Russian ships also tried to concentrate fire on one of the Japanese ships, but due to lack of experience in the management of shotgun shooting and long-range could not achieve tangible results. The superiority of Japanese artillery in terms of firing rate, range, accuracy and destructive power of high-explosive shells immediately affected. At 14:25 a.m., having received severe damage and lost control, the Oslyabya armadillos failed. The ship, having rolled to the right, continued to describe the circulation, having a roll of 12 ° on the left side and a large difference in the bow. According to the commander of the 305-mm stern tower of armored carrier "Eagle" midshipman Shchipachev, the trim on the nose was so great that he saw the armored carrier "Oslyabya" through the bow bridge and the rostrum from the observation slot of his banshee's armored hood. The whole side of the bow of the battleship was broken, there were holes in the nose in the area below the waterline, there was a huge fire on the rostrums and the bow bridge. The artillery of the battleship, completely incapacitated, did not work. The nose tower of 254-mm guns, torn from the base, tilted, nose casemates of 152-mm guns were broken. Having burrowed his nose in the water but the most hawks, the battleship had to slowly fall to the left side towards the enemy. His tall pipes gradually lay on the water, covering the horizon with black smoke. A few moments later, the battleship capsized and quickly went under the water, carrying the remaining sailors and officers. The agony of Oslyabi lasted only 10 minutes.
At 14:30 a.m. the flagship battleship "Prince Suvorov" went out of service. The ship lost its mainsail and stern tube, the wreckage of a fork mast, bow, and stern bridge protruded over the combat cabin, rostrums were completely destroyed, and a fire broke out on the spark. Prince Suvorov, who survived under artillery fire, continued to repel the continuous attacks of Japanese cruisers and destroyers. By 4.20 p.m., the last pipe and for mast was destroyed on the battleship. The artillery survived only one 75-mm gun in the stern casemate, which continued to shoot at the enemy. The ship was a continuous fire from nose to stern. The armadillo was taken off the armadillo by the surviving staff officers and the wounded in the head 3. 3. Rozhestvensky (he could not control the fight). At 19:29, the ship was attacked by destroyers and sunk by four torpedoes fired at point-blank range.
After a failure of the battleship "Prince Suvorov," the place of the flagman was taken by the squadron battleship of the Guards crew "Emperor Alexander III" who headed a column of Russian ships up to 15 hours and 40 minutes. Having received heavy damage, the flaming ship with the big roll on the left side has broken down and has taken a place in a column tail. Strongly tilted, the battleship gave the last salvo from the middle tower of 152-mm guns, quickly lay on board and tilted over, holding out for some time on a floating keel up.
Then the battleship "Borodino" fell under fire, which found itself in the head of the column after the death of the battleship "Emperor Alexander 111". The fires had already begun on it. The ship had a roll of 5° on the starboard side. At the waterline of the battleship continuously torn Japanese shells, lifting huge pillars of water. The flames burst out of the ports of the battery deck.
- After several Japanese shells burst at the side in front of the stern tower of 152-mm guns, from under the water at the waterline seemed the flame. Apparently, there was an explosion in the artillery cellar. The ship quickly tilted to the starboard side and a minute later tipped over. For some time, it held up the water keel, then followed by a powerful internal explosion, and the hull went under the water.
The combat order of the Russian squadron was disrupted. Nobody controlled the ships in a battle, fighting off the enemy and trying to break through to Vladivostok, continued to follow the general course. Japanese ships, having a significant advantage in speed, covered the head of the squadron and afterward sharpened the fire of their armadillos on the leading ship.
After the death of the "Borodino" headship was instantly the battleship "Eagle", until it was overtaken by the battleship "Emperor Nicholas I", on which was the junior flagship Rear Admiral II. I. Nebogatov. "Eagle" during the whole day you: grilled the enemy's artillery fire. He kept the course, steering wheel control and part of the artillery: one 305-mm gun in the bow tower and two 152-mm guns of the left side.
Russian sailors and officers of the remaining ships continued to fight off the enemy's attacks with courage and steadfastness. Artillery gunners, despite all the difficulties of the battle, caused severe damage to Japanese armored carriers and cruisers. Flagship battleship "Mikasa" received more than 30 hits, "Fuji", 7-16 hits each received armored cruisers of the second squad1. But from the low content of explosives in shells and its low quality, it was not enough to sink Japanese ships. And nothing could change the course of the battle. Day battle on May 14 ended at 19:12.
- With the onset of darkness, Admiral of Togo stopped the artillery battle and withdrew with the main forces to the island. The remains of the Russian squadron were attacked by Japanese destroyers, and by the morning of May 15, the squadron as an organized force ceased to exist. Therefore, the battle on May 15 could not influence the outcome of the battle. That day another battleship "Admiral Ushakov" and armored cruiser "Admiral Nakhimov" died of artillery fire. Battleships "Navarin" and "Songs on the Great" were sunk by torpedoes.
Assessing the results and significance of the Battle of Tsushima, V.I. Le "nin wrote: "This was expected by everyone, but no one thought that the defeat of the Russian Navy was such a ruthless defeat ... The Rus' military fleet is finally destroyed. The war was lost irrevocably... We are facing not only a military defeat but a complete military collapse of the autocracy" 2.
In the Battle of Tsushima, the Russian squadron lost 12 armored ships, four of which were captured by the Japanese.