War & StrategyBook note
The Tsar's Last Armada
Description. A short description of a book from my bookshelf, not a review.
In 1904 Russia sent its Baltic Fleet on an 18,000-mile voyage around Africa to relieve the war against Japan in the Far East. Pleshakov follows that voyage, and its commander Admiral Rozhestvensky, through coaling crises, diplomatic incidents and collapsing morale to the annihilation of the fleet at Tsushima in May 1905.
It is a gripping narrative and a study in how political pressure, poor logistics and an outdated navy can doom an operation before the first shot. For anyone interested in the Russo-Japanese War or the role of sea power in limited war, it is essential and readable.
From the bookshelf · read 2019–2020