The Tsar's Last Armada: The Epic Journey to the Battle of Tsushima

by Constantine Pleshakov

Rare book

Genres: History, Japan, Russia, Nonfiction, Military History, Military Fiction, Russian History

416 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2002

About the author

Constantine Pleshakov emigrated to America in 1998 and is a former foreign policy analyst at the Institute of U.S. and Canada Studies in Moscow. In 2012, The Princeton Review named him one of the 300 best college professors in the U.S. He lives in Amherst, MA.

Reviews

[JD · Rating 4 out of 5]

This for me was a very entertaining read about a subject I did not know a lot about. The Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 is well known and had a massive impact on the world and all the way to the fall of the Soviet Union, as it was part of the build up to Japanese expansion in Asia and the Russian revolution, which both had dire consequences for the world.

What is less well known is the epic voyage that Russian Admiral Rozhestvensky (The Mad Dog) undertook with his Russian Fleet from the Baltic to that fateful stretch of ocean where they were destroyed. In between is filled with all misadventure, idiotic diplomacy, stupid bureaucracy, incompetent leadership and inadequate spies that Rozhestvensky had to endure during his nine month long voyage halfway across the world. Though the actual battle is not covered in much detail, the route of the voyage is an epic in itself and it is remarkable what this whole fleet had to endure while being wholly unprepared for it.

Highly recommended if you are interested in the subject matter or on the lookout for an adventure read with a difference.

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 4 out of 5]

Constantine Pleshakov's new book; The Tsar's Last Armada: The Epic Voyage to the Battle of Tsushima, is a compelling account of the voyage undertaken by a Russian Fleet half way around the world which ended in its total annihilation at the hands of the Japanese during the Battle of Tsushima. The book concentrates more on the actual events leading up to the decision to send the Russian fleet on this journey, the voyage itself and the personalities involved. Some previous reviews have made mention of the lack of detail on the actual battle itself, however the book's titles gives you a fair idea of the content and I think it was a story told well, full of interest and drama.

In the introduction the author makes it very clear that the story is told from a Western viewpoint:

"The Russian and British archives that I have used allow one to tell the story of Tsushima with some hope of being objective and complete, yet, I know that my research is deficient. I do not read Japanese, and without Japanese archival evidence it is not possible to write anything truly comprehensive about the war. So this is the story of Tsushima told from a Western perspective, as it was seen through Russian, British, French, and German eyes - nothing more, but also, hopefully, nothing less."

Overall I found the story interesting and although I too would have liked more on the Battle of Tsushima there was enough to complete the story. The book has filled me with an urge to learn more of this decisive engagement and I will look around for another book to complete my education. The narrative was well presented and held my interest throughout the journey. Towards the end of the book I felt quite sorry for Vice-Admiral Rozhestvensky who appeared to have done the best he could under most trying circumstances.

This is decent account and I think accomplishes what the author set out to do, to tell the story "of the Russian squadron's long, difficult journey and fast, horrible defeat." One compliant that could be leveled at the author would be the standard of the maps provided. I am sure anyone who enjoys stories of mans determination and perseverance against adversity will enjoy this book. However you will need to look further for a more comprehensive account of the Battle of Tsushima.

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

The journey of the Russian Baltic Fleet to their doomed end at the Battle of Tsushima is one of the lesser known sagas of naval history. I have a fondness for the period due to many happy hours with Distant Guns a decade ago. Phleshakov has produced a very Russian popular history, focusing on the commanding Admiral Rozhestvensky.

The Russo-Japanese War was one of those tragedies of Empire, with Japan and Russia dueling over control of Korea and Manchuria. Tsar Nicolas II had a racist disregard for the Japanese, amplified by an attack he suffered as a youth touring Japan. He thought a short victorious war would be just the thing to shore up his tottering regime. Unfortunately, the war turned against Russia early on, with a surprise torpedo boat attack damaging two Russian battleships. Two more Russian battleships hit mines while on patrol, killing Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov, the most able Russian commander in the region. A breakout attempt failed in the Battle of the Yellow Sea, and with Japanese artillery closing in on Port Arthur, the Russian Pacific Fleet seemed doomed.

Except for one insane idea. Russia had another major fleet in the Baltic. What if they sailed around the world, combined with the remains of the Pacific Fleet, and then crushed the Japanese with superior numbers? It would be an audacious gamble, a long distance deployment unparalleled in naval history, and one that could win the war. Pulling off this maneuver would require discipline, technological efficiency, and world-spanning logistics and intelligence. Tsarist Russia had none of these.

The story, as it develops, is a classic Russian tragedy. Rozhestvensky, one of the better Russian naval officers of the era, was burdened with a staff of lesser Romanov cousins and other gilded incompetents. Tsar Nicolar ordered the largest fleet possible, including several transports and obsolete battleships in doubtful mechanical condition. Steam battleships required ample coaling, and Russia had no worldwide empire to support the ships, making logistics a matter of desperate improvisation. Intelligence was a faulty mess of paranoid conspiracies, leading to the Dogger Bank incident, where the fleet shot up English fishing trawlers under the misapprehension they were Japanese torpedo boats, causing a major international incident.

The flotilla limped along at five to eight knots, halting for frequent breakdowns. Only French colonies would permit resupply, and then under protest. The fleet spent two months at Madagascar and another month in Vietnam, waiting for the even more ramshackle reinforcements of the Third Pacific Fleet and going slowly mad under the tropical sun. Admiral Tojo of Japan used this time for a full refit and more training, sharpening the already elite Japanese battlefleet to a razor's edge.

When the fleets finally found each other in Tsushima strait, the battle was as much as foregone. Tojo crossed the Russian T, allowing his entire battle line to focus on the lead ships of the enemy, who were unable to reply in turn. Rozhestvensky was soon wounded, unable to exercise tactical command, and the Russians were defeated in detail before enduring a sad captivity while peace negotiations proceeded.

The Tsar's Last Armada is narrowly focused, and I believe somewhat sensationalized, but it's a solid naval history. And the acknowledgement has the best dedication, which I will reproduce in full.

"I want to end my acknowledgement with a very Russian twist. I am extremely grateful to these people who persistently discouraged me from writing this book. They did not like me, or the project, or in most cases both. Thank you--your hostility fortified my will and made me work harder."

Get some.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent telling of the Battle of Tsushima and Rozhestvensky’s doomed voyage leading up to it. If you are interested in the topic (or Tsarist/Revolutionary/Soviet/Russian History), it’s a great find.

[Juan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brillante y entretenido de principio a fin. Sin rodeos, relata lo que el lector quiere conocer: breves antecedentes y situación inicial, penalidades y anécdotas del viaje, fragor de la batalla o consecuencias históricas y personales. Un libro para aquellos que desean conocer algo más, tanto de la historia del siglo XX (este acontecimiento ayudó a desencadenar una importante catarsis que aún perdura) como de una de las batallas navales más recordadas. Sobresaliente.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Russo Japanese war opened, without a declaration, but with a Japanese sneak attack (sound familiar?) on the Russian Pacific fleet while it was in harbor. The large Russian Western fleet was needed, but it was located 18,000 miles away.

The Russian fleet sailed across northern Europe, south along the Atlantic coasts of Europe and Africa, east across the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, and north to Japan’s Tsushima Straits. All along the way they were harassed by the British who, while not at war, favored the Japanese side and occupied a great deal of the African and Asian coast along the Russian route.

After the Russians long, arduous trip the relatively short battle of Tsushima Straits ensued.

The story is 95% about the trip, 5% about the battle and it’s immediate ramifications.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great piece of history; of course this from an old navy guy. I enjoyed this book immensely.

[Tim Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting account of one of the great (and like so many things Russian, ultimately doomed) naval expeditions in world history, the sending of multiple squadrons of Russian naval vessels during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) ranging from top of the line battleships to cruisers, torpedo boats, and transports to hospital ships to old vessels that were brought (or sent) despite the wishes of various admirals some 18,000 miles, from the Baltic Sea all the way around Europe, around Africa (though some ships sailed through the Mediterranean Sea and used the Suez Canal), past Madagascar, across the Indian Ocean, past Singapore, all the way north to the Korea Strait and their fateful rendezvous with the Japanese navy at the Battle of Tsushima. A rendezvous where the Russian fleet of 50 vessels was pretty much obliterated at the cost of relatively light losses for the Japanese, with in the end only a handful of Russian vessels escaping sinking or capture by making their way to either Vladivostok or a few to my surprise to the Philippines (and the death of thousands of Russian men versus barely over a hundred Japanese lives lost).

The vast majority of the book is about the start and course of this incredible journey, with the Battle of Tsushima, though well covered, only appearing in the text at around page 270 or so. Even then only a relatively few number of pages are devoted to the battle itself compared to how much of the text is on the journey, with in later chapters the author covering the consequences of the battle and the fates of various ships, ship crews, and officers after the war ended. Most of the book is on the enormous challenges faced in getting such a ragtag group of ships (not all sent out at one time), dealing with getting stocked with coal, food, and other supplies, getting and receiving telegrams from an increasingly distant St. Petersburg, the lack of support from the Russian diplomatic service and Russia’s supposed allies abroad, the enormous deficit of Russian intelligence sources and agents abroad, the fleet dealing with bad weather, bad food, disease, malfunctioning equipment, poorly trained crews lacking the ammunition to effectively practice, mischief in foreign ports by Russian sailors and officers on leave (they brought a surprisingly large number of exotic animals like pythons and monkeys on board their ships among many other things they did), the difficulties in the various Russian ships rendezvousing in distant seas, the very long delays on the route which weakened Russian resources while giving the Japanese time to repair and resupply their ships (two months were wasted in Madagascar and another month in French Indochina despite Rozhestvensky’s desires), constant worries about spies and shadowing Japanese torpedo boats (feared to be waiting in the darkness everywhere from the Baltic Sea to the North Sea to off the coast of Africa and leading to a diplomatic crisis on the Dogger Bank off England when the Russians mistook some British fishing vessels for Japanese torpedo boats and fired at them), an expedition many thought was doomed from the start or if not, ultimately futile, as on route (as many predicted) the Russian forces the fleet was sent to relive at Port Arthur in China ultimately capitulated to Japanese forces.

Though some time is spent at various points in the book on Admiral Togo Heihachiro, architect of the Russian defeat at Tsushima, the vast majority of the book is from the view of the Russian fleet and largely centered on one man, the commander of the bulk of the vessels (different groups when they weren’t together with the main fleet had their own commanding admirals, if only for a temporary time). The star of the book far and away was Admiral Petrovich Rozhestvensky, with the author producing a bit of a biography of the man before largely detailing the story of the expedition from the point of view of Rozhestvensky. We learn a lot about him – his family life, the action he saw in the Russo-Turkish War, his role in modernizing the Bulgarian navy, serving as the Russian naval attaché in London – and though I can’t say he was always a truly likable man, at least this reader developed a good deal of sympathy for him, given a nearly impossible task, sailing off to a war he had a strong suspicion he will lose, all with at times ambivalent if not contradictory orders from St. Petersburg.

It was interesting getting to know some of the ships of Rozhestvensky’s fleet (especially his 2nd Pacific Squadron, the bulk of the ships that went to Tsushima). A few I got to know either as vessels or to know as crews and officers, such as the cruiser Aurora (one of the Rozhestvensky’s favorite vessels, considering it the epitome of the navy he wanted to have and its officer and crew model examples), the torpedo boat Bedovy (its name meaning “reckless,” was the ship Rozehstvensky was carried to severely wounded after the battle was lost), and the Prince Suvorov (in most of the book called the Suvorov, one of the five modern battleships of the 2nd Pacific Squadron and Rozhestvensky’s flagship). However, there were too many ships to get to know well and all but a couple had no illustrations in the photographs included. Also, though the book was not really dedicated to the battle, it would have been nice to have charts or diagrams showing the formation of the Russian vessels in the conflict.

Some interesting takeaways from the book include the rather close relationship between the various royal families in Europe – Russia, Denmark, Greece, the United Kingdom – how not only did the various monarchs and their extended families know each other well but were often close relatives.

Espionage was definitely in its infancy as a tool of statecraft and often very amateurish, with often foreigners employed instead of people from say Russia, many of the spies either very much inexperienced or uneducated in what they were reporting on or rewarded for reporting sensational rumors (no one got paid for continual reports of “the coast is clear” again and again), and that the only services in the book that seemed to have decent spy rings were the British (who were doing all they could to help the Japanese short of firing at Russian vessels) and the Russian police (who were your man so to speak if you wanted to find out about revolutionaries in Russia or Europe but not so helpful on naval matters as it just wasn’t their thing).

Another takeaway was that even though telegrams existed that didn’t exactly mean instantaneous communication, as waiting in some tropical ports for say 5 days for a response wasn’t in the least bit unusual. Also reports could become garbled, cables were cut accidently quite easily, and using telegrams was often hardly secret. Though radio was now present on some naval vessels the technology was still quite primitive, ranges short, not all ships had it, and radio could be jammed, with as a result for stretches of time when the Russian fleet was at sea no one had any way of knowing where they were or of reaching them, with the best the Russian admiralty could do was to try to have agents and telegrams waiting at ports they hoped the fleet would visit (and not always knowing what ports would be visited). Also smoke on the horizon from approaching ships were almost always a mystery to ships at sea, with lookouts having to look for flags or have been trained to recognize the various naval vessels of the world. Despite the existence of telegrams and radio it still felt a lot like the age of sail (though worse perhaps, as the ships were so tightly bound by the need to bring on coal again and again).

I gather from reading the book jacket and various reviews the author is not a native English speaker but rather was originally raised as a Russian speaker. The vast majority of the time this does not present any problems. A few times some word or phrase choices were unusual, such as saying artillery guns for the guns on ships (I knew what he meant but not exactly correct phrasing), a few times getting stuck on a certain word (splinters was used a lot rather than shrapnel, with the word shrapnel only appearing a couple of times, and awesome was used a lot to indicate this or that admiral or ship was impressive or awe inspiring), and going back and forth a little on whether something was a torpedo boat (by far the most commonly used terminology) or a destroyer. I think in the end author Constantine Pleshakov being a Russian speaker was probably an enormous bonus as he had a much better understanding and access to primary sources in Russian (the extensive end notes mention many uses of information from among other places the Russian State Naval Archives and the State Archives of the Russian Federation).

There are black and white photos and illustrations, a series of maps, and an extensive index.

[Jon Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book used at the Dickson Street Bookshop in Fayetteville, AR earlier this year. The book tells about a decidedly odd chapter in the history of naval warfare, and goes about doing so in a decidedly odd fashion. In the book's introduction, the author states up front that English is not his first language. I'll be a shameless English- language chauvanist and say that yep, the author's ESL situation is made readily apparent to a native English speaker through awkward turns of phrase, confusing nomenclature, choppy sentence structure, and numerous instances of the same material being communicated again and again. Setting these objections aside, the story is laid out in a breezy yet detailed fashion, and what a story it is....in 1904 Imperial Russia sent a naval force from the Baltic Sea to the Tsushima Strait (a journey of something like 15,000 miles) to face down the Imperial Japanese Navy. Facing logistical problems, mechanical breakdowns, international tensions, and interference and indecision from the Tsar and the navy high command, the Russian force finally limps into Japanese waters and is wiped out by the Japanese navy in a single day of completely lop-sided battle. As can be inferred from the book's subtitle, most of the book is devoted to covering the months-long, tragi-comic journey of the Russian force, and the battle in the Tsushima Strait is covered much more briefly. Three out of five stars.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly a toss up between 3 and 4 stars, tending more towards the latter but opting for the former. A fascinating report on a doomed mission to regain lost foreign land, in this instance to a fellow aggressor, albeit here an Asian one. What prevents me from giving it a higher mark was the absence of Japanese sources (not like I can read Japanese, or Russian for that matter) and the feeling one is supposed to take some things almost on faith, which could have been remedied with foot- or endnotes. Recommended despite such concerns. This is the third time I've read this book.

[Al Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitive book on the topic; focus is mainly on the Herculean effort to move the fleet, if your expecting a book on the Battle of Tsushima, you are likely to be disappointed, go in knowing this is about the journey there and you will be be glad you read this one.

[Greg Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Constantine Pleshakov's book is subtitled "The Epic Voyage to the Battle of Tsushima" and is truly a book of the 18,000+ nautical mile journey of the main Russian fleet under Admiral Rozhestvensky from the Baltic to its fateful meeting with Admiral Togo and the Japanese fleet.
Pleshakov concentrates on the personalities of Rozhestvensky and his subordinates as well as the top members of the Russian government. He hints that if the leaders in St. Petersburg had allowed Rozhestvensky to do what he wished the outcome may have been different.
Far from the classical story of ships who left Russia piled high with coal and sailing urgently around the world to plunge unprepared into a hopeless battle, Pleshakov tells of long delays and lost opportunities, of bungled intelligence, and of political weakness and indecision. He also seems to share Rozhestvensky's view that the reinforcements he was forced to wait for actually weakened the squadron instead of strengthening it and that the level of talent in the upper naval officers of the Tsar's navy was minimal with very few competent leaders of rank captain or above.
There is also a fair handling of the wide class distinctions and the resulting political unrest in Russia as a whole, in the navy in general, and the "last armada" particularly. Pleshakov discusses this discrepancy in each situation the fleet found itself in, from forming to its ultimate destruction and the aftermath for the survivors. In the end even Rozhestvensky comes off wanting.
I found the book interesting and found it debunked, as noted above, some long-held misconceptions. It pays scant attention to the battle itself; if you want a battle history you do need to go elsewhere. It is a good stand-alone historical story; one needs no previous knowledge of the Russo-Japanese War, Tsushima, or the period to get the full impact of the book.
It is also inexpensive. Copies are available on Biblio for as little as $3.97 including shipping.

[Melkor von Moltke · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is unfortunate that there are relatively few English language sources that cover the Russo-Japanese War, let alone delve into any particular campaigns or battles. That alone propels this work to a higher rating than I would have given it if there were more accessible books on the trials and tribulations of the Second Pacific Squadron. The narrative itself is well done, showing the varying conflicts between officers, enlisted sailors, politicians, and occasionally snakes. It is an intriguing story, in spite of knowing what fate awaited the fleet when it arrived off of the straits of Tsushima.

The book unfortunately has several problems. Mr. Pleshakov's first language is not English and he could have benefited from a better editor to fix some clunky phrases. There are also an annoying amount of typos that distract from the reading.

As for the meat of the book, while the author does a good job at conveying the feelings of the Russian sailors, it is not often clear what is really happening. The biggest instance of this is Japanese spies. The paranoid sailors see them everywhere, even as early into the voyage as Denmark, but the reader is never made aware of whether these spies were real or imagined. Even in the famous Dogger Bank fiasco it is not made clear whether Japanese ships were off of the English coast, something that no other work on the subject that I have found even considered a real possibility. This does continue through most of the book, but finally dies off as the doomed fleet draws near to their destination.

All in all this book's strength is that it has so few competitors in dealing with its subject matter. It is not the 20th book covering Midway or Trafalgar published this year. This made it easier to push through the typos, odd phrases, and unclear narrative.

[Gary Brecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here we have an excellent follow-up for military history buffs who wish to delve deeper into aspects of the Russo-Japanese War. Pleshakov narrates the harrowing and frustrating journey of the Tsar’s 3rd Pacific Fleet. Under the command of “Mad Dog” Zinovy Petrovitch Rozhestvensky, the Russian armada sets out from the Baltic, circumnavigates the African continent, and waits for several excruciating weeks in Madagascar while his adversary, Admiral Togo repairs his fleet at home. Frustrated by his own admiralty for insisting that the fleet await the arrival of reinforcements (mostly older vessels and yachts of the Romanovs), and hounded by the British navy (allies of the Japanese), Rozhestvensky demonstrates steadfast loyalty and determination. He knows the Japanese navy has superior strength and he’s aware they have had far more combat experience than his own seamen, and yet he doggedly forges ahead. Finally the climactic battle occurs in May of 1905 in the Tsushima Strait in the Sea of Japan. It is an utter defeat for the brave and determined admiral of the Russian armada. Only three of thirty-eight Russian warships make it to Vladivostok. Rozhestvenk’s flagship, the Suvarov is sunk, but not before he is rescued by one of his torpedo boats.

This story is told in a straightforward and entertaining manner. Almost more interesting than the details of the battle are the personalities of the combatants, the spies and the Russian nobility. Afterward I wanted to read more by this author.

[Jerome Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging, compelling and well-researched history of the battle for Tsushima Straits, mostly from the Russian side.

The book is focused on the people involved more than the technical aspects. Pleshakov ably describes the Russian side’s corruption and incompetence, and how Rozhestvensky’s honesty and ability were outmatched by a lack of support from his subordinates and superiors. He also covers all the famous incidents like the fleet’s firing on British fishing trawlers at Dogger Bank, the confrontation with the Portuguese, and the trouble caused whenever his sailors landed. He also describes how committed the tsar was to the mission, even after Port Arthur fell.

The narrative is clear but can get a bit disjointed. Some more description and analysis on the actual battle, and on logistics, would have helped, and there is little on the Japanese side. There are only four maps, and their quality is not particularly good. The book also seems to indulge in trivia at times. There are also a couple typos (guess what was written instead of "seamen," for example)

A rich, well-written, and well-paced work.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Constantine Pleshakov details the causes of the failures of the Imperial Russian Navy at the turn of the 20th century and does so very well. I was apalled at the lack of forethought that Czar Nicholas II put into his tactical desisions. To send an entire fleet of substandard warships with mostly untrained and undiciplined crews halfway around the world to recapture a derelect port from a superior enemy is madness! Admiral Roztvensky did his absolute best to carry out his campaign but the Imperial Japanese Navy proved to be too much as he was sent home in disgrace. This epic tactical failure explains in part why the Russian people demanded a new form of government. This book was well written and I highly recommend it.

[Christopher Carbone · Rating 1 out of 5]

A really drab, dreary and excuse-filled book into the floundering Russian Empire's embarrassing Navy, up to its defeat at the battle of Tsushima. The book is doubly bad for all the excuses the author uses for Russian Admiral, Zinovy Rozhestvensky, who - even with the author's desperate appologist leanings- comes across as incompetent, bumbling and utterly out of his depth.

The book does only one thing well- and even that is only in passing -and that is describing the ascendancy of the Japanese Navy. Overall, I would avoid this book.

[Raughley Nuzzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time starting this book. Especially in the early chapters, I found Pleshakov's writing style to be obnoxious, grating, and distracting. As he laid the groundwork for the main events of the book, he seemed to struggle with determining which details and anecdotes contributed to the book and which might have been better left as footnotes (or excised entirely). For example, there are numerous descriptions of the salacious affairs of the St. Petersburg elite. In a very few instances, this was relevant with one Admiral sleeping with his superior's wife. More often, it was irrelevant innuendo about famed adventurer Przewalski or unsourced and unverified false rumors about Kaiser Wilhelm II's latent homosexuality. These may have been interesting to the author, but they were out of place in this book.

His sensational hyperbole led to some dramatic moments as the story progressed, but early efforts to spice up the story led to annoying sentences like the one in which he compared the Russian flotilla to the Spanish Armada, but would have to "travel infinitely farther." The distance from the Baltic to Japan is not "infinitely" further than the distance from Spain to England.

As the book went on, though, and the fleet's journey got under weigh, the writing and the narrative picked up. I was initially leaning towards a lower star review, but the details about Russians' paranoia at being ambushed and the travails of the fleet as it languished in the tropics gave the book a big boost. I was surprised at the way that Japanese intelligence planted seeds of fear in the Russian admirals, leading to a battle against English fishermen, and a splitting of the party to sail in two squadrons around Africa from both directions.

The climactic battle is a real turkeyshoot, and told fairly compellingly. And the denouement covering the fates of the survivors on both sides concluded the book well. It would have been interesting to have a bit more detail about the changing worlds in which these 19th-century-era Admirals came to the end of their lives. 1934 Japan and USSR were quite different places than the 1905 straits of Tsushima. Understandably, by the end of the veterans' lives, they weren't major heroes or public figures any longer.

In the end, the book shone an interesting and fairly detailed light on this relatively overlooked battle. The epic adventure of the Russian fleet ending in tragedy makes for a great story that Pleshakov has told mostly well.

[Keith W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the story about the Russian Baltic Fleet's long voyage from the Kronstadt Naval Base to the Far East to be rather boring so I was just going to give this book three stars but then the author surprised me with his interesting and rather skillful account of the Battle of Tsushima Strait and subsequent events so I improved my rating. The book's central figure is fleet commander Adm. Ziony Rozhestvensky (known by many of his men and others as "Mad Dog"), an intense disciplinarian without whose drive, leadership and commitment to duty, the long voyage probably could not have been completed. Despite his strengths, Adm. Rozhestvensky was tactically outmaneuvered by Japanese Adm. Togo at Tsushima, resulting in the destruction of the newest Russian battleships, without which the Baltic squadron was no match for Togo's ships. I never knew what happened after that so it was interesting to read how some of the remaining Russian ships were surrounded and forced to surrender while a few others escaped, with three cruisers even making their way all the way back to the Baltic. This well-written book sheds light on a neglected aspect of naval history and is well worth reading. I wonder whether a non-Russian author could have done as good a job with the story and I tend to doubt it.

[Scott Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

(audiobook) When most think of the Russo-Japanese War and the Japanese victory at Tsushima, they think of Russian incompetence and the sheer waste of sailing the Baltic fleet around Europe/Africa/Asia only to get annihilated. Yet, there is much to tell about how the Russians managed to get the fleet together and sail across the World. There was a near war with England, and the Russians faced as many challenges with logistics as they would with the Japanese. There were some competent sailors and there were some terrible leaders and sailors. If not for some unfortunate timing, maybe the Russians catch the Japanese off-guard. Yet, it was the naval artillery shells thus hurt the Russians (artillery causing problems with Russia…go figure).

If nothing else, this work seeks to humanize the Russians that fought at Tsushima. It can gloss over the mistakes and errors. The Tsar is excoriated and rightfully so. The Russian High Command was corrupt and incompetent and it impacted the fleet. Worth the read for the historian, especially if the individual only had surface level knowledge of the Russian fleet.

[Joseph Ficklen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good narrative of the voyage of the Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron. I had seen Admiral Rozhestvensky caricatured as an incompetent clown with anger issues in another account of the voyage, but this book helped contextualize the man and his mission. The anger issues were very real, but Rozhestvensky was a serious officer, not merely a noble dilettante as other admirals were. He was probably the best man for the job, but the job expected of him was nearly impossible. Yet, he managed to sail his coal-fired fleet from the Baltic Sea around Europe and Africa, through the Malacca Strait, and into Japanese waters. This would have been a fine accomplishment, had his entire squadron not been promptly destroyed by Admiral Tōgō in the Tsushima Strait. The Battle itself takes about 15 minutes of a 12 hour audiobook, with a thorough epilogue. It was a good narrative but a little too discursive, and gave very little of the Japanese perspective (which the author does admit in the introduction).

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid and thoughtful chronicle of one of the strangest and most depressing episodes in naval history. When Japan wounded, blockaded, and eventually destroyed Russia's Pacific fleet, the Tsar hatched the bizarre plan to send the Baltic fleet on an 18,000 mile voyage for a rematch with the victorious Japanese. Hampered by politics, diplomacy, ancient ships, untrained crews, and an insane mission, Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky kept his fleet together under nearly impossible conditions, only to be slaughtered by superior Japanese forces upon arriving in East Asia. It's the Odyssey of the Dour and Damned.

Only people who are already interested in military or perhaps nautical history will want to read this book, but it illuminates and important and really weird episode that is largely overlooked from the years before World War I and the Russian Revolution.

[Dan McCarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about exactly what the title says: the journey to Tsushima. A majority of the book follows the 2nd Pacific Squadron as it makes it's long voyage to the Pacific from the Baltic Sea. However the battle itself is comparatively short compared to the 3/4's of the book buildup. The battle itself and the end of the war only take up about 70 pages of the 340 page book. I also wanted more context regarding the land battles occurring while the fleet was making it's long journey. This book masters the journey it focuses on, but does not provide the context of the larger war.

[W M · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great microcosm of the 1905 Revolution as developed through the lens of a catastrophic defeat, which ignited the smoldering pile of societal resentment. What stood out to me the most was the attention of detail paid to the logistical feat of brining the Russian fleet from Europe to Asia, the journey itself was captivating and gave the reader a nice glimpse into a tiny window of technological development that would rapidly change within the decade.

[David Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of an apology for the Russians

This is a reasonably accurate, if biased, depiction of the ill fated voyage of the Black Sea fleet. The author clearly likes Admiral Rozhestvensky and ignores the tragicomic aspects of the voyage and subsequent battle. He plays down the (sometimes stupid) Russian mistakes. The Russian fleet had to travel around the world with no refueling stations, minimal training and sometimes fired on their own ships by accident.

[Darryl Updegrove · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting story leading up to a short but decisive battle.

[Robert Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book about a mostly little known part of history

[Brent L · Rating 5 out of 5]

This dramatic tale of tragedy starts with the Russian expansion into the far east, encroaching on what the Japanese thought was their sphere of influence in Manchuria. The Japanese launched a surprise attack on Port Arthur, a Russian naval base, and besieged it. In order to relive Port Arthur and rescue the Pacific Fleet, the ships of the Baltic Fleet (renamed Pacific Squadron 2) were deployed on a world wide journey to that end. It was led by Zinovy Rozhestvensky, a capable and intelligent Admiral. He suspected that the expedition was going to fail, but unlike Nicias heading to Sicily, he accepted his command with a brave face and tried his utmost to ensure success.

Unfortunately for the Russians, however, Rozhestvensky’s forebodings of doom proved to be quite accurate. Many of the Russian ships were old and the crews were not properly trained. The was a shortage of ammunition, so opportunities for gunnery practice were limited on the way to the Pacific. The Russian government's incompetence in being able to secure safe ports for the Armada to resupply in did not help things either, and the restrictions placed on Rozhestvensky’s movements were quite possible fatal to the expedition’s prospects of success. (While in Madagascar, he was forced to wait for another squadron of older, almost useless ships that had left the Baltic after him, after he had refused them for his squadron.)

By the time the Russians reached the Pacific near Japan, Port Arthur had surrendered and the 1st Pacific Squadron was destroyed. The climax came when Rozhestvensky met the Japanese admiral Togo in battle at the Straight of Tsushima - and the Russians were annihilated. The Japanese crossed the Russian T - the approaching Russians (the I of the T) were enveloped by Japanese fire from ships going perpendicular to them, and only the lead ships were able to respond. The Japanese were also using superior ammunition.

Rozhestvensky was wounded, captured, and eventually returned to Russia, where he was at least cleared of responsibility for the disaster. This was the first time in which an Asiatic power defeated a European one, and as such the larger political consequences were significant. Pleshakov does describe the larger picture, but he focuses more on the Armada itself and the men who composed it.

[Billy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of the epic voyage of the Russian Baltic Fleet to its disastrous fate at the Battle of Tsushima. The author is a native Russian with access to Russian and British archives, but not Japanese ones. As such, the story is exclusively told from the viewpoint of the European powers involved in the Russo-Japanese War.

The book is well-written and a fast read, though sometimes the language is bit non-idiomatic both for English and naval parlance (i.e., referring to junior naval enlisted as "privates" vice "seamen").

This book is not a battle history of Tsushima. There are no maneuver maps of the battle. Even the maps of the voyage from the Baltic to the Korea Straits are very sketchy. A major weakness. Also, at no point does he tell you the capabilities of either fleets: the displacement of the Mikasa, what caliber guns the Suvorov carried, the range of the torpedoes on the Japanese boats, etc. In fact, very few of the Japanese ships in the battle are even mentioned by name.

The author does delve heavily into the personalities of the Russian fleet and political apparatus with guest appearances from the royal families of England and Germany, which makes for interesting if not salacious reading.

An enjoyable but flawed read meant for the layman not the naval historian.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the Russian military enthusiast. I can't stress this enough. Constantine Pleshakov's logistics-filled tome is great for facts and stats and a timeline stretched out in quasi-narrative form, but not so much for story. The Tsar's Last Armada: The Epic Journey to the Battle of Tsushima is the title of the book. However, it really is about Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky, an admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy. This is his story and I had to grasp onto his thread throughout the 300+ pages to invest myself at all. I find the inclusion of "Tsar" in the title to be misleading/misplaced.

I do, however, see some sort of fiction rewrite contained within these pages... Mad Dog and the Sea? Rozhestvensky's Revenge? Nothin' a Little Vodka & Meat Can't Solve!?

If you were so inspired by this book, please feel free to use any of the aforementioned titles free of charge. Pozhalusta in advance.