Editing Battle of Tsushima (section)

===First contact===
[[File:Japanese Fleet Proceeding Toward The Baltic Fleet.jpg|thumb|Departure of the Japanese Combined Fleet in the morning of 27 May 1905]]

Because the Russians wanted to slip undetected into Vladivostok, they approached Japanese waters in radio silence. They steered outside regular shipping channels to reduce the chance of detection. On the night of 26 May 1905 the Russian fleet approached the [[Tsushima Strait]].{{sfn|Launiainen|2018|p=1}}

In the night, thick fog blanketed the straits, giving the Russians an advantage. At 02:45 on 27 May [[Japan Standard Time]] (JST), the Japanese [[auxiliary cruiser]] {{ship||Shinano Maru|1900|2}} observed three lights on what appeared to be a vessel on the distant horizon and closed to investigate. These lights were from the Russian hospital ship ''Orel'',{{efn|name=Oryol|Battleship ''Oryol'' and the hospital ship ''Orel'' had the same name ''{{Lang|ru|Орёл}}'' in Russian, meaning "Eagle".  As two different spellings have traditionally been used in English for this Russian word, this article uses "''Oryol''" for the battleship and "''Orel''" for the hospital ship for clarity.}} which, in compliance with the [[rules of war]], had continued to burn them.{{sfn|Watts|1990|page=22}} At 04:30, ''Shinano Maru'' approached the vessel, noting that she carried no guns and appeared to be an auxiliary. The ''Orel'' mistook the ''Shinano Maru'' for another Russian vessel and did not attempt to notify the fleet. Instead, she signaled to ''Shinano Maru'' in Russian code, which made no sense to the Japanese ship. The ''Shinano Maru'' then sighted the shapes of ten other Russian ships in the mist.

Wireless telegraphy played an important role from the start. At 04:55, [[:ja:成川揆|Captain Narikawa]] of the ''Shinano Maru'' sent a message to the Combined Fleet command onboard ''Mikasa'' in [[Masampo]] that the "Enemy is in grid 203".  By 05:00, intercepted radio signals informed the Russians that they had been discovered and that Japanese scouting cruisers were shadowing them. Admiral Tōgō received the message at 05:05, and immediately began to prepare his battle fleet for a sortie.{{sfn|Nish|2022|page=107}}