This is a list of warships sunk during the Russo-Japanese War.
Causes of Japanese and Russian Warships sunk during the war
Although submarines, torpedoes, torpedo boats, and steel battleships had existed for many years, the Russo-Japanese war was the first conflict to see mature forms of these weapon systems deployed in large numbers. Over a hundred of the newly invented torpedo boats and nearly the same number of torpedo boat destroyers were involved. The Imperial Russian Navy would become the first navy in history to possess an independent operational submarine fleet on 1 January 1905. With this submarine fleet making its first combat patrol on 14 February 1905, and its first clash with enemy surface warships on 29 April 1905, all this nearly a decade before World War I even began.
During the course of the war, the Imperial Russian Navy (IRN) and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) would launch nearly 300 self-propelled automotive torpedoes at one another. Dozens of warships would be hit and damaged, but only 1 battleship, 2 armoured cruisers, and 2 destroyers would be permanently sunk (not salvaged). Another 80 plus warships would be destroyed by the traditional gun, mine, or other cause. The Russian battleship Oslyabya was the first modern battleship sunk by gunfire alone, and Admiral Rozhestvensky's flagship, the battleship Knyaz Suvorov was the first modern battleship sunk by the new "torpedo" on the high seas.
Vessel type and cause of loss
Battleships lost to naval gunfire – 3 (plus 1 Coastal Battleship) IRN
Battleships lost to land/shore batteries – 4 IRN
Battleships lost to combination of gunfire & torpedoes – 2 IRN
Battleships lost to strictly torpedoes – 1 IRN
Battleships lost to mines – 1 IRN/2 (plus 1 Coastal Battleship) IJN
Cruisers lost to naval gunfire – 5 IRN
Cruisers lost to land/shore batteries – 3 IRN
Cruisers lost to mines – 1 IRN/4 IJN
Destroyers (DDs, GBs, TBDs, TBs) lost to naval gunfire – 6 IRN/3 IJN
Destroyers (DDs, GBs, TBDs, TBs) lost to shore batteries – 3 IRN
Destroyers (DDs, GBs, TBDs, TBs) lost to gunfire & torpedoes – 1 IJN
Destroyers (DDs, GBs, TBDs, TBs) lost to torpedoes – 2 IRN
Destroyers (DDs, GBs, TBDs, TBs) lost to mines – 3 IRN/3 IJN
Auxiliary cruisers lost to naval gunfire – 1 IRN
Auxiliary Cruisers lost to shore batteries – 1 IRN
Auxiliary Gunboats lost to mines – 1 IJN
Minelayers lost to shore batteries – 1 IRN
Minelayers lost to mines – 1 IRN
Submarines – 3 lost to scuttling & 1 lost by shipwreck IRN (Note: Only IRN submarines were operational during the war)
The above data includes vessels that were sunk and consequently salvaged (raised) and put back into service by either combatant. Data regarding surface vessels either shipwrecked or scuttled was excluded.
Imperial Russian Navy (IRN) total losses: 11 Battleships, 1 Coastal Battleship, 9 Cruisers, 14 Destroyers, 2 Auxiliary Cruisers, 2 Minelayers, 4 Submarines. Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) total losses: 2 Battleships, 1 Coastal Battleship, 4 Cruisers, 7 Destroyers, 1 Auxiliary Gunboat.
Japanese warships sunk
Warship type, name, and date of loss
Battleships
Hatsuse sunk 15 May 1904. Yashima sunk 15 May 1904. Corvettes Kaimon sunk 5 July 1904 Cruisers Miyako sunk 14 May 1904. Saien sunk 30 November 1904. Takasago sunk 13 December 1904. Yoshino sunk 15 May 1904. Gunboats Atago sunk 6 November 1904. Heien sunk 18 September 1904. Ōshima sunk 18 May 1904. Torpedo boats (#34) 27 May 1905 (#35) 27 May 1905 (#42) 15 December 1904 (#48) 12 May 1904 (#51) 28 June 1904 (#53) 14 December 1904 (#69) 27 May 1905 Torpedo boat destroyers Akatsuki 17 May 1904 Hayatori 3 September 1904
Russian warships sunk
From 1880 through the end of the war, Russia prepared a systematic plan to build their navy into a major naval power, able to meet any modern adversary—which during this time period were primarily based in Europe. By 1884 Russia lead the world in numbers of the newly invented torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers with 115 such vessels. By 1904, the IRN was a first rate navy, but by the end of 1905, Russia was reduced to a third rate naval power.