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

The Tsar's Last Armada: The Epic Voyage to the Battle of Tsushima Constantine Pleshakov Date: 29 April, 2003   —   $12.25   —   Book product page Rating:

In general, I'm very intrigued by transitional periods in history. Constantine Pleshakov's book, "The Tsar's Last Armada: The Epic Voyage to the Battle of Tsushima", is the story of events leading up to the last battle of the ironclad age in 1905. As the subtitle suggests, this book is primarily focused on the voyage of Russian Admiral Rozestvensky's Baltic Fleet, all the way around Europe, Africa, and Asia to its fateful meeting with Japanese Admiral Togo's fleet in the Tsushima Straits off Korea.

The book chronicles the nine month, 18,000 mile journey of the Russian fleet. The ships were an eclectic amalgamation of old and new; the Tsar had decided to trade speed and effective firepower for numbers. The quality of the crew was a similar mix. Some ship's crews had excellent morale, while others were on the verge of mutiny the entire trip. In addition to the generally poor quality of men and machines, Rozestvensky had to deal with a lack of allies and friendly ports, an ad hoc network of coaling stations, haughty aristocratic officers, and the threat of Japanese spies and saboteurs. It's amazing that the fleet was able to complete the journey at all.

Then, after months of sailing half way around the world, they got their asses kicked in four hours. Only 3 of the 38 ships ever made it back to Russia.

The Tsar's Last Armada is therefore the tragic story of a man charged with an impossible task. Rozhestvensky pulls off a miracle to get the fleet to Tsushima, but is immediately defeated in one of the most lopsided battles in naval history; a defeat that not only signals the rise of Japan as a world power, but is also the beginning of the end for the Russian aristocracy. Pleshakov tells a great story, full of details about the lives of the Russian sailors amidst a background of political and military drama in a colorful period of history. It's a great read for anyone interested in one of the most important naval battles in history.