Russian battleship launches appeared to give the empire a clear advantage over Japan before the Russo-Japanese War. That paper comparison encouraged confident forecasts while ignoring where the ships and supporting infrastructure actually were. Geography determined how forces could reach the theatre, while logistics and maintenance determined whether nominal strength became usable combat power. Fleet lists alone could not predict the operational outcome.
Notable Point · 33:30-34:40
Russian numbers versus geography and logistics
Launch totals that seemed to favour Russia before 1904 could not erase the geographical, maintenance, and logistical realities of fighting Japan in East Asia.