Good write up. Japan's navy soundly beat Russia's navy. Didn't help that the British had denied coaling station access and the Russian navy had to go around Africa and then a long trek through warm waters while barnacles and coral built up on their hulls.

The Manchuria campaign did not "soundly" beat the Russians. It was an extremely brutal affair with two armies that were at parity of size and capabilities. Russia had to bring everything via the Siberian RR. Nonetheless it was a defeat of a European white power.