On March 10, 1904, a detachment of Russian destroyers won a battle, where the sides had an approximately equal composition in number and class of ships.
The arrival in Port Arthur of the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Vice-Admiral S. O. Makarov, led to the intensification of the actions of the Russian squadron. Ships went out to sea on a regular basis, and on March 10, 1904, this led to a serious military confrontation. It is noteworthy that the forces of the parties this time in the ship composition were approximately equal. Among the Japanese, the 1st fighter squadron, commanded by Captain 1st Rank Asai, included the Shirakumo, Asashivo, Kasumi, and Akatsuki. Japanese fighters (fighter - a large destroyer with enhanced artillery weapons, designed to destroy enemy destroyers - RP) had one 76-mm and five 57-mm guns, two 457-mm. torpedo tubes. The Russian detachment under the command of Captain 1st Rank NA Matusevich consisted of four destroyers: "Hardy", "Powerful", "Attentive" and "Fearless". Each of them had a displacement of 346 tons, carrying one 75 mm. gun, five 47-mm. rapid-fire guns of the Hotchkiss system and two 380-mm. torpedo tubes. Due to the difference in artillery systems, the Japanese had, if not decisive, but noticeable superiority in the weight of the side salvo. And every Japanese fighter was larger than a Russian destroyer. With a nominal equality of forces, the tasks faced by the detachment commanders were similar - the search and destruction of enemy ships in the outer roadstead of Port Arthur. The Japanese detachment, having arrived at about 2 hours 10 minutes, cruised near Liaoteshan in anticipation of the target … and waited when at 4 hours 35 minutes. out of the darkness, heavy artillery fire was suddenly opened on Japanese fighters. According to the official Japanese description of military operations at sea, the outbreak of the battle took place in extremely unfavorable conditions for the Asaya fighters: “since we were in full moonlight, and the enemy, apparently, was hiding in the shadows of the mountains, we had to stop to see where is the enemy. " Reducing the speed of movement and stopping was a major mistake for the Japanese, since their ships immediately became a stationary target. The surprise of the Russian attack was partly offset by the damage to the flagship "Enduring" and the wounding of the detachment commander Matusevich.
The destroyer Vlastny, following the flagship, attacked the second in the column, the Japanese fighter Asashivo, trying to ram the enemy ship. The Japanese destroyer immediately increased its speed and Vlastny slipped 10-15 meters behind the Asashivo. But as soon as the Japanese fighter found itself in the sector of the Vlastny's torpedo tubes, both torpedoes were fired into the enemy ship at point-blank range. And if one missed the target, then the second hit the center of the body. The risk was enormous, because when shooting at such a short distance, Vlastny himself could suffer. According to the Russian description of the battle after the explosion of the Asasivo, “having lurching to the starboard side and settling on the stern, began to sink rapidly, and the bow rose strongly. (…) The shooting from him stopped, and he launched a low, thin rocket upward … and the aft part of it was already equal to the water. " For this attack, the commander of the "Vlastnoy" Lieutenant V. A. Kartsov was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree. According to Japanese data, Asashivo did not sink. This is most likely the case. The experience of the Russian-Japanese war showed that in most cases of torpedo hits on destroyers ("Lieutenant Burakov", "Combat", "Sentry") ships remained afloat. The only exception was the Japanese destroyer No. 42, which was killed by a torpedo fired by Angry at the very end of the defense of Port Arthur. A short but hot firefight at an extremely short distance lasted no more than 20 minutes, after which the Japanese ships withdrew from the battle. Despite favorable conditions, mine weapons were used by only one of the ships of the Russian detachment, and the Japanese generally "forgot" about the main purpose of the destroyers. As a result of the collision, the Japanese detachment did not fulfill its task, it found itself in the role of the attacked side and was forced to retreat. The Japanese explain the withdrawal from the battle by the numerical superiority of the Russian detachment: “at that moment three enemy destroyers appeared on the bow and, thus, the enemy was on both sides. However, after a little while the enemy began to fire among themselves; thus, we managed to avoid danger and join our detachment at 5.20 in the morning. " The two Russian detachments of three destroyers "dreamed" to Captain Asaya can only be explained by an incorrect assessment of the situation, and at the same time by the need to justify what happened and save face. It was a tactical victory for the Russian fleet. The Japanese are silent about the torpedo hit on the Asashivo, but paint a sad picture of damage to their ships, especially the Akatsuki end fighter, which, according to the official Japanese description, lost its speed in an unequal battle with five (!!!) Russian destroyers.
This success of Matusevich's detachment was overshadowed and remained in the shadow of another battle, when a few hours later, in a clash with an overwhelming enemy in numbers and weapons, the destroyer "Guarding" was killed.
