Several of Rozhestvensky's most powerful battleships had barely completed before leaving the Baltic. Orel completed in October 1904 and sailed that same month; Borodino had commissioned in August, and the flagship Knyaz Suvorov in September. Imperator Alexander III had completed in November 1903, giving it about eleven months before departure. These dates left sharply different amounts of time to shake down the ships and train their crews. The comparison with HMS Prince of Wales before the Denmark Strait emphasizes how much preparation the newest Russian ships still needed. Their strong armament could not substitute for making each ship and crew work together.
Notable Point · 1:27:56-1:30:27
Borodino-class battleships went to war before working up
Commissioning dates show how little time several Russian battleships had for shakedown and crew training before the expedition began.