Editing Battle of Tsushima (section)

===Daylight action===
[[File:Oslyabya1903Bizerte.jpg|thumb|Russian battleship ''Oslyabya'', the first warship sunk in the battle]]
{{Further|#Timeline}}

The Russians sailed from south-southwest to north-northeast; "continuing to a point of intersection which allowed only their bow guns to bear; enabling him [Tōgō] to throw most of the Russian batteries successively out of bearing."{{sfn|Mahan|1906|page=458}} The Japanese fleet steamed from northeast to southwest, then Tōgō ordered the fleet to turn 180-degrees in sequence, which enabled his ships to take the same course as the Russians. Although Tōgō's U-turn was successful, Russian [[Naval artillery|gunnery]] had proven surprisingly good and the flagship ''Mikasa'' was hit 15 times in five minutes.  Before the end of the engagement, she was struck 15 more times by large calibre shells.{{sfn|Busch|1969|pages=150, 161, 163}} Rozhestvensky had only two alternatives, "a charge direct, in line abreast", or to commence "a formal [[pitched battle]]."{{sfn|Mahan|1906|page=458}} He chose the latter, and at 14:08, the Japanese flagship ''Mikasa'' was hit at about 7,000 metres, with the Japanese replying at 6,400 meters. Superior Japanese gunnery then took its toll,{{sfn|Sondhaus|2001|p=191}} with most of the Russian battleships being crippled.

Captain 2nd Rank Vladimir Semenoff, a Russian staff officer aboard the flagship {{ship|Russian battleship|Knyaz Suvorov||2}}, said "It seemed impossible even to count the number of projectiles striking us. Shells seemed to be pouring upon us incessantly one after another. The steel plates and superstructure on the upper decks were torn to pieces, and the splinters caused many casualties. Iron ladders were crumpled up into rings, guns were literally hurled from their mountings. In addition to this, there was the unusually high temperature and liquid flame of the explosion, which seemed to spread over everything. I actually watched a steel plate catch fire from a burst."{{sfn|Regan|1992|page=177}}{{sfn|Semenoff|1907|pages=62–63}}

Ninety minutes into the battle, the first warship to be sunk was the {{ship|Russian battleship|Oslyabya|up=yes}} from Rozhestvensky's 2nd Battleship division.{{efn|According to Semenoff,{{sfn|Semenoff|1907|page=158}} a rescued officer of ''Oslyabya'' said later on destroyer ''Buyniy'', "it was three Japanese shells accidentally hitting nearly the same spot on the waterline below the forward turret, creating a huge hole that caused the hull to almost heel over on the spot and settled under-water" that sunk ''Oslyabya''.|name=Oslyabya}} This was the first time a modern armoured warship had been sunk by gunfire alone.{{sfn|Busch|1969|pages=159–160}}

A direct hit on the {{ship|Russian battleship|Borodino|up=yes}}'s magazines by the Japanese battleship ''Fuji'' caused her to explode, which sent smoke thousands of metres into the air and trapped all but one{{efn|name=yushchin|Spotter, foreman Semyon Semyonovich Yushchin, who swam out of a casemate, held onto a floating debris, and was picked up by Japanese destroyer ''Oboro'' in the night.<ref>{{cite journal|title=St. Petersburg Gazette|journal=Issue No.55|date=10 March 1906|page=col.23|language=ru}}</ref>}} of her crew onboard as she sank.{{sfn|Regan|1992|page=177}} Rozhestvensky was knocked out of action by a shell fragment that struck his skull. In the evening, Rear Admiral [[Nikolai Nebogatov]] took over command of the Russian fleet. The Russians lost the battleships ''Knyaz Suvorov'', ''Oslyabya'', {{ship|Russian battleship|Imperator Aleksandr III|1901|2}} and ''Borodino''. The Japanese ships suffered only light damage.