The Russo-Japanese War was farcical in many respects. The Russians were so overmatched. What was important about Tsushima was the shock it sent through the WHITE world. A "Non White" country of "inferior people" had defeated the navy of a WHITE Great Power.

The unexpectedness of it, after the European world watched with fascination for months as the Russian Main Battle Fleet sailed all the way from Europe to Asia. The press reporting on the Russian progress and pundits confidently predicting that the "little yellow monkeys" should be defeated quickly.

The shock of the Russian defeat made Japan's rise real to White Empire. A major naval defeat of the US fleet would, in many minds, signal a Great Power in terminal decline.

That's about all you really need to know. The book I read on it about 40 years ago was in Japanese, I doubt it was ever translated.