Russo-Japanese War Izumo-class cruiser

a postcard of iwate @ anchor, before 1905

in april 1904, division tasked contain russian armored cruisers based @ vladivostok, failed until 13 august when latter tried rendezvous ships attempted breakout port arthur. unbeknownst russians, tōgō had defeated ships port arthur during battle of yellow sea on 10 august , russian squadron vladivostok intercepted off ulsan, korea 2nd division. steering of russian cruiser rurik damaged in battle , russians made several attempts prevent japanese concentrating fire on her, forced abandon her fate. kamimura left rurik tender ministrations of reinforcements , pursued 2 remaining russian ships time before breaking off pursuit prematurely based on incorrect report izumo had expended of ammunition. ship hit on 20 times, suffered fewer 20 men killed or wounded. iwate, in contrast, hit far fewer times, 1 of them started major ammunition fire killed or wounded dozens of men. after battle, sisters refitted , assigned different units, escorting troop convoys northern korea, providing cover while minefield laid off vladivostock, , blockading tsugaru strait until russian ships baltic fleet approached japan in mid-1905.

battle of tsushima

the russian 2nd , 3rd pacific squadrons spotted on morning on 27 may 1904 , tōgō ordered ships put sea. izumo , iwate had rejoined 2nd division in anticipation of battle , kamimura s ships confirmed initial spotting later morning before joining tōgō s battleships. of japanese battleships, division opened fire @ 14:10 on russian battleship oslyabya, forced fall out of formation @ 14:50 , sank 20 minutes later. after failed torpedo attack repulsed iwate , several other cruisers around same time, russian battleship knyaz suvorov appeared out of mist @ 15:35 @ short range. kamimura s ships engaged 5 minutes before disappeared mists. later in day, kamimura led division in fruitless pursuit of of russian cruisers around 17:30. abandoned chase around 18:03 , encountered russian battleline half hour later. stayed @ long range , ships fired when practicable before ceasing fire @ 19:30.

a japanese postcard of izumo @ anchor, 1905

the surviving russian ships spotted next morning , japanese ships opened fire , stayed beyond range @ russian ships reply. rear admiral nikolai nebogatov therefore decided surrender ships neither return fire nor close range. after nebogatov s surrender, coast defense ship admiral ushakov spotted south of nebogatov s ships , iwate , armored cruiser, yakumo, tasked pursue her. japanese ships demanded russians surrender when came within range, captain refused. admiral ushakov attempted close range bring japanese cruisers within range of guns, fast enough keep range open , russian ship not hit either of them. after half hour, admiral ushakov had been heavily damaged bear , commander ordered crew abandon ship , scuttling charges detonated. both iwate , izumo struck several times during battle, neither damaged , casualties light. after battle, division covered amphibious landings in northeastern korea in july , august before war ended.