 As the Japanese ships continued to pound the Tsesarevich , the battleship Retvizan , followed shortly afterward by Peresvet , boldly charged Tōgō 's battleline in an attempt to divert the Japanese shellfire . The Japanese battleline immediately shifted fire to the oncoming ships , badly damaging both and forcing them to turn away . Ukhtomsky signaled the other Russian ships to follow him back to Port Arthur , but the signal was hard to discern because the flags had to be hung from the bridge railings without the topmasts and were only gradually recognized . Peresvet received a total of 39 hits of all sizes that killed 13 men and wounded 69 . Her forward 12 @-@ inch turret was knocked out and several hits near the waterline caused flooding ; compartments of the double bottom had to be counterflooded to restore some of her stability . Repairs took until late September . 
