Upon approaching Port Arthur the Japanese came upon the Russian cruiser "Boyarin", which was on patrol. "Boyarin" fired on the "Mikasa" at extreme range, then turned and retreated. At around 12:00, at a range of about 5 miles, combat commenced between the Japanese and Russian fleets. The Japanese concentrated the fire of their 12" guns on the shore batteries while using their 8" and 6" against the Russian ships. Shooting was poor on both sides, but the Japanese severely damaged the "Novik", "Petropavlovsk", "Poltava", "Diana" and "Askold". However, it soon became evident that Admiral Dewa had made a critical error; the Russians had recovered from the initial destroyer attack, and their battleships had steam up. In the first five minutes of the battle "Mikasa" was hit by a ricocheting shell, which burst over her, wounding the chief engineer, the flag lieutenant, and five other officers and men, wrecking the aft bridge.