Editing Battle of Tsushima (section)

===British support===
[[File:Vote for the Conservatives Who Gave You the Alliance. (22487157297).jpg|thumb|left|Illustration by E.Huskinson for the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] c. 1905–1910.]]
The [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] assisted Japan by manufacturing guns{{efn|IJN almost exclusively used [[Elswick Ordnance Company|Armstrong]] guns on its heavier ships of the time. Cruisers {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Chitose||2}} and {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Kasagi||2}} were built in the US, but their main guns were Armstrong.  Cruisers {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Kasuga||2}} and {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Nisshin||2}} were built in Italy with Armstrong guns (Sir W.G. Armstrong & Company had a factory, [[:it:Stabilimenti meccanici di Pozzuoli|Stabilimenti meccanici di Pozzuoli]], in Italy). IJN licensed the design of [[EOC 8 inch 45 caliber|Armstrong 8"]] guns and had started producing it in 1902.}} and building battleships for the IJN.{{sfn|Brook|1999}}  As the ally in the [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]], the UK also assisted Japan in intelligence, finance, technology, training and other aspects of the war against Russia. At the time, Britain owned and controlled more harbour facilities around the world – specifically shipyards and [[coaling station]]s – than Russia and its allies (France,{{efn|See [[Franco-Russian Alliance]] for details.}} and to some extent Germany) combined. The UK also obstructed, where possible, Russian attempts to purchase ships and coal.{{sfn|British Assistance|1980}} France openly allowed the Baltic Fleet warships into [[Cherbourg]] and [[Tangier]] ports before and after the [[Dogger Bank Incident]];{{sfn|Corbett|2015b|pp=36-40}} and the UK formally protested in the post-Dogger Bank negotiations, pointing out that the neutral countries could not accept warships of the fighting countries into their ports without enforcing internment,{{efn|The time was in between [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907]], and international agreements were not formalised on naval warfare yet (except on hospital ships). This argument made by Great Britain, based on Section IV "On the Internment of belligerents and the care of the wounded in neutral countries," (Article 57) of the 1899 agreement (which says "A neutral State which receives in its territory troops belonging to the belligerent armies shall intern them"<ref>{{cite web|title=Laws of War: Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague II); July 29, 1899|url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/hague02.asp}}</ref>), may have been acceptable to most governments in the world at the time. However, as it was incorporated into the 1907 Convention, it said  "Belligerents are forbidden to use neutral ports and waters as a base of naval operations against their adversaries (Article 5)" with further articles permitting up to 24-hour stay (Article 12) for the maximum of three warships of a belligerent at war in any neutral port (Article 15) if the neutral power permitted.<ref>{{cite web|title=Laws of War: Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Naval War (Hague XIII); October 18, 1907|url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hague13.asp}}</ref>}} and if France is no longer neutral in the war, the UK is obligated to commence military action in support of Japan as required in the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.{{efn|The alliance required both countries to join the war if one of them faces "more than one" countries as the adversary. The Franco-Russian Alliance had a similar requirement, but in wars against Germany only. The French government had to accept the logic, as France did not wish to risk going into war against the UK, nor wish to give any excuse for the [[Royal Navy]] to attack the Russian warships with or without declaring war.}} As a result, the rendezvous point for Rozestvensky and Fölkersahm squadrons was changed from the port of [[Antsiranana|Diego Suarez]] to the waters around remote islands of [[Nosy Boraha|Île Sainte-Marie]] and [[Nosy Be]] in Madagascar,{{sfn|Novikov-Priboy|1937|loc=Book 1, Part 3, Chapter 1}} and free access to the ports including [[Saigon]] and [[Cam Ranh Bay#Ba Ngoi Port|Ba Ngoi port in Cam Ranh Bay]] was denied for the fleet in [[French Indochina]].{{efn|When the Rozestvensky squadron reached [[Dakar]] after leaving Tangier, the ships were allowed into the port and carry out coaling, but upon exchanges of telegram messages with Paris by the local authorities, they were banned from the port.{{sfn|Novikov-Priboy|1937|loc=Book 1, Chapter 2}} The German government, who had interned {{ship|Russian battleship|Tsesarevich}} at [[Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory|Qingdao]] on 11 August 1904, took a lenient stance towards the squadron as a neutral power in the war. After the Dakar stop, the Rozestvensky squadron reached [[Lüderitz Bay|Angra Pequena Bay]] in [[German South West Africa]] on 15 November 1904 (Gregorian), and the local [[Lüderitz]] authorities, busy in the [[Herero and Namaqua genocide]], did not object to the mooring and coaling in the port until their departure on 21 November 1904.{{sfn|Novikov-Priboy|1937|loc=Book 1, Chapter 2}}}}

This support created a major logistics problem for around the world deployment of the Baltic Fleet to the Pacific in procuring coal and supplies on the way.{{sfn|Corbett|2015b|pp=142, 161, 193}}<ref>{{cite web |last=Gray |first=Steven |publisher=University of Portsmouth |title=Fuelling mobility: coal and Britain's naval power, c. 1870–1914|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/83937265.pdf|access-date=26 October 2020|archive-date=27 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227192443/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/83937265.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> At [[Nosy Be]] in [[Madagascar]] and at [[Camranh Bay]], [[French Indochina]], the fleet was forced to be anchored for about two months each, seriously degrading morale of the crew. By the time it reached the [[Sea of Japan]], the hulls of all the ships in the fleet were heavily [[Biofouling|fouled]] in addition to carrying the extra coal otherwise not required on deck.{{sfn|Horne|2015|p=74}}{{efn|name=refusal|The [[Hamburg America Line|Hamburg-American Steamship Line]] refused to provide coaling beyond French Indochina.<ref name=rngs />}}

The Japanese ships, on the other hand, were well maintained in the ample time given by the intelligence.  For example, battleship {{ship|Japanese battleship|Asahi||2}} was under repair from November 1904 to April 1905 at [[Sasebo Naval Arsenal]] for two 12-inch guns lost and serious damage to the hull from striking a mine.  They were divided into battle divisions of as much uniform speed and gun range so that a fleet would not suffer a bottleneck in speed, and the range of guns would not render some ships useless within a group in extended-range combat.{{sfn|Mahan|1906|pages=314–315}}{{efn|name=order}}

At the end of the [[Argentine–Chilean naval arms race]] in 1903, two Chilean-ordered and British-built battleships (then called ''Constitución'' and ''Libertad'') and two Argentine-ordered, Italian-built cruisers (then called ''Bernardino Rivadavia'' and ''Mariano Moreno'') were offered to Russia and the purchase was about to be finalized.<ref name=Arg-Chile>Imperial Japanese Navy Records, Navy General Office Intelligence, 1904 Nr. 418 on p. 4 (p. 58 in the original) (in Japanese) https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/das/image/C09050537400?IS_KIND=DetailSummary {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625040208/https://www.jacar.archives.go.jp/das/image/C09050537400?IS_KIND=DetailSummary|date=25 June 2022}}</ref> Britain stepped in as the mediator of [[Pacts of May]] that ended the race, bought the Chilean battleships (which became {{HMS|Swiftsure|1903|6}} and {{HMS|Triumph|1903|6}}), and brokered the sale of Argentine cruisers to Japan.{{efn|The Imperial Russia also tried to purchase Argentine cruisers [[ARA General Belgrano (1896)|''General Belgrano'']] and [[ARA Pueyrredón|''Pueyrredón'']], and Chilean cruisers [[Chilean cruiser Esmeralda (1883)|''Esmeralda'']] and [[Chilean cruiser Chacabuco (1898)|''Chacabuco'']], all of which were also blocked by Great Britain.{{sfn|British Assistance|1980|pages=49–51}}<ref name=Arg-Chile />}} This support not only limited the growth of the Imperial Russian Navy but also helped IJN in obtaining the Italian-built cruisers (IJN {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Kasuga||2}} and {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Nisshin||2}}) with a strong armour design{{Efn|Being in the [[Giuseppe Garibaldi-class cruiser|Giuseppe Garibaldi class]] of armoured cruisers, and ordered by Argentina with the likelihood of facing the Chilean battleships in mind, they were the forerunners of the later [[battlecruiser]]s. The design prioritised on heavy armour at the expense of speed and cruise range which were important for other designs for [[commerce raiding]]/protection. The [[Regia Marina|Royal Italian Navy]] ranked this class of warships as 2nd-class battleships.{{sfn|Brook|1999|p=100}}}} that enabled IJN to use them on the main line of battle along with the heavier-armoured battleships.{{sfn|García|1998}}{{efn|Effectively replacing the two battleships previously lost in the war, the {{ship|Japanese battleship|Hatsuse||2}} and {{ship|Japanese battleship|Yashima||2}}.}}