The Japanese met this fleet on the 27th of May, 1904, near the Island of Tsushima, between Corea and Japan.

The battle was decided in about an hour.

The Japanese sank practically all the Russian ships before the battle was entirely finished, with comparatively small loss to Japan.

This battle was carried on 12,000 miles by sea route from Saint Petersburg.

No invasion of Russia or Japan was contemplated, or attempted, and yet the naval battle decided the issue of the war completely, and was followed by a treaty of peace very shortly afterward.
These wars show us, as do all wars in which navies have engaged, that the function of a navy is not only to defend the coast in the sense of preventing an enemy from landing on it, but also to exert force far distant from the coast.