Our Torpedo Hitting a Russian Warship at the Great Naval Battle of Port Arthur

Much of this image is devoted to dramatic action occurring underwater. In the center, a Whitehead torpedo propelled by compressed air punctures the hull of a vessel in the Russian squadron, which may have been the ,Pallada, the Retvizan, or the Tsesarevich. The surprise night attack of February 8–9, 1904, when Japanese destroyers fired upon the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, marked the start of the Russo Japanese War. The artist completed the design for this triptych to commemorate the event with great speed; it was printed on February 15 and published on February 18. Some impressions of this work bear a double columned title near the lower left corner of the left hand panel; its absence on this particular triptych suggests that it may have been among the first printed batch.