Japanese destroyer Akatsuki (1901)

Akatsuki departed England on 25 January 1902^[3] to make her delivery voyage to Japan, which she completed with her arrival at Yokosuka on 25 May 1902.^[1]

When the Russo-Japanese War broke out in February 1904, Akatsuki was part of either the 1st^[4] or 3rd Destroyer Division of the 1st Fleet,^[5] according to different sources. The war began that evening with the Battle of Port Arthur, a Japanese surprise attack on Imperial Russian Navy warships anchored in the outer roadstead of the Russian naval base at Port Arthur, China. Ten Japanese destroyers of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Destroyer Divisions made a torpedo attack in three waves, with the four destroyers of the 1st Destroyer Division (Akatsuki, Asashio, Kasumi, and Shirakumo) and Ikazuchi of the 2nd Destroyer Division constituting the first wave.^[4] They closed to about 650 yards (590 m) from the Russian ships and fired nine torpedoes.^[4] One of Kasumi′s torpedoes hit the Russian protected cruiser Pallada.^[4]

While taking part in the ensuing blockade of Port Arthur, Akatsuki struck a mine and sank off Dalniy southeast of Tieshan at 38°38′N 121°05′E / 38.633°N 121.083°E / 38.633; 121.083 (Akatskuki) on 17 May 1904.^[6] Her commanding officer was killed in her sinking.^[7]

Believing that the Russians had not observed the sinking of Akatsuki, the Japanese concealed her loss by making no announcement of it.^[8] Instead, they announced a new commanding officer had reported aboard her on 20 May 1904^[9] — three days after her loss — and gave the name Akatsuki to the captured Imperial Russian Navy destroyer Reshitel‘nyi. The captured ship operated under the name Akatsuki until after the end of the war in early September 1905.^[10]

Meanwhile, the Japanese finally announced the loss of the original Akatsuki on 1 June 1905.^[11] They struck her from the naval register on 19 October 1905.^[1] That same day, they again renamed the captured Russian destroyer, changing her name from Akatsuki to Yamabiko, also transliterated as Yamahiko.

• 写真日本海軍全艦艇史 Fukui Shizuo Collection』資料編、KKベストセラーズ、1994年 ("Photographic history of all ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy Fukui Shizuo Collection" material edition, KK Bestsellers, 1994) (in Japanese).
• 海軍歴史保存会『日本海軍史』第7巻、第9巻、第10巻、第一法規出版、1995年 (Naval History Preservation Society "Japanese Naval History" Vol. 7, Vol. 9, Vol. 10, Daiichi Hoki Publishing, 1995) (in Japanese).
• 片桐大自『聯合艦隊軍艦銘銘伝』普及版、光人社、2003年 (Daiji Katagiri "Rengo Kantai Gunkan Meiden" popular version, Kojinsha, 2003) (in Japanese).
• Cocker, Maurice (1983). Destroyers of the Royal Navy, 1893-1981. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1075-7.
• Corbett, Julian S. (1994). Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905, Volume I. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-129-7.
• Corbett, Julian S. (1994). Maritime Operations in the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905, Volume II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-129-7.
• Evans, David (1979). Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
• Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
• Jane, Fred T (1904). The Imperial Japanese Navy. Thacker, Spink & Co. ASIN: B00085LCZ4.
• Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Lyon, David (1996). The First Destroyers. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland. ISBN 1-55750-271-4.
• Stille, Mark (2016). The Imperial Japanese Navy of the Russo-Japanese War. Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4728-1121-9.