Port Arthur China：Battle of Port Arthur

Battle of Port Arthur, conflict on February 8–9, 1904, marking the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War[1] (1904–05). Rival[2] ambitions in Korea and China[3] led to war between Russia[4] and Japan[5] in 1904. The Russian Pacific Fleet was a threat to the movement of Japanese troops to mainland Asia; in response, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on Russian warships of the Asiatic Squadron at the strategically important Port Arthur (today Lushun[6], China), in Manchuria[7], before a declaration of war, anticipating the attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor[8], Hawaii, in 1941. The battle, and the larger war, exposed Russia’s growing vulnerability and instability, contributing to revolutionary discontent in that nation.

The attack was planned by Japanese Admiral Togo Heihachiro[9]. Ten torpedo-armed destroyers reached Port Arthur just after midnight on February 9. The unsuspecting Russians had their warships lit up, pre...