The Fleet That Had to Die

On the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 Russia's Baltic Fleet was sent to the aid of embattled troops in Russia's Chinese enclaves.

Most observers thought that the Russians would have little trouble defeating Japanese naval forces.

The two fleets met at Tsushima on May 27, 1905. What followed was perhaps the greatest naval victory of all time.

At a cost of three torpedo boats, the Japanese admiral Togo sank three Russian battleships and much of the rest of the fleet.A stunned Europe awoke to the presence of a new world power and shocked public reaction in Russia led directly to the fall of the Czar twelve years later.

The acclaimed author of The Bounty has written another gripping tale of the sea.