As the Second Pacific Squadron lumbered past Cam Ranh Bay, now bound for Vladivostok as Port Arthur had surrendered, Admiral Togo readied the Japanese Combined Fleet for battle. His flagship, the battleship Mikasa, was brand-new and built in Britain, joined by the smaller Fuji, Shikishima and a plethora of armoured cruisers, including the Azuma and Nisshin. His larger ships were outnumbered by the Russians, but had plenty of experience in modern naval combat, having progressively reduced the Pacific Fleet for the past year. Admiral Togo and his men had been relentlessly trained in the mould of the Royal Navy, with particular attention paid to the tactics of Admiral Nelson, and when word came in May 1905 that the Second Pacific Squadron was making a dash through the Tsushima Straits, the Combined Fleet hastily set sail from Occupied Korea. And so on 27 May 1905, as Rozhestvensky’s worn-out fleet attempted to give the Japanese the slip, it was instead met by the ghostly shapes of modern Japanese battleships emerging out of the mist. And the stage was set for the most titanic naval battle since Trafalgar. #mikasa #battleship #nisshin #shikishima #admiraltogo #russojapanesewar #warship