Today in History ^05/27/18

(1905) First naval battle of its kind pits Russia vs. Japan

The first and only ‘decisive’ naval battle fought by modern steel battleship fleets, and also the first in which radio communications play a decisive role, the Battle of Tsushima will result in a crushing blow to the mighty Russian Imperial Navy, as Japanese forces destroy almost their entire fleet.

The Battle of Tsushima, also known as the Battle of Tsushima Strait and the Naval Battle of the Sea of Japan in Japan, was a major naval battle fought between Russia and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. It was naval history’s only decisive sea battle fought by modern steel battleship fleets, and the first naval battle in which wireless telegraphy played a critically important role. It has been characterized as the “dying echo of the old era – for the last time in the history of naval warfare, ships of the line of a beaten fleet surrendered on the high seas”.

Start date: May 27, 1905
End date: May 28, 1905

Russian battleship Oslyabya, the first warship sunk in the battle
wiki/Battle_of_Tsushima

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(1905) First naval battle of its kind pits Russia vs. Japan.
Also on this day,
1831 | Jedediah Smith killed
1937 | Landmark opening
1994 | Solzhenitsyn goes home