ABSTRACT
From a naval point of view, the Russo-Japanese War was the most important campaign since the Napoleonic Wars, and had a marked influence, albeit brief, on the development of warfare at sea. Its greatest impact was obviously on the fleets of Russia and Japan. Whereas the former, the world’s third largest, declined substantially after the war, the latter burgeoned into one of the world’s mightiest. In addition, it was primarily the British Royal Navy, the leading naval force at that time, that showed great interest in the naval engagement of the war. The lessons learnt in the war played a significant role in the minor revolution in naval development and the subsequent naval race that took place among the powers, Britain and Germany in particular, in the decade before World War I.
