Sea Power.

Although the Russian navy had a numerical supremacy over Japan’s, the fact that her fleets were divided between the Baltic Sea, Black Sea and the Pacific Ocean meant that any concentration on their part would take a considerable time, while the Japanese had their entire fleet ready for immediate action.

The composition of both navies in the Far East is given below:

Having no reserves to draw upon for her navy, as well as no construction facilities for fabricating her own warships, the Japanese fully realised that the Russian fleet at Port Arthur must be eliminated before Russia could send its Baltic fleet to its support. They also saw that to achieve this goal a land attack against the port itself would have to be undertaken in the event of the Russian fleet remaining under the protection of the harbour’s land batteries and forts. They also understood that although supremacy at sea was the key factor in the forthcoming war, Russia would never relinquish her hold on Manchuria unless she was also defeated decisively on land. Their plan of campaign was, however, based on the false premise that Port Arthur could be taken from the Russians as quickly as they had taken it from the Chinese in 1894.