Signed by the artist, lower left. This event was very near the start of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. The Japanese decided to try and blockade the Russian Fleet in Port Arthur by sinking old merchant ships in the approach channel. The first attempt, with four blockships, took place on the night of 24-25 February 1904 but was unsuccessful. The second attempt was in the early morning of 27 March 1904 and also involved four blockships: the 'Chiyo Maru' (1885), 'Fukui Maru' (1882), 'Yahiko Maru' (1888) and 'Yoneyama Mar'u (1883). The 'Fukui Maru' was sunk by the Russian torpedo-boat destroyer 'Silnyii' off Port Arthur and the other three blockships were scuttled too far away from the harbour entrance to be effective. A third attempt was made on night of 2-3 May 1904 using eight blockships but this was also unsuccessful. Here one blockship is shown sinking as another approaches the harbour with her boats out for the crew ready to escape. The warship on the far left is presumably Russian and that on the far right Japanese. Serchlights beam out from the land in the background. This illustration was probably for reproduction in a magazine but if so, where and when it appeared are not yet known.