Battle of Port Arthur

Battle of Port Arthur (naval)
	Part of the Russo-Japanese War
	; Japanese print displaying the destruction of a Russian ship
Date	8–9 February 1904
Location	Near Port Arthur, Manchuria, China
Result	Inconclusive; see Outcome section
Belligerents
Empire of Japan	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Tōgō Heihachirō; Dewa Shigetō; Kamimura Hikonojō; Nogi Maresuke;	Oskar Starck; Yevgeni Alekseyev; Wilgelm Vitgeft; Samad bey Mehmandarov;
Strength
6 pre-dreadnought battleships; 9 armoured cruisers; 15 destroyers; 20 torpedo boats;	7 pre-dreadnought battleships; 1 armored cruiser; 5 protected cruisers, with escorts;
Casualties and losses
90 men and slight damage	150 casualties; 7 ships damaged;

The Battle of Port Arthur (Japanese: 旅順口海戦, Hepburn: Ryojunkō Kaisen) of 8–9 February 1904 marked the commencement of the Russo-Japanese War. It began with a surprise night attack by a squadron of Japanese destroyers on the neutral Russian fleet anchored at Port Arthur, Manchuria, and continued with an engagement the following morning; further skirmishing off Port Arthur would continue until May 1904. The attack ended inconclusively.