At the very beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, the Varyag cruiser and the Koreets gunboat were in the neutral Korean port of Chemulpo at the disposal of the Russian embassy in Seoul. On February 9, 1904, the port was blocked by an armada of Japanese ships. The captain of the "Varyag" receives an ultimatum: to leave the port before 12 hours, otherwise Russian ships will be attacked in the raid. Honor did not allow the sailors to leave the port without a fight. For them to die in battle by real warriors was much better than living with the stigma of fleeing cowards. They swore allegiance to the Russian Empire and were faithful to their oath to the end. At noon on the same day, Russian ships proudly left the port. Upon leaving the port, they fall under the cross, merciless fire many times superior to the enemy. The Russian sailors were not at a loss, did not panic, but answered with dignity from all the guns, as befits a real soldier. Of course, by coincidence, our valiant ancestors could not win. Our proud "Varangian" receives serious damage, which does not allow to continue the battle and returns back to the port where it was flooded. In order to avoid the capture of the gunboat "Koreets", which suffered less, it was decided to explode it. The ships that were lost in battle are insensitive iron, but the people who controlled these ships made this iron a symbol of the valor and honor of Russian sailors. In the battle killed 30 Russian sailors and 1 officer. But also a huge Japanese flotilla not out of the battle without loss. From the report of Captain Rudnev: the Japanese also killed about 30 people, 1 destroyer was sunk and 4 damage to cruisers was damaged. And the Japanese side officially claims that it did not suffer any losses. The fact remains that the Japanese attacked our ships in neutral territory, not located in the war zone. Not about any samurai honor of conversation and can not be.
In 1905, the Japanese raised a Russian symbol of valor and honor and introduced it into their fleet. In 1916, Russia redeems the Varyag, and the St. George pennant was raised above it again. In 1917, the ship was sent to Glasgow for repairs, from where it will not return. It was confiscated by Great Britain against the debt of the tsarist government. The path of the “Varyag” in 1920 was completed: following the dismantling, the cruiser sat on the stones and sank off the coast of Southern Scotland, in the Firth of Clyde, near the village of Lendelfoot.
The battle of Chemulpo is a feat of the Russian sailors. The whole Europe was admired by the heroic act of “Varyag”, and even Japan, the Russian sailors acted according to the canons of samurai honor. Every citizen of Russia should know about the feat of "Varyag", but do they conceal it so. And if they know, then some people turn their tongues to say that the act of the sailors of the Varyag is nonsense, insanity. They did not change the general course of the war, but they showed the whole world, the Russians are ready to fight to the last drop of blood for their land and national interests. The feat is almost not covered in the media. Although the songs “Our enemy doesn’t give up to our proud Varyag” and “The cold waves shine” are devoted to him, in the USSR NXX the film “Cruiser Varyag” was shot. But it is negligible for the feat of this magnitude. The Russians do not know their heroes. But almost every day they watch on our television films of western cinema, in which they are glorified история, feats of their soldiers. We forget our story. On such acts as the feat of "Varyag", the youth of Russia should be brought up!