Battle at Chemulpo Bay

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110 years of the heroic feat

Technology	Cruiser Varyag in the bottle

Master with cruiser Varyag in the bottle and photo of V. Rudnev	The honour guard at the tomb of the captain Vsevolod Rudnev during the celebration 08.02.2014

The gathering near the church in honour of 110 years of the heroic feat in Savino	Presentation to N. Rudnev model of cruiser Varyag in the bottle 10.02.2014

About battle:

From Japan: 1   Armoured cruiser , 5  protected cruisers , 1  aviso , 8  torpedo boats

From Russia: 1 Protected cruiser, 1 gunboat

Uryu ordered the cruisers  Chiyoda,   Takachiho ,   Asama   and his   torpedo boats   to proceed up the channel with the  troopships   to commence the debarkation at once, while the cruisers  Naniwa ,  Niitaka   and  Akashi   were held in reserve. Three torpedo-boats took refuge near  Niitaka  far board.

A conference was quickly convened on  Talbot  by Captain  Vsevolod Rudnev  and the captains of neutral warships (except  Vicksburg), and it was decided that the Russians would fight their way out. At noon, Captain Denis Bagly of  Talbot  came to  Naniwa  with a letter signed by all of the neutral captains except for the captain of  Vicksburg, W.A. Marshall, declining the request to change anchorage, on the grounds that Chemulpo was a neutral port. Outgunned and outnumbered, and refusing advice from the neutral captains to surrender, at 11:00 on 9 February, Captain Vsevolod Rudnev of  Varyag  attempted to make a break for the open sea.

Although the Russian logbook records damage to  Asama, Japanese records indicate that she took no damage.

Unable to break past the Japanese squadron by mid-afternoon,  Korietz  and the badly battered  Varyag  returned to Chemulpo harbor at 13:15, where both took refuge near the neutral warships. At 16:00,  Korietz  was scuttled by her crew by blowing up two powder-rooms. Fragments of the blown-up ship landed dangerously close to neutral vessels. Fearing a greater explosion with potential casualties, the captains of the neutral warships present urged Rudnev not to blow up  Varyag  in a similar manner. At 18:10, scuttled by her crew,  Varyag  rolled over on her port side and sank. Crewmen from  Varyag were dispatched to the Russian transport  Sungari, which had remained behind in the harbor during the battle, and set her on fire to prevent her from falling into Japanese hands.

Russian casualties on the  Varyag  were heavy. All of  Varyag 's twelve 6 in (150 mm) guns, all of her 12-pounders, and all of her 3-pounders were out of action, it took 5 serious hits at or below the waterline. Of it crew with a nominal strength of 580, 33 were killed and 97 wounded. The Russian crews—except for the badly wounded—returned to Russia on neutral warships and were treated as heroes.  

Gunboat Koreitz

Japan cruiser Akashi

Japan cruiser Chioda

Japan cruiser Asama

Japan cruiser Niitaka

Japan cruiser Takachiho