At Tsushima, destroyers and torpedo boats supported the Japanese battleships and large armoured cruisers in several divisions. The First Squadron's supporting light forces included three destroyer divisions and the 14th Torpedo Boat Division. The Second Squadron had the Fourth and Fifth Destroyer Divisions alongside the Ninth and Nineteenth Torpedo Boat Divisions, while the Third Squadron's light forces were torpedo boats. Concentrating destroyers around the leading squadrons placed the more versatile craft beside the fleet's fighting edge. They could defeat enemy destroyers and torpedo boats, launch their own torpedo attacks, and in some cases carry mines. The Fourth Destroyer Division probably did more damage with mines than with torpedoes.
Chapter · 39:51-43:11
Destroyers protect the fighting edge at Tsushima
Japan concentrated destroyer divisions around its leading squadrons, using them to screen the battle line, fight enemy light craft, launch torpedoes, and lay mines.