Dogger Bank Incident (overnight 21/22 October 1904) - Battleships of the Russian Imperial Navys Baltic Fleet en route to reinforce in the Far East, not only fired on a fleet of British Hull fishing trawlers in the North Sea in mistake for Japanese Imperial Navy torpedo boats after misunderstanding signals - killing two and wounding six fishermen besides sinking one and damaging four vessels - but some of them fired on each other in the foggy nocturnal conditions. As the trawlers had their nets down, they were unable to flee and, in the general chaos, Russian ships shot at each other: the cruisers Aurora and Dmitrii Donskoi were taken for Japanese warships and bombarded by seven battleships sailing in formation, damaging both ships and killing at least one Russian sailor and severely wounding another, and fatally wounding a naval chaplain. During the pandemonium, several Russian ships signalled torpedoes had hit them, and on board the battleship Borodino, rumours spread that the ship was being boarded by the Japanese, with some crews donning life vests and lying prone on the deck and others drawing cutlasses to repel a boarding before ceasefire was signalled. No wonder why the IJN won the Battle of Tsushima.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 03:33:29 +0000
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