Atlas of Battles

siege, major, nineteenth century

Siege of Port Arthur

Siege of Port Arthur was a siege conducted on 1 August 1904 at Liaodong Peninsula, in what is now People's Republic of China; it lasted 5 months. It was part of the Russo-Japanese War, which ran from 1904 to 1905. The recorded result: Japanese victory.

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Port Arthur
Port Arthur. Niva magazine, Russian Empire, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought1 August 1904lasted 5 months
WhereLiaodong Peninsula, People's Republic of China38.796N, 121.236E
OutcomeJapanese victory
BelligerentsJapanagainstRussia
Part ofRusso-Japanese War1904 to 1905

Where it sits in the Russo-Japanese War

Bombardment of Vladivostok, 1904Battle of Port Arthur, 1904Battle of Chemulpo Bay, 1904Battle of Yalu River, 1904Battle of Nanshan, 1904Battle of Te-li-Ssu, 1904Hitachi Maru Incident, 1904Battle of Motien Pass, 1904Battle of Tashihchiao, 1904Battle of Hsimucheng, 1904Siege of Port Arthur, 1904Battle of the Yellow Sea, 1904Battle off Ulsan, 1904Battle of Korsakov, 1904Battle of Liaoyang, 1904Battle of Shaho, 1904Battle of Sandepu, 1905Battle of Mukden, 190519041905Siege of Port Arthur, 1904
18 placed engagements of the Russo-Japanese War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date1 August 1904
to 2 January 1905
PlaceLiaodong Peninsula, People's Republic of China
38.796N, 121.236E
KindSiege, nineteenth century
Commanders
  • Nogi Maresuke
  • Kodama Gentarō
  • Nakamura Satoru (general)
  • Tōgō Heihachirō
  • Roman Kondratenko
  • Alexander Fok
  • Konstantin Smirnov
  • Nikolai Tretyakov
Siege of Port ArthurSiege of Port ArthurSiege of LüshunBattle of Port ArthurBattle of LushunkouBattle of NanshanBattle of the Yellow SeaBattle of Port ArthurBattle of LushunkouBattle of NanshanBattle of the Yellow SeaQinhuangdaoZhuangheWafangdian100 km38.796N, 121.236E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.
Map of the Encirclement of Port Arthur Fortification
Map of the Encirclement of Port Arthur Fortification. Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Siege of Port Arthur
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 25 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Siege of Port Arthur today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-04-10. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 0 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from -5 to 257 m, 262 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 33% water, 31% tree cover, 28% built-up.

water: 33%tree cover: 31%built-up: 28%grassland: 4%bare ground: 2%cropland: 2%water 33%tree cover 31%built-up 28%grassland 4%bare ground 2%
west to east, 10.0 km0 to 89 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 118 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 4 times between 1634 and 1904.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1904

Siege of Port Arthur is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 339 in present-day People's Republic of China.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q210800, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Siege of Port Arthur, revision 1385579571, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.