Hitachi Maru Incident

Hitachi Maru Incident
Part of the Russo-Japanese War
Hitachi Maru in 1898
Date 15 June 1904 Location Tsushima Straits Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Japan	Russia
Commanders and leaders
	Petr Bezobrazov
Strength
3 unarmed transports	3 armored cruisers
Casualties and losses
2 ships sunk 1 grounded 1,334 killed 112 wounded	none

The Hitachi Maru Incident (常陸丸事件, Hitachi-maru jiken^?) was a maritime incident which occurred during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, in which three Japanese transports were sunk in a Russian commerce raiding sortie by a Vladivostok-based armored cruiser squadron of the Imperial Russian Navy.

At the start of the Russo-Japanese War, the bulk of the Russian Pacific Fleet was blockaded within the confines of Port Arthur by the Imperial Japanese Navy. However, the Russian subsidiary naval base at Vladivostok, although shelled by a Japanese squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Dewa Shigetō in March 1904, remained largely undamaged and unblockaded. Located at Vladivostok was a garrison force consisting of the protected cruiser Bogatyr and auxiliary cruiser Lena and a stronger Vladivostok Independent Cruiser Squadron consisting of the armored cruisers Rossia, Rurik, and Gromoboi, under the command of Rear Admiral Karl Jessen.

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