Siege of Port Arthur

Siege of Port Arthur
Part of the Russo-Japanese War
Russian soldiers standing over dead Japanese soldiers lying in a trench at Port Arthur.
Date August 1, 1904 – January 2, 1905 Location Modern Lüshunkou, China Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Japan	Russia
Commanders and leaders
Nogi Maresuke	Anatoly Stoessel
Strength
80,000–150,000 troops 474 artillery pieces	50,000 troops 506 artillery pieces
Casualties and losses
57,780 14,000 killed 2 battleships sunk 1 cruiser sunk	50,000 32,447 captured 6,000 killed 4 battleships sunk 2 cruisers sunk 1 battleship scuttled

57,780

50,000

The Siege of Port Arthur (Japanese: 旅順攻囲戦, Ryojun Kōisen; Russian: Оборона Порт-Артура, Oborona Port-Artura, August 1, 1904 – January 2, 1905), the deep-water port and Russian naval base at the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula in Manchuria, was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russo-Japanese War.

Port Arthur was widely regarded as one of the most strongly fortified positions in the world at the time. However, during the First Sino-Japanese War, General Nogi Maresuke had taken the city from the forces of Qing China in only a few days. The ease of his victory during that previous conflict, and overconfidence by the Japanese General Staff in Japan's ability to overcome improved fortifications made by the Russians, led to a much longer campaign, with much heavier losses than expected.

The Siege of Port Arthur saw the introduction of much technology used in subsequent wars of the 20th century (particularly in World War I) including massive 28 cm howitzers capable of hurling 217-kilogram (478-pound) shells over 8 kilometers (5.0 miles), as well as rapid-firing light howitzers, Maxim machine guns, bolt-action magazine rifles, barbed wire entanglements, electric fences, arc lamp searchlights, tactical radio signalling (and, in response, the first military use of radio jamming), hand grenades, extensive trench warfare, and the use of modified naval mines as land weapons.

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