Russian Cruiser Sank Off Stranraer Coastline

Captain Vsevolod Rudnev

On 1 March 1903, V.F. Rudnev assumed the command of the Varyag cruiser.

From 16 to 22 December 1902 the cruiser went to Chemulpo, the strategically important Korean port, which harboured warships from the leading world powers on a permanent basis. After a short stay at the Port-Arthur port, Varyag headed towards Chemulpo again on 28 December 1902 in the capacity of a stationary ship.

Russian-Japanese relations had become very strained by the beginning of 1904. Just about anything could spark a war. Therefore, the command was prohibited from showing any initiative so as not to provoke the Japanese.

Initially, the service of the Varyag at the Chemulpo harbour was rather uneventful. On 5 January 1904 it was joined by the Koreets gunboat lead by Captain 2nd Rank G.P. Belyaev. On 14 November 1904 the telegraph line with Port-Arthur broke off. On 26 January 1904 Koreets attempted to leave Chemulpo but was stopped by the Japanese squadron in the open sea. Without the order to engage in combat Belyaev decided to return to the port. The next morning the Russian sailors learned about the war between Russia and Japan.

The Commander of the Japanese squadron Rear Admiral S. Uriu sent messages to the commanders of the warships of neutral countries harboured in Chemulpo, namely, Talbot cruiser from Great Britain, Pascal cruiser from France, Italian Elba and American gunboat Vicksburg, asking them to leave the harbour in connection with the possible battle action against Varyag and Koreets. The commanders of the first three ships came up with a protest since a battle at the harbour would be a flagrant violation of the formal neutral status upheld by Korea. However, it was clear that this would hardly stop the Japanese.

Japanese Marines

Early in the morning of 27 January 1904, V.F. Rudnev took part in the meeting between the ship commanders on board the British Talbot. Despite the obvious compassion on behalf of the British, French and Italians, they could not openly support the Russian sailors for fear of violating their neutrality.

Having heard this, Captain Rudnev told the commanders on board the Talbot that he would try to break out and take the battle to open sea, no matter how strong the enemy was. He stated he would not fight in the harbour and did not intend to surrender.

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