Editing Battle of Tsushima (section)

===Conflict in the Far East===
[[File:View of Port Arthur and Imperial Russian Leaders.png|thumb|right|upright=1.5|View of [[Lüshun Port|Port Arthur]] with Imperial Russian leaders. From left, Ambassador to China, [[:ru:Лессар, Павел Михайлович|Pavel Lessard]]; Ambassador to Japan, [[Roman Rosen]]; Minister of Navy, [[Theodor Avellan]]; Minister of Army, [[Vladimir Viktorovich Sakharov|Vladimir Sakharov]]: Interior Minister, [[Vyacheslav von Plehve]]; Foreign Minister, [[Vladimir Lamsdorf|Vladimir Lambsdorff]]; Prince [[Dmitry Khilkov]]; Finance Minister, [[Sergei Witte]]; Viceroy [[Yevgeni Ivanovich Alekseyev|Yevgeni Alekseyev]].]]
On 8 February 1904, destroyers of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] launched a surprise attack on the Russian Far East Fleet anchored in [[Lüshun Port#Lüshun Naval Base|Port Arthur]]; three ships – two battleships and a cruiser – were damaged in the attack. The Russo-Japanese war had thus begun. Japan's first objective was to secure its lines of communication and supply to the Asian mainland, enabling it to conduct a ground war in [[Manchuria]]. To achieve this, it was necessary to neutralize Russian naval power in the Far East. At first, the Russian naval forces remained inactive and did not engage the Japanese, who staged unopposed landings in Korea. The Russians were revitalised by the arrival of Admiral [[Stepan Makarov]] and were able to achieve some degree of success against the Japanese, but on 13 April Makarov's flagship, the battleship {{ship|Russian battleship|Petropavlovsk|1894|2}}, struck a mine and sank; Makarov was among the dead.{{sfn|Sondhaus|2001|p=188}} His successors failed to challenge the Japanese Navy, and the remaining six Russian battleships{{efn|{{ship|Russian battleship|Tsesarevich||2}}, {{ship|Russian battleship|Retvizan||2}}, {{ship|Russian battleship|Pobeda||2}}, {{ship|Russian battleship|Peresvet||2}}, {{ship|Russian battleship|Poltava||2}} and {{ship|Russian battleship|Sevastopol|1895|2}}}} and five armoured cruisers{{Efn|{{ship|Russian cruiser|Askold||2}}, {{ship|Russian cruiser|Pallada||2}}, {{ship|Russian cruiser|Diana||2}}, {{ship|Russian cruiser|Novik||2}} and {{ship|Russian cruiser|Bayan||2}}}} were effectively bottled up in their base at Port Arthur.

By May, the Japanese had landed forces on the [[Liaodong Peninsula]] and in August began the [[siege of Port Arthur|siege of the naval station]]. On 9 August, Admiral [[Wilgelm Vitgeft]], commander of the 1st Pacific Squadron, was ordered to sortie his fleet to [[Vladivostok]],{{sfn|Forczyk|2009|page=48}} link up with the Squadron stationed there, and then engage the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in a decisive battle.{{sfn|Forczyk|2009|pages=26, 54}} Both squadrons of the [[Russian Pacific Fleet]] would ultimately become dispersed during the [[Battle of the Yellow Sea]], where Admiral Vitgeft was killed by a [[salvo]] strike from the {{ship|Japanese battleship|Asahi|up=yes}} on 10 August, and the [[Battle off Ulsan]] on 14 August 1904. What remained of Russian Pacific naval power would [[Siege of Port Arthur#Destruction of the Russian Pacific fleet|eventually be sunk in Port Arthur]] in December 1904.{{sfn|Sondhaus|2001|p=189}}