Rozhestvensky's first and second destroyer divisions consisted largely of the Buinyi class and closely related ships. Buinyi could make 26.7 knots and about 1,200 miles at 12 knots, yet the Imperial Russian Navy still classified her type as large torpedo boats during the war. The screen at Tsushima needed gun-armed ships that could keep Japanese torpedo craft away from the battle line. The reported sea state would have limited the guns of any contemporary destroyer, although some designs would have coped much better than others. The Russian vessels' torpedo-focused layouts left their guns particularly difficult to operate. Later references that call these formations destroyer divisions apply the 1907 classification to ships that fought the 1905 battle as torpedo boats.
Chapter · 10:17-13:32
Tsushima exposed Russia's screening shortfall
At Tsushima, Russia needed destroyers to hold Japanese torpedo craft at bay and arrived with large torpedo boats whose guns were hard to use at sea.