The Fleet That Had To Die

This book, written many moons ago now, details a true story from the Japanese vs Russia war of 1904/5. During this war the Japanese gained the upper hand partly by utter naval dominance. The Russian Pacific Fleet was knocked on the head and in order to save the situation the Russians decided to send another fleet spearheaded by their four newest and best battleships and an assortment of other vessels of varying degrees of fitness for the job at hand. This fleet, imaginatively dubbed The 2nd Pacific Fleet, had to get its sorry self right around the world from its' base in the Baltic, right around the body of Europe and down to the South Atlantic before rounding the Cape of Good Hope, thence across the Indian ocean, up through Asian waters and then somehow get to its new (besieged) base of Vladivostok. In order to truly appreciate this the reader really must be able to take in both the utterly different technological time of this event and also the rather parlous state of Russian seamanship let alone the dilapidated state of much of their fleet. Just getting the fleet there was an achievement especially since the ships often had to take on fresh coal at sea. The author really does a wonderful job of setting the scene and drawing his characters well. And his obviously naval eye comes in very handy when he puts into simple yet effective words many aspects of the Russian Navy and its Japanese opponents. Every bungle is mirth inducing and in the end you actually root for the Russians just to make it far enough to actually get to the war zone. Of course those of you who know their history in regards to this war will know the outcome and that such an accomplishment ended in such tragedy is one of the underlying themes that will haunt you about this book. Not to mention that the author also does quite a wonderful job of getting across the utter confusion of the actual engagement and his closing chapters detailing the sad litany of the butchers bill is something that is quite stirring. This is a great war book on a subject now little discussed. Aficionados of naval warfare will lap this up and the general history buff should probably give it a look see as well given it's quick and breezy style and the way the story picks up tension as it goes along.

I enjoyed this book. The story of the Russian fleet's journey to Tsushima reads like a black tragicomedy. This fleet which couldn't navigate consistently, maintain a formation, or even keep order among their crews was expected to travel to the other side of the world and defeat the battle-hardened Japanese Imperial Navy. Even to one unfamiliar with the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War, it very quickly becomes evident what the outcome of this battle will be. While The Fleet That Had To Die is the story of a fleet's journey to its death, this somber aspect of the book is frequently overshadowed by the hilarity of the clueless Russians. Their blunders on their way around the world are side-splitting.

This is the third book I have read written by Richard Hough. They are all good books, and Hough has a way with describing naval battles. In this book, he describes how the Russian Admiralty collected four good battleships and a motley collection of other ships to lead into the battle with the Japanese. This 10,000 mile journey across half of the world ended in defeat at Tushuma (Donkey's Ears). Hough describes how the failure of the Admiralty, the ship's crews, and the Admiral resulted in one of the most stunning defeats in naval history. There is plenty of blame to go around. Several thousand Russian sailors died as a result. I agree with some of the other reviewers that more of the writing should have been devoted to the actual battle. In itself, the travel of the Second Pacific fleet was also a naval accomplishment. For a latter and more detailed book of the battle, see The Tsar's Last Armada.

I can only tell you of the old Ballantine version of this book, a trade paper version of the first edition. A look at the table of contents ot this present edition tells me that this is a modified version. I do not expect that the central text has changed much, but there is additional material here. This is the story of the Russian Baltic Fleet's incredible odessey to the Far East to relieve Port Arthur, and its ultimate destruction at the hands of the Japanese under admiral Togo at Tsushima. The journey of the fleet was an incredible achievement in the days when ships had to transfer coal by hand. The facts that the hostile British did not allow coal to be loaded at their stations and that the Russians had to carry out back breaking coaling at sea (an unheard of practice) from chartered ships or in French ports where the local authorities would turn a blind eye (this was the period in which the British and French hammered out the Entente; so, all French help to their European ally had to be unofficial) make the Russians' efforts to reach the East seem super human. Hough did a fine job with this story in the first edition, as any who know his work would expect. This edition with its added appendicies must be even more authoritative. The Russo-Japanese war has meager coverage in English; so, this book is something of a must have.

The veteran naval writer Richard Hough made his name with this 1958 tale of the doomed Russian Second and Third Squadrons, destined to face oblivion at the battle of Tsushima (named after the small island between Japan and Korea whose name translates literally as "Donkey's Ears"). In a narrative style that would do justice to Joseph Conrad, Hough tracks the steady progress of the fleet through the Baltic, the North Sea (where, in firing upon the Dogger Bank fishing fleet, the Squadron almost began a war with Britain), to the West Coast of Africa, Mauritius, the Straits, Vietnam (Cam Ranh Bay) and finally the fateful Korea Straits. The astounding thing in this story was the fleet's sheer achievement in getting to the North Pacific: its voyage set new distance records, its unique at-sea coal refueling was revolutionary and the fleet's arrival at Singapore created an absolute sensation in admiralty circles. Hough also gives a graphic account of the terrible moment of truth, when Admiral Togo opens fire. Sterling stuff.