How the 1st Pacific Squadron Perished
The fourth assault
On October 17 (30), 1904, after a serious artillery preparations that had noticeably weakened the strength of the defense, the Japanese General Nogi gave the order to begin the third assault (120 years of the heroic defense of Port Arthur).
The assault lasted until October 20 (November 2) and was repelled. The Japanese were able to occupy only a few secondary fortifications. A stubborn, brutal two-month positional struggle with bayonets, shovels and grenades began.
But the Japanese tried to take Port Arthur by storm once more. In early November, the 3rd Japanese Army was reinforced by a new 7th Infantry Division, bringing the army's combat strength to 55-60 thousand bayonets. The Russians could counter them with about 18 thousand fighters. The attack was carried out from two sides: along the Eastern Front and on Mount Vysokaya on the Western Front. The 9-day decisive battle of the entire siege was fought for Mount Vysokaya.
On November 13 (26), 1904, the fourth assault began. Having suffered failures in the attack on the Eastern Front, Forts No. 2 and 3, Nogi decided to conduct a surprise night attack at the junction of the Eastern and Northern Fronts. For this, volunteers were gathered - more than 3 thousand fighters. The strike group was called the "White Suspension Detachment". The white suspenders served as a landmark in the dark. The detachment was commanded by General Nakamura.
On the night of November 14 (27), a Japanese detachment, having gathered at the Kumirnensky redoubt, rushed with bayonets without firing and captured the Kurgan battery, reaching the rear of the Eastern Front. The defense of Port Arthur hung by a thread. But then the Japanese detachment was attacked by a group of Russian sailors - 80 people. Lieutenant Myasnikov's half-company. The sailors attacked the enemy from the mountain, in pitch darkness. The onslaught of a handful of fighters was so unexpected, swift and furious that the Japanese wavered and retreated.
Battle for High
From November 14 (27), Japanese artillery fire was concentrated on Mount Vysokaya. The Japanese went to storm the commanding heights, but were repulsed. On November 15 (28), General Nogi concentrated the fire of all army artillery on Mount Vysokaya. The mountain turned into a volcano. One furious attack followed another. They were all repelled. On November 16 (29), the Japanese threw fresh forces into the battle, but also unsuccessfully.
On November 17, the Japanese created a "fire hell", firing up to 4000 11-inch shells alone. Masses of dust from the explosions clogged the rifle bolts. The Japanese were thrown off the mountain with bayonets. On the 18th, the attacks were already weak, the Japanese were exhausted. From November 19 to 21, the Japanese took a break, rested, and brought up reserves. On November 22 (December 5), they attacked again. High Fall.
In the battles for Vysoka, the Japanese army lost up to 12 thousand soldiers and officers, and about 18 thousand on the entire front. The losses of Russian troops on Vysoka reached 4,5 thousand people, and on the entire front exceeded 6 thousand people.
"The struggle for the High Mountain was a battle of giants; no country in its most glorious era stories “Never put soldiers into the field who fought with such tenacity, courage and contempt for death as the Russian and Japanese infantry did in those days,”
— wrote the French general Grandpré. 
On the Hill After the Storm. Artist: N. S. Samokish
The situation for the garrison became critical. By the beginning of December, there were up to 14 thousand people left in the garrison, exhausted by the lack of food, but still strong in spirit. Due to the half-starved existence, "people became shadows." There were up to 10 thousand wounded and sick with scurvy in the hospitals. The forts could fall at any moment: the Japanese had laid mines under them. The 2nd defensive line ("Eagle's Nests") and the 3rd (near the city itself) were significantly weaker than the lost positions; they could not be held for long.
On December 2 (15), 1904, General Kondratenko passed away, having died while patrolling Fort No. 2. The explosion of a 280 mm shell killed the commander of the land front and 8 officers. Port Arthur lost its soul.
Cover of the magazine "Chronicle of the War with Japan" with news about the death of General Kondratenko
The death of the squadron
"Now Arthur's agony has begun!" General Kondratenko said that evening. Having captured Vysokaya, the Japanese set up an observation post there to adjust artillery fire and opened fire from 11-inch howitzers (280 mm) on the ships of the Port Arthur squadron.
From November 22 to 28 (December 5–11) the Japanese fired on our 1st Pacific fleet. The first to perish was the battleship Poltava. On November 22 at 13:30 it was hit by a 280-mm shell, which penetrated the left side, the armored deck, and exploded in the 47-mm shell magazine. A strong fire broke out, heating up the bulkheads, and the flooding system did not function, having been disabled by previous shelling.
An attempt to extinguish the fire with hoses, pouring water through the shell elevator and ventilation pipes, was unsuccessful, the water quickly flowed out through shrapnel holes. Due to the high temperature, at about 14 p.m. the main caliber semi-charges exploded (about 2 tons of gunpowder). As a result, many watertight bulkheads and fire mains were destroyed, one lower rank died and 10 more were wounded (there were about 50 people on the ship). With the help of the steamship Silach, the fire was extinguished. But by 14:45 p.m. Poltava sat on the ground, sinking almost to the upper deck.
Cover of the magazine "Chronicle of the War with Japan" with the news of the death of General Kondratenko
The squadron battleship Pobeda, which had already received several hits from Japanese 120- and 280-mm shells in September and October, received five shells on November 23, and another 23 the following day (out of 270 fired). The watertight bulkheads were damaged in many places, so water spread throughout the ship. The ship listed heavily to starboard. To reduce the list, the commander ordered six side corridors on the port side, the port engine room, and two coal pits to be flooded. The list decreased, but the ship sat on the ground with its entire bottom. As night fell, the crew abandoned Pobeda.
The sunken battleship Pobeda (right) and cruiser Pallada (left) in Port Arthur
The squadron battleship Retvizan, which became the flagship, was hit by four 26 mm and three 19 mm shells between September 280 and October 120, but did not cause serious damage. On November 22, the flagship was hit by eight shells, and several people were wounded, including the fleet commander, Rear Admiral Robert Wiren.
On November 23, the shelling of the battleship continued. On that day, Retvizan was hit by 14 280-mm and six 150-mm shells. Around 16 p.m., the ship ran aground with a list to the left side. One person died and six were wounded. The ammunition was removed from the ship at night. On the 24th, the crew abandoned the ship.
The grounded battleship Retvizan
On November 23, the squadron battleship Peresvet received five hits from 280-mm shells, but the main target for the Japanese was the Retvizan. Having finished with it, the next day the enemy set about Peresvet, achieving 20 hits from 280-mm shells. After ten hits, a strong fire began, and the commander of the battleship, Captain 2nd Rank Dmitriev, fearing an explosion of the magazines, ordered the kingstones to be opened. The ship ran aground.
After the capture of Port Arthur, the English journalist G. Sepping-Wright visited the Peresvet. He recalled:
“The deck presented a picture of destruction and devastation… The forward turret was half-destroyed, the guns and machine tools were smashed to pieces… A shell had knocked off the top of the turret, and its roof was lying on the deck. The rest of the turret was completely loose and resembled a burst pomegranate. The bridge was destroyed, and the shell that hit the conning tower had rendered it completely unusable. Everything was sooty and twisted from the action of the fire. The fire finished off the destruction of everything that had survived the action of the Japanese shells. The smoke stacks were badly damaged: one of them looked like an ugly heap of bent iron. The rear bridge was in the same state of destruction as the front one, although the fire raging on the battleship smoothed out many traces of the damage inflicted by the Japanese shells.”
The battleship Peresvet raised by the Japanese in Port Arthur. 1905. On June 29, 1905, Peresvet was raised by the Japanese, renamed Sagami (the ancient name of the Japanese province of Kanagawa), and ceremoniously included in the Japanese fleet. It made the journey to Sasebo under its own power. Repairs in the dock continued until August 17, after which the ship headed to Tokyo Bay to participate in a parade dedicated to the victorious end of the war.
Having finished with the battleships standing in the inner roadstead, on November 25 (December 8) the Japanese began to destroy other ships. They again transferred fire to the armored cruiser Bayan, which had already been damaged in October. From 9 am to 17 pm, up to 320 shells were fired at the cruiser. Four of the ten shells that hit the cruiser were 280 mm. Having no underwater holes, the ship sank into the water, as the compartments filled with water as a result of fighting the fires. By midday on November 26 (December 9), the cruiser, filled with water, with a 15-degree list to the left side, lay with its entire hull on the bottom of the Eastern Basin. On the same day, November 25 (December 8), the armored deck cruiser Pallada was destroyed.
It is worth noting that the Russian command did not bother to finish off the ships. The Japanese, after capturing Port Arthur, raised them from the ground, repaired them and introduced them into their fleet.
"Retvizan" ("Hizen") in the Japanese fleet. Soon after the capture of Port Arthur, the Japanese began to raise the Russian ships that had run aground, fortunately the water barely reached their upper decks, and only during high tide. By the end of 1908, of the 12 battleships in service in the Japanese fleet, exactly half were former Russian ships. "Retvizan" was raised on September 22, 1905 and renamed "Hizen" (the name of one of the old Japanese provinces). Initial repairs were carried out in Port Arthur (or Ryojun - the city was also renamed by the new owners), then the ship was towed to Sasebo. Full repair work was completed only in November 1908.
The feat of "Sevastopol"
The ship commanders took no measures to save or destroy their ships. Only the determined captain Nikolai von Essen tried to save his squadron battleship Sevastopol, and the ship lastly endured a 7-day battle from November 26 (December 9) to December 3 (16), 1904 with all the destroyer forces of the Japanese fleet.
On August 10, Sevastopol hit a mine during a raid and was repaired only on October 24. On November 9, the naval commanders discussed taking the remaining ships out to sea, but such a breakthrough was considered pointless. By November 25, almost all the large ships had perished without a fight. Wiren allowed Essen to go to the outer roadstead.
At night, the battleship moved to Bely Volk Bay, where they began to prepare to break the blockade. It was necessary to install the dismantled 152-mm guns and increase the crew (there were 100 sailors left on the ship). The next day, the crew was increased to 300 people, anti-torpedo nets were installed, and they began loading coal and ammunition. They also began to build booms around the battleship. The standard nets did not protect the bow and stern, so the bow was protected with overhead nets, but the stern had to be left open.
Essen was planning to try to break through to the sea one of the next nights and join up with the 2nd Pacific Squadron, which was in the Madagascar area at that time.
Nikolai Ottovich von Essen (December 11, 1860, St. Petersburg - May 7, 1915, Revel)
The enemy did not immediately notice the exit of the Sevastopol, firing over 26 9-mm shells at its old anchorage on the morning of November 300 (December 280). In the afternoon, when the weather cleared, the battleship was discovered, and Admiral Togo decided to attack it with destroyers.
On the night of November 27, six Japanese destroyers of the 9th and 15th detachments launched torpedoes, but from such a long distance there was no effect. The following night, destroyers of the 10th, 14th, 15th and 20th detachments went on the attack, but they had to turn back due to strong winds. The attack on the night of November 29 was again hampered by bad weather, although the Japanese fired torpedoes at the battleship from afar, but without success.
On the night of November 30, the Japanese launched a decisive attack. Seven destroyers from the 7th and 14th detachments, as well as two mine boats from the battleships Mikasa and Fuji, took part in the operation. They were covered by the 20th destroyer detachment. Sevastopol was guarded by the gunboat Otvazhny and seven destroyers – all that remained of the squadron. Bon was still not ready, and one of the torpedoes exploded in the bow overhead net, causing cracks in the underwater plating up to 10 m long, which flooded the underwater mine apparatus compartment.
Two Japanese destroyers and both boats were damaged. According to Russian sailors, one destroyer was sunk by a 305 mm shell, although the Japanese do not admit this.
Sevastopol
On the night of December 1, the Japanese decided to try to attack with small destroyers. But one destroyer hit a mine and was lost. The torpedoes fired by the Japanese missed.
On the night of December 2, the Japanese threw almost all their available forces into the battle - 23 destroyers, as well as a torpedo boat from the Fuji. About 30 torpedoes were launched, most of which exploded on the boom and in the anti-torpedo nets. Again, the planking in the bow was damaged by a nearby explosion. According to our information, a boat from the Pobeda under the command of quartermaster Apalinov managed to torpedo a Japanese torpedo boat, another one - No. 42 - was sunk by a torpedo from the torpedo boat Serdity, commanded by Lieutenant S. I. Dmitriev. Several Japanese torpedo boats were damaged.
On the night of December 3, the Japanese were successful. Nine destroyers scored two hits on the ship's mains, which damaged the plating and flooded a number of compartments. But the third torpedo, which hit the unprotected stern, was critical. As a result of its explosion, the steering compartment and adjacent compartments were flooded. The Japanese also managed to damage the destroyer Storozhevoy with a torpedo, and a steam launch was destroyed when a torpedo exploded that hit the battleship.
During all the attacks, the Japanese launched about 80 torpedoes, lost two destroyers (No. 42 and 53), and another 13 were seriously damaged.
The list of the battleship reached 8 degrees, the ship was no longer able to go to sea. It began to perform the function of a floating battery, Essen was appointed head of the Liaote-Shan Fortress Defense Department.
The last shooting at the enemy was carried out by Sevastopol on December 19, and in the evening an order was received to scuttle the remaining ships afloat in connection with the surrender of the fortress. The next day, the battleship, on which the rudder did not work and there were only 40 crew members, was taken out to deep water with the help of the steamship Silach and scuttled at a depth of 50 meters.
All other large ships of the Russian squadron, with the exception of the Petropavlovsk, which was lost to a mine, were raised by the Japanese and put into service.
The last photograph of the battleship Sevastopol, taken after the torpedo hit on December 3, 1904. The list to starboard is clearly visible.
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