Emboldened by his success, Tōgō resumed long-range bombardment missions, which prompted the Russians to lay more minefields. On 14 May Nashiba put to sea with the battleships Hatsuse, , and , the protected cruiser , and the dispatch boat to relieve the Japanese blockading force off Port Arthur. On the following morning, the squadron encountered a minefield laid by the Russian minelayer Amur. Hatsuse struck one mine that disabled her steering at 10:50 and Yashima struck another when moving to assist Hatsuse. At 12:33 Hatsuse drifted onto another mine that detonated one of her magazines, killing 496 of her crew, and sinking the ship at . Tatsuta and Kasagi managed to save Nashiba and Nakao with 334 other officers and ratings. Yashimas flooding could not be controlled and she foundered about eight hours later, after her crew had abandoned ship. Notes Footnotes References Further reading External links Hatsuse on Tyne Built Ships Shikishima-class battleships Ships built by Armstrong Whitworth Ships built on the River Tyne 1899 ships Russo-Japanese War battleships of Japan Ships sunk by mines Shipwrecks in the East China Sea Shipwrecks of China Shipwrecks of the Russo-Japanese War Naval magazine explosions