early hostilities, and there was a general call on
the Government to anticipate the blow, when relations became strained
between the two countries in 1903. The Tokio Government was anxious not to
precipitate the war, for the organization of the army required some months
for completion, but the feeling in the navy, army, and civil population
forced its hand. After a brief delay of negotiations, during which both
parties worked with feverish energy to secure additional armaments,
diplomatic relations were broken off at the beginning of February, 1904,
and then, without waiting for any formal declaration of war, the Japanese
torpedo flotilla swooped down on the Russian fleet lying in the roads
outside the narrow entrance of Port Arthur, found them utterly unprepared
to meet this sudden attack, and crippled several of the ships. A second
blow was the destruction of the first-class armoured cruiser "Variag," the
Russian guardship at Chemulpo, by a Japanese squadron.

Most of the best ships in the Russian navy were in the East at the outbreak
of the war. Alexieff had, however, made the initial mistake of dividing the
force at his disposal. Away north at Vladivostock was a squadron of three
large armoured cruisers, the "Gromoboi," "Rossia," and "Rurik," and the
protected cruiser "Bogatyr." The "Variag" was isolated at Chemulpo, the
port of Seoul, doing duty that might have been left to a gunboat. At Port
Arthur, under Admiral Stark, there was a strong fleet, including seven
battleships, the "Petropavlosk," "Poltava," "Peresviet," "Pobieda,"
"Retsivan," "Sebastopol," and "Tsarevitch," the cruisers "Askold,"
"Boyarin," "Bayan," "Pallada," "Diana," and "Novik," and a flotilla of
torpedo craft and the mine-laying steamer "Yenessei." In the torpedo attack
on the evening of 8 February the "Retsivan," "Tsarevitch," and "Pallada"
were badly damaged. The "Variag" was destroyed next day, and a few days
later the "Yenessei" accidentally blew herself up while laying mines. This
series of disasters seemed for a while to have almost destroyed the
_morale_ of the fleet. Stark set to work to repair his damaged ships, made
no attempt to meet the Japanese at sea, or interfere with the transport of
their armies to the mainland of Asia, and, subordinating his fleet to the
defence of Port Arthur, even landed guns and men to strengthen the landward
works. The Japanese blockaded the port, insulted it with long-range
bombardments, and tried to block th