Even when, as now, valuable war experience is available, there is always a risk of false deductions. Conditions differ so greatly that generalisations based upon special episodes may be misleading and even dangerous. Thus the American Navy and our own have unquestionably suffered from shallow reasoning derived from the peculiar operations of the Civil War. Similarly, the action off Lissa led to a cult of the ram which has left a deep impress upon shipbuilding, while a few isolated successes obtained by torpedoes, in exceptional circumstances, have given rise to exaggerated claims on behalf of this weapon which can only end in disappointment.
Instances could be multiplied, and the obvious moral is the vital necessity for the most careful study by the clearest available brains before translating any so-called lesson of war into national policy. In a single year a navy of the magnitude of our own may be committed to many millions of expenditure, the result of which will affect its fighting efficiency for nearly a quarter of a century. The vital need for caution and for profound study of all such experience as is forthcoming is, therefore, evident.
The battle of Tsu-shima is by far the greatest and the most important naval event since Trafalgar, and the navy which is able to draw the most accurate conclusions, technical as well as tactical, from its experiences and to apply them in terms of policy and of training will secure marked advantage in the future.
At the battle of the Yalu the Japanese and Chinese fleets were numerically equal—twelve ships—but the former had only three vessels (all under 3000 tons) carrying side armour, and eight were protected cruisers.[1] The Chinese, on the other hand, had five vessels with side armour, including two battleships, and six protected cruisers.[1] In heavy armament the Chinese had a great superiority, the Japanese having the advantage in quick-firing guns, as shown below:
| GUNS. | JAPAN. | CHINA. |
|---|---|---|
| 12-inch and over | 3 | 8 |
| Over 8-inch and under 12-inch | 8 | 17 |
| Intermediate | 27 | 15 |
| Q.F. 6-inch and 4.7 inch | 67 | 2 |
At Tsu-shima the classification of armoured ships engaged was as follows:
| CLASS. | JAPAN. | RUSSIA. |
|---|---|---|
| Battleships | 4 | 8 |
| Coast-defence Armour-clad | ... | 3 |
| Armoured Cruisers | 8 | 3 |
| Total, | 12 | 14 |
The respective armaments were:
| GUNS. | 12-IN. | 10-IN. | 9-IN. | 8-IN. | Q.F. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6-IN. | 4.7 IN. | |||||
| Japan | 16 | 1 | ... | 30 | 160 | ... |
| Russia | 26 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 102 | 30 |
In heavy guns (9-inch and over) the Russians had the large preponderance of 28, the proportion being 45 to 17. In the smaller types, 4.7-inch to 8-inch, on the other hand, the Japanese superiority was 50, and in the 6-inch Q.F. type alone it was 58. A fair inference seems to be that the Japanese secondary armaments played the most important part in the first and practically decisive period of the battle.