial office now. From now on, you are the editorial director for naval issues!"
Osaki Satoshi couldn't utter a word at first, then he stammered: "Wa wa wa Why?"
"I heard something there. The Navy has great ambitions, oh what, the entire military has great ambitions!"
"Big ambitions? Are you talking about war? War again?"
"Certainly it will come down to war, but not so soon. But we have to be prepared for that. There will be a lot to do. Upcoming conflicts will not take place in just one place and future naval battles can increase in size. This cannot be done alone with a few assistants. You will get three additional editors and ten more assistants."
"What?"
"Yes, do you think the thing with your "shipyard informants" has escaped me? Neither does the military, by the way!"
"WHAT?"
"Speaking of the military – you get a military advisor!"
"What – whom?"
"The noble Kaigun-daisa Taketomi Kunikane is known to you, Satoshi?"
"Kaigun-daisa Taketomi Kunikane? – The commander of the armoured cruiser Iwate in the war years 1904 and 1905?"
"Exactly him! Kaigun-daisa Taketomi Kunikane was injured in an accident at the port. He can no longer perform active service at sea. The Navy has therefore retired him. With the consent of the naval command, he is available to answer any questions you may have about combat tactics."
"Wow – you have succeeded in this surprise, Mr. Kamata! And I thought you sent me on vacation to plan my move."
Editor-in-chief Kamata Itachi put on a broad grin, patted Satoshi on the shoulder, turned around and left.
+ + +
Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Tuesday, January 4, 1910
Osaki Satoshi was still more surprised than pleased about the changes in the editorial team. But the last news of 1909 and the first news of 1910 were on his table. He had to get to work.
He found the documents for an Italian battlecruiser particularly interesting. Italy hadn't attracted much attention so far – just like Japan – but what he saw here was impressive!
He found that this design came very close to the idea of a battlecruiser. Heavily armed, fast, but little armor.
"Ten 13inch guns – that's huge!"
He compared this class of ships with the Tsukuba and found that the Italian design could cause much more damage than the Tsukuba. Provided that the Italian guns were of good quality? But that was unknown to him.
"You — what's your name?" He whistled to one of his new assistants.
"Saitō - Saitō Manabu - Mr. Osaki" it came back.
"So Manabu – the boxes over there contain everything that has to do with the Navy. Sort the topic by field of knowledge, depending on the country. Over there, it can all be put on the shelf. When that's done, I want to know everything there is to know about Italian artillery."
Editors of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Wednesday, January 5, 1910
Navy Minister Saitō Makoto had personally announced his attendance. Apparently, the whole world already knew that the Tōkyō Shinbun was about to become the leading war correspondent among the world's daily newspapers.
This was not very realistic, publishing houses in other countries had much more resources to offer, but people had already become curious.
Extremely dignified for a civil servant, the minister and his entourage entered the editorial office.
The managing editor, Osaki Satoshi, bowed deeply, straightened up, spoke his greeting and bowed again.
Then he began to introduce his editorial team to the minister:
"My honorable predecessor Taka Ogawa, who is always on hand to advise on Japan's past great deeds."
"And, of course, the heroic Kaigun-daisa Taketomi Kunikane, who needs no further introduction."
Then all the assembled newspaper people, including a number of errand boys, bowed and Osaki Satoshi began to show the minister the new editorial offices.
Navy Minister Saitō Makoto endured everything and was still as stiff and taciturn as he was when he first met Satoshi. He spoke little and finally admonished all those present to remember secrecy. He sensed that the minister didn't like it when newspaper people were too curious and stuck their noses into things that didn't concern them.
Aware of this situation, Osaki Satoshi did not even ask any questions about the processes at the shipyards. After the end of the war, a new modernization program was probably launched.
+ + +
Navy Minister Saitō Makoto was almost out the door when he turned around.
"Before I forget, Mr. Osaki. You are allowed to announce the 20+5 plan to the people of Japan.
"The 20+5 plan, Mr. Minister?"
"Ask your new employee Kaigun-daisa Taketomi Kunikane, he will know what is meant. That has to be enough!"
Then the minister turned around again and left the editorial office without waiting for the befitting farewell.
All eyes were directed inquiringly at the veteran captain.
"Well," Kaigun-daisa Taketomi Kunikane began, "I don't know the exact details either – but there is a lot of dispute within the navy."
"Argument?" - now he was sure of attention!
+ + +
"There are three major factions in the Navy. These would be the
- "Bigger-Bigger" faction
- "Torpedo Boat" faction
- "Cruiser War" faction
Of course, I have sympathy for the Cruiser War faction, which is also the youngest and unfortunately the smallest faction. The Bigger-Bigger faction believes that Japan can only succeed if it commands the largest battleships ever built. Ironically, the largest faction is the Torpedo Boat Faction, which still believes that any enemy can be defeated if only enough torpedo boats are deployed. The cruiser war faction ultimately assumes that large cruisers will meet all requirements as long as the number is right."
"But it's not quite that simple. Within the parliamentary groups, there are also different opinions and even coalitions with parts of other parliamentary groups. This is then also the essential core of the 20+5 plan. At least that's what I assume, because when I was active it was still called the "15+" plan. But it can only mean the same project that has now been changed."
"And what is this plan about?" asked Sagawa.
"Across all parliamentary groups, there is the coalition of the ‚New builds‘ postulants and the..."
Satoshi interrupted – "Postulants? They are believers, aren't they?"
"Yes, that's right, somehow it has something of faith – that's how some people behave."
"So there are the new building postulants and the conversion postulants."
"Aha, I understand – some want new ships all the time and others want to use what is already there?"
"Exactly — and they represent the respective cause with missionary zeal — that's why they all bear the nickname postulant."
"Surely they don't like to hear that?"
"No, certainly not, I heard that two adjutants, who accidentally slipped out this term in the presence of several officers, were flogged."
"And what is the 20+5 plan now?"
"If the principle is the same as with the 15+ plan, then that means that the restructuring postulants have prevailed. Then all ships ever built will be kept in service for twenty years and another five years for particularly important ships. Within this time, two to four modernizations per ship can be expected."
"Twenty years?"
"For a ship of the line, this is already a long time, but for torpedo boats it is a very controversial undertaking. But it is precisely the torpedo boats that are at stake, because they make up by far the largest proportion of the fleet in terms of numbers and have also had to bear the brunt of all the battles so far."
"Then these reports about the docking of ships make sense – so this plan has already been put into effect?"
"It looks like that – yes!"
"Can the navy even afford all this?"
"Certainly not – but the navy has always found a way."
"So surely some event will drive tensions up again?"
"Guaranteed – surely something will happen soon that justifies a higher naval budget!"
+ + +
Morning edition of the Tōkyō Shinbun of Thursday, January 6, 1910
>> Minister of the Navy Saitō Makoto announces so-called 20+5 plan <<
Yesterday, Navy Minister Saitō Makoto announced the armament plans of the Imperial Japanese Navy. According to the report, a faction has prevailed in the naval leadership that considers the modernization of existing ships to be expedient instead of constant new construction.
The so-called "20+5" plan was developed for this purpose. The "20+5" plan stipulates that all ships ever built in the fleet are to be kept in service or in reserve for at least twenty years after commissioning. Ships for which modernization seems particularly promising for another five years.
Within these twenty years, each ship must be modernized two or three times in order to keep pace with technical developments. The aim is to keep the fleet competitive faster and cheaper than is possible through new buildings.
The main focus is on the torpedo boats, which have proven to be an indispensable weapon in the fight against enemy ships of the line. In addition, torpedo boats can be modernized the fastest. Only after the torpedo boats are cruisers and ships of the line to undergo their conversion, unless the Navy has sufficient financial resources to bring forward these measures.
According to the Minister of the Navy, this plan would allow the Navy to postpone extensive new buildings by ten to fifteen years and only order new ships moderately during this time. These would therefore act as technology carriers to test future developments in shipbuilding.
Within the Navy, there are two strong factions, each of which is in favor of conversion or new construction, also several factions on general fleet strategy.
The strongest group here is the Torpedo Boat faction, which enjoys a particularly high reputation with the Meji Emperor due to previous victories.
The "bigger-bigger" faction, which has been known for a long time, is still in favor of extremely large and heavily armed ships of the line or battleships and sees the future of the fleet in a particularly large number of particularly heavy calibers.
The youngest group is the "Cruiser War" faction, which sees a mixture of very large and fast armoured cruisers mixed with fast protected cruisers as promising. What is striking in this group is the division into supporters of very large calibers on lightly armed armoured cruisers and supporters of heavily armed armoured cruisers with only medium calibers.
According to Navy Minister Saitō Makoto, it will be the task of the few newbuildings to find out which type of ship will be best for the Navy.
+ + +
Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Friday, February 4, 1910
The weeks passed all too quickly to bring order to the chaos. Now, however, at the beginning of February, the editorial office had a decent filing system for everything that had to do with seafaring in general and navies in particular.
It was now easy to add to the current reports for filing.
Osaki Satoshi placed particular emphasis on a large board on which all known information on the world's fleet strengths was meticulously summed up:
These Pictures painted a clear Picture: despite the economic boom that was just beginning and the Navy's efforts to increase its budget, the Imperial Japanese Navy was one of the weakest navies in the world. Only Russia had not yet recovered because of two lost conflicts.
With the 20+5 plan, these numbers would hardly change!
Osaki Satoshi remembered who he had identified as Japan's real opponent and he got something akin to a pang of fear.
Editors of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Thursday, April 21, 1910
Osaki Satoshi was gradually getting used to the new events at the publishing house, but secretly he was grateful that there was little new to report. So he had enough time to prepare his new home and to deal with his older twins.
Even though it would still take a good year until school enrollment took place, he already took care extensively that the two twins cultivated a good sense of expression. Of course, he had in the back of his mind that his two boys could follow him one day.
He also increasingly enjoyed taking long walks in the hills of 多 摩丘陵 (Tama-kyūryū). After all, this gave him the opportunity to concentrate on his area of responsibility. Surely he immediately missed his new archive with all the information, but apart from these mainly technical data, there were also questions about the meaning of it all. He now had enough time to think about it. He just had to put it into shape mentally and write it down later.
+ + +
Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Saturday, May 7, 1910
>> The British King and Emperor of India Edward VII is dead! <<
Yesterday, the British King Edward VII died after a serious illness. What impact this has had on the hitherto good relations between the British Empire and the Japanese Empire is unknown. His successor and new king is his son George V.
Editorship of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Wednesday, May 11, 1910
In May, what Osaki Satoshi had already suspected finally happened. The old pattern began again and Japan's diplomats again cultivated their aggressive conservation. Although Satoshi had actually had England or the German Empire on his list and not necessarily Italy, Italy was at least an opponent that was not clearly superior to Japan.
With the new financial possibilities, the Navy immediately began to expand its bases. However, this was only necessary if the fleet also grew. But hadn't the Minister of the Navy just announced that he would modernize old ships instead of building new ships?
Satoshi thought about his country's naval armament...
+ + +
Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Monday, June 20, 1910
>> EMBARRASSMENT FOR THE NAVY! – IS JAPAN'S FIRST BATTLESHIP A FLAWED DESIGN? <<
As it became known today, Japan's most expensive armaments project to date is a flawed design. The first battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy – the Iwami – was ceremoniously handed over by the shipyard last week with great pomp. After returning from the first test run, the rumor quickly spread in the harbor pubs of Yokosuka that the Iwami had major problems with the engine system.
Navy Minister Saitō Makoto then announced this morning that it is actually only a minor problem that causes the Iwami to be only one or two knots slower than planned.
Who is right, the sailors who speak of serious problems, or the minister who may only downplay the problem, is unknown.
The minister explained that the Imperial Japanese Navy is on a very good path and proved this with an unusually high number of technical successes in recent weeks. However, this led critics to blame the very speed at which new technologies are being introduced as the cause of the Iwami's problems. After all, it is Japan's first ship of its kind and a completely in-house development.
Navy Minister Saitō Makoto replied that Japan could only become a serious naval power if it built its own ships and did not buy them abroad. Of course, this requires a learning process, which the naval leadership has planned.
+ + +
Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Friday, August 19, 1910
After the embarrassment with the Iwami, the Navy was able to report significant new developments by August, which also led the entire conversion program of the torpedo boats ad absurd. Both the purchase in the German Empire had much better guns at their disposal, and the development of their own torpedo technology made all previous torpedo boats abruptly obsolete. Even the torpedo boats that were being rebuilt were already scrapped.
"Truly not an easy time for the naval leadership!" Osaki Satoshi thought and was really looking forward to being able to go home earlier again today. There was news, but it was just the course of events. Something spectacular was simply missing.
+ + +
Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Monday, October 10, 1910
September and October finally brought good news. Numerous conversions were completed and also considerable numbers of new U-boats were added to the fleet. Research made a significant leap, which would finally enable Japan to build truly competitive battleships.
+ + +
Ministry of Navy of the Imperial Japanese Navy – Tuesday, October 12, 1910
An illustrious group had gathered at the Ministry of the Navy, which was welcomed by Minister of the Navy Saitō Makoto.
Present were Kaigun-Taishō Tōgō Heihachirō, since after his official retirement from the 軍令部 (Gunreibu – General Staff) he had only an advisory function. No one wanted to give up the experience he had gained during the war of 1904/1905.
Of course, Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō was present, who had replaced the noble Tōgō Heihachirō as chairman of the 軍令部 (Gunreibu – General Staff) and thus had a weighty word, if not the most important word, to say.
Kaigun-chūjō Kamimura Hikonojō was the acting commander of the 第一艦隊 (Dai-ichi Kantai - IJN 1st Fleet). There was no commander-in-chief at the time, as the Rengō Kantai was only formed in times of war or other special occasions. Thus, the word of the current commander was important, after all, he had to be able to use the ships.
However, the reason for the meeting was Kaigun-daisa Satō Tetsutarō. In recent years, he had made a name for himself as Japan's leading naval theorist. This was formulated in two memorandums:
The History of Naval Defense from 1907 and the History of the Empire's Defense a year later. Kaigun-daisa Satō Tetsutarō clearly outlined the threats the Empire faced and what the navy would have to look like in order to withstand these threats.
To this end, he had made clear recommendations as far as naval armament was concerned. So far, he had not found the hearing he wanted. Today that changed. In a short memorandum, he strongly condemns the 20+5 plan. Although he had no objection to the modernization of the existing ships, he intervened massively against the small number of new ships.
"Gentlemen, I am well aware of the financial situation of the Imperial Japanese Navy. This is better than was feared and therefore the Navy must take the opportunity to build bigger and better ships. The other nations can do the same," Kaigun-daisa Satō Tetsutarō began his speech.
Kaigun-chūjō Ijūin Gorō interrupted: "Of course, but the designs of the other nations are generally cheaper to build than we can. Our industry is underdeveloped and the Japanese shipyards are much less efficient. Per ton of shipping space, the large nations are much more powerful. We can only acknowledge that, but we can't keep up."
"Sure, but we don't have to do that in this form."
"What do you mean?" asked Kaigun-chūjō Kamimura Hikonojō.
"If we lack efficiency, then our ships are simply bigger!"
"Bigger?"
"We currently have the largest dry docks in the world. When it comes to size, Japan is second to none. Let's take advantage of this size!"
"Use the size?" asked Navy Minister Saitō Makoto.
"Let's build our ships by taking advantage of the last millimeter of dock size and the last gram that is possible."
"But that will be very expensive!"
"It will, gentlemen, but this is the only way our ships can keep up with those of our enemies."
"Enemies? Who do you define as the enemy?"
"The same nations that you declare enemies, Minister. The British Empire and the United States of America."
"Yes, I don't want to deny that!"
"So what exactly do you have to propose?"
"These are the early studies for a battleship – I named the design Hatsuse."
"40,000 tons, draft speed 24 knots, 8 15inch guns in 4 twin turrets, 8 8inch guns and 8 5inch guns. I call it an 8-8-8 artillery formation."
"That's too big!"
"This will very soon be the normal size of battleships, gentlemen."
"That will add up to a good hundred and forty million yen, if it's enough."
"This is madness. That will never be granted."
"It must be approved, gentlemen. That's your job."
"So far, we have achieved our successes with small and cheap torpedo boats. Guns have only caused us problems. Why should that change?"
"The time of torpedoes will not last. Consider the range of the 15inch guns. A direct hit on a torpedo boat is enough to tear it to pieces long before it comes within range of its torpedoes!"
"We won't get any further like this, gentlemen. Kaigun-daisa Satō Tetsutarō leave his sketches there. I would like to hear the opinion of our chief designer and the shipyards on this. Then we'll score again!"
+ + +
Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Friday, November 4, 1910
The navy apparently did not want to lose any time. At the end of October, row-white cruisers were docked and several conversions left the docks.
Osaki Satoshi began to wonder how the Navy could afford all this?
Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Monday, December 19, 1910
The end of the year brought approaching turbulent times for the Empire, everything else was bobbing along. Osaki Satoshi had finished the final work on his new domicile – the Tama region was really beautiful – and the new editorial team had also settled in, even if there was hardly anything to do.
+ + +
Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Friday, January 20, 1911
In January, there was suddenly a change to be observed. Although large parts of the Navy continued to be docked for overhaul, work began without notice in the country's largest dock, which was only recently completed.
There was no official announcement about this, but Kaigun-daisa Taketomi Kunikane had managed to find out details. At the end of last year, there was a secret meeting of the naval leadership and what happened in dock number one was the result of this meeting.
Project Hatsuse – the most ambitious design ever produced by Japanese shipbuilding designers.
If this ship is really built, it would be one of the best battleships in the world. This would make the Imperial Japanese Navy a naval power that no one could easily ignore. It was still only preparations, but why else was the dock prepared and kept clear and not used for the conversion of an old cruiser?
And that's not all. There were other names floating around. The names Project Kinugasa and Project Niitaka simply could not be overheard, even if one wanted to. They weren't battleships, that had been easy to find out. It had to be in the cruiser, but the details were well protected.
Osaki Satoshi was able to find out a little more about Project Hokaze. These were nine-hundred-ton torpedo boats, which were equipped for the first time with several centerline torpedo launchers, each with two torpedo tubes, and a speed of over thirty knots.
+ + +
"So much for the navy wants conversions and not new buildings. This is the most comprehensive new construction program in a long time."
"You have to give it to the navy, this Hatsuse is huge. This ship can compete with the Royal Navy."
"It can't, the guns are too bad compared to the British ones. In addition, the British will soon have dozens of such ships. We're talking about building one here."
"But there are still the other projects?"
"About which nothing is known."
"We won't get anywhere like this. We need more information. Both what the Imperial Navy will really commission, and what the Royal Navy, let's say, will already have by the end of the year – let's put it together."
"So we agree that the Royal Navy is the opponent of choice?"
"Look at the chart table, who's sitting in our backyard?"
"Great Britain, Germany and Russia."
"Russia is gone, they won't plunge into another adventure so quickly."
"So Great Britain and the German Empire?"
"Exactly! I'm sure the next step is that tensions with one of these two nations will grow to strange levels."
"And Italy?"
"This is a distraction – this must be a distraction! We have nothing to win against Italy. What did we want in the Mediterranean as long as other colonial powers in Asia are on our doorstep?"
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Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Monday, February 6, 1911
>> Great Britain responds with brutal force in Sierra Leone <<
The British Empire has crushed the uprising in Sierra Leone with brutal force. There is talk of thousands of dead insurgents. Allegedly, soldiers of the Empire have also looted and raped the civilian population of Sierra Leone.
British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon denies these allegations. Civilized and well-led soldiers of the Empire do not commit crimes among civilians. These accusations are an infamous lie to tarnish Britain's reputation in the world.
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Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Tuesday, April 11, 1911
In April, Osaki Satoshi finally had to throw his suspicions overboard. Tensions with France reached alarming proportions and he did not know why.
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Extra sheet of the Tōkyō Shinbun from Thursday, June 8, 1911
>> OIL, OIL! – GIGANTIC OIL FIELD DISCOVERED IN HOKKAIDŌ! <<
Gotō Shinpei, the chairman of the Japanese Government Railways (鉄道院 - Tetsudō-in), announced today that a large oil deposit has been discovered during work on the Hakodate line for Goryōkaku Station, which is scheduled to open at the end of the year. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_ ... t_Railways)
The deposit is so enormous that Japan now has an independent source of oil at its disposal for decades. However, Gotō Shinpei had to admit that the expected oil production from the Goryōkaku field necessitated a complete redesign of the railway line and the Goryōkaku station. It is currently unknown when the work on this section of the Hakodate route can now be completed.
Editorial Board of the Tōkyō Shinbun – Thursday, June 8, 1911
The news of the oil discoveries in the south of Hokkaidō hit like a grenade. This news would throw everything overboard, Osaki Satoshi was sure. He knew very well that oil-fired ships were much better, i.e. the previous coal-powered ships.
He immediately tried to get an interview at the Navy Ministry, but was denied. When he left the building, he could see how everyone who had rank and name in the navy stormed to the minister.
It seemed as if even the naval leadership had been completely taken by surprise by this news!
