Print from the Illustrated London News titled "A Glimpse of the Baltic Fleet in the Straits of Malacca"

Title
Print from the Illustrated London News titled "A Glimpse of the Baltic Fleet in the Straits of Malacca"
Year/Period
1905
Region
London
Material
Dimension
Object size: 28.4 x 39.1 cm
Accession No.
2017-00668

In the wake of the their defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, the Russians sought to reinforce their Far East fleet with a Baltic Fleet. This print is based on a sketch by a passenger on a German liner that encountered the fleet off the Straits of Malacca on 6 April 1905. It is accompanied by an extract from the passenger's account, which describes the scene depicted at 5 am, with searchlights being flashed upon the liner and a torpedo-boat destroyer approaching to identify the ship. The scene of the passagers on board the liner, as illustrated in this print is also described: "All hands turned up, a motley crowd clad in every conceivable costume, from the Japanese kimono to the bath-robe."