 The Russian 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons were spotted on the morning on 27 May 1904 and Tōgō ordered his ships to put to sea . Izumo and Iwate had rejoined the 2nd Division in anticipation of this battle and Kamimura 's ships confirmed the initial spotting later that morning before joining Tōgō 's battleships . Together with most of the Japanese battleships , the division opened fire at 14 : 10 on the Russian battleship Oslyabya , which was forced to fall out of formation at 14 : 50 and sank 20 minutes later . After a failed torpedo attack was repulsed by Iwate and several other cruisers around the same time , the Russian battleship Knyaz Suvorov suddenly appeared out of the mist at 15 : 35 at short range . Kamimura 's ships engaged her for five minutes before she disappeared back into the mists . Later in the day , Kamimura led his division in a fruitless pursuit of some of the Russian cruisers around 17 : 30 . He abandoned his chase around 18 : 03 and encountered the Russian battleline about a half hour later . He stayed at long range and his ships fired when practicable before ceasing fire at 19 : 30 . 
