Editing Battle of Tsushima (section)

===Commander and crew experience===
Admiral Rozhestvensky faced a more combat-experienced battleship admiral in [[Tōgō Heihachirō]]. Admiral Tōgō had already killed two Russian admirals: [[Stepan Makarov]] outside of Port Arthur in the battleship ''Petropavlovsk'' in April 1904, then [[Wilgelm Vitgeft]] in his battleship {{ship|Russian battleship|Tsesarevich||2}} in August of the same year. Before those two deaths, Tōgō had chased Admiral [[Oskar Starck]], also flying his flag in the ''Petropavlovsk'', off the battlefield.
Admiral Tōgō and his men had two battleship fleet action experiences, which amounted to over four hours of combat experience in battleship-to-battleship combat at [[Battle of Port Arthur|Port Arthur]] and the [[Battle of the Yellow Sea|Yellow Sea]].{{sfn|Forczyk|2009|pages=43, 73}}
The Japanese fleets had practiced gunnery extensively since the beginning of the war, using [[sub-caliber round|sub-calibre]] practice guns{{efn|Large calibre long barrel rifle with special mounts to be centered in the bore}}  mounted in their larger guns.{{efn|name=practice}}{{efn|name=subc|As an indication of unusually high level of gunnery training Tōgō applied to the fleet, the [[Maizuru Naval Arsenal]] requested an increase in 1905 fiscal year budget for additional 40,000 rounds of sub-calibre practice ammunition on 17 May 1905 for ''Mikasa'', 34,000 rounds for cruiser ''Nisshin'', 1,000 rounds per gun for destroyer ''Sazanami'', among others, as they depleted annual allocations merely one and a half months into the fiscal year (Fiscal years begin on 1 April).  These requests were all approved by the Fleet Management Dept. of the Naval Ministry for the entire fleet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2008012516051365589&ID=M2008012516051465594&REFCODE=C06091642400|title=Office of the Navy Minister, Record Nr. 1963, 1905 (in Japanese)|access-date=11 May 2022|archive-date=11 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511124605/https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/listPhoto?LANG=default&BID=F2008012516051365589&ID=M2008012516051465594&REFCODE=C06091642400|url-status=live}}</ref>}}{{efn|The Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron departed Libau with small supply of sub-calibre practice ammunition.  The transport ''Irtysh'' was loaded with additional practice ammunition for the squadron, but was delayed in departure due to an accident, and was left behind at Libau for repair. The Russian Admiralty decided to unload the ammunition, send it via the Trans-Siberian railroad to Vladivostok, and reload the ship with coal, without notifying Rozhestvensky (who was promoted to rear admiral on the strength of founding the gunnery training school of the Baltic Fleet.{{sfn|Novikov-Priboy|1937|loc=Book 2, Chapter 3}}), who learned about the decision after reaching Madagascar. The squadron conducted four practice sessions each at Nosy Be and Cam Ranh Bay.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vk-spy.ru/en/health-and-beauty/2-tihookeanskaya-eskadra-sostav-i-harakteristika-korablei/|title=Second pacific squadron composition and characteristics of ships. Command structure and tactical organization. Passage from Indochina to the Korea Strait|last=Bykov|first=((P.D., Captain 1st Rank))|language=ru}}</ref>}}

In contrast, {{ship|Russian battleship|Borodino|up=yes}} underwent [[sea trials]] from 23 August to 13 September 1904<ref name=rngs /> as a brand new ship upon her completion,{{sfn|McLaughlin|2003|pages=136–143}} and the new crew did not have much time for training before she set sail for the Pacific on 15 October 1904. ''Borodino''{{'}}s sister ship, {{ship|Russian battleship|Knyaz Suvorov||2}}, started trials on 9 August, {{ship|Russian battleship|Oryol||2}}{{efn|name=Oryol}} started trials the latest on 10 September 1904, leaving {{ship|Russian battleship|Imperator Aleksandr III||2}} (the trials finished in October 1903) as the only {{sclass|Borodino|battleship|0}} ship actually ready for deployment.<ref name=rngs />{{efn|See the articles on {{ship|Russian battleship|Knyaz Suvorov}}, {{ship|Russian battleship|Oryol}}, and {{ship|Russian battleship|Imperator Aleksandr III}}.}} As the Imperial Russian Navy planned on building 10 ''Borodino''-class battleships (5 were ultimately built) with the requirement for thousands of additional crewmen, the basic training, quality and experience of the crew and cadets were far lower<ref>{{cite web|title=Imperial Japanese Navy Records, Navy Office Intelligence Nr. 433|date=12 November 1904|page=0101|quote= quoted a telegram dated 10 November 1904 from Consul Mitsuhashi ([[:ja:三橋信方|Mitsuhashi Nobukata, later Mayor of Yokohama City]]) at [[Copenhagen]] and [[The Hague]], stating "Two Danish harbor pilots who went aboard the fleet flagship and ''Admiral Nakhimov'' in the Danish waters said the officers including the fleet commander seemed tense and irritable, while the crew appeared to be a bunch of fodders."|url=https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/image_C09050537400?IS_KIND=DetailSummary|language=ja|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018184844/https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/aj/meta/image_C09050537400?IS_KIND=DetailSummary|archive-date=18 October 2020}}</ref> than those onboard the battleships in the seasoned Pacific Fleet.{{sfn|Forczyk|2009|p=36}}

[[File:"The Hamburg- American Line" "Twin Screw Express Steamers" 1899 ad in The Mail and Express (New York City), from- A pictorial description of Broadway from The Mail and Express Advertisement 14 (cropped).jpg|frameless|upright=1.05|right]] [[File:"The Greatest Steamship Company in the World" "Twin Screw Express Service" 1899 ad in The Mail and Express (New York City), from- A pictorial description of Broadway from The Mail and Express Advertisement 14 (cropped).jpg|upright=1|right|thumb|1899 ad in The Mail and Express of New York]]
The [[Admiralty Board (Russian Empire)|Imperial Russian Admiralty Council]] (Адмиралтейств-совет) and the rest of the Admiralty were quite aware of this disadvantage, and opposed the September dispatch plan{{efn|The official departure date from Kronstadt was 11 September 1904.<ref>Lindsay, Captain A.B. (1907) for {{harvnb|Semenoff|1907|page=xxii in Translator's Preface}}.</ref>}} for the following reasons:
<blockquote>1. The Japanese navy has completed the battle preparations with all the crew having some combat experience.
2. The long voyage is mostly through extreme tropical weather, so a meaningful training is practically impossible on the way.
3. Therefore, the newly created Second Pacific Fleet should conduct training in the Baltic until the next spring while waiting for the [[Fitting out|rigging]] of another battleship, {{ship|Russian battleship|Slava||2}},{{efn|Launched on 29 August 1903. Commissioned in October 1905. The last of ''Borodino''-class ships.}} and the purchase of Chilean and Argentine warships.{{efn|See [[#British support]]}}<ref name=rngs /></blockquote>

However, at the council in the imperial presence on 23 August 1904 held at the [[Peterhof Grand Palace]], this opinion was overruled by Admiral Rozhestvensky (Commander in Chief of the Fleet), [[Theodor Avellan|Navy Minister Avellan]], and [[Nicholas II of Russia|Tsar Nicholas II]]; for it was deemed impossible to re-arrange the massive coaling for the long voyage if the navy broke the contract that was already signed with [[Hamburg America Line|Hamburg-American Steamship Line]] of Germany.<ref name=rngs />