ABSTRACT
In the meantime, the Japanese military attachés running espionage webs in European countries were given the order to keep close watch on the squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Rozhestvenskii,3 particularly at the coaling stations and those seaports, which his men-of-war visited on their unprecedented voyage to the other side of the world. In coded messages to the high command, Russian military and diplomatic agents in China reported many Japanese officers, disguised as civilians, departing to Europe.4 One of the ciphered telegrams to the Main Naval Staff ran as follows:
On the route of the [2nd] Squadron, the Japanese are preparing various obstacles. It is not easy to find out their intentions, albeit we know for sure that 27 officers have passed via Hong Kong, including 20 naval specialists. Japan is purchasing steamships, yachts, and of wireless telegraph stations for observation posts in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. The steamers will navigate under neutral disguise and be provided with mines of various types. Agents will stay in seaports. It is desirable to recruit our own agents to keep watch and to keep the Squadron informed.5
