The Battle of Tsushima
There was a series of events that caused The Naval Battle of Tsushima, or as the Japanese call it the Sea of Japan Naval Battle. First, was the Battle of Port Arthur which caused the Russian western fleet to have to come all the way to the Pacific from Port Libau. The Japanese Navy decided if the Russians were going to come, they were going to have to go through the Straits of Tsushima. So the Russians were coming under Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky and the Japanese commander told his fleet "do not attack until I give the signal". The signal was the naval flag for Z. So this great battle was the first between modern steel battleship fleets and also the first using wireless telegraphy. It is called the "dying echo of the old era". The stage was set as "the greatest naval battle since Trafalgar". It began on May 27, 1905. The Japanese fleet destroyed two thirds of the Russian western fleet. The Russian fleet traveled 18,000 nautical miles to reach the Far East only to be beaten by the Japanese in a decisive victory for the Empire of the Rising Sun.