This article is about the 1941 Axis invasion of Crimea. For the 1944 Soviet invasion of Axis-occupied Crimea, see Crimean offensive. For other uses, see Crimean War (disambiguation).
Beginning on 26September 1941, the German 11th Army and the Romanian Third Army and Fourth Army were involved in the fighting.[1] They were opposed by the Soviet 51stArmy and elements of the Black Sea Fleet. After the campaign, Crimea was occupied by Germany's Army Group A, with the 17thArmy as a major subordinate formation.[2]
Sevastopol and Kerch were the only Crimean cities that were not occupied by Axis forces during this campaign; the former was honoured by the Soviet government as a Hero City for resisting against the German and Romanian armies, and the latter was briefly recaptured by the Soviets during an amphibious operation near the end of 1941 before being taken again by the Germans during Operation Bustard Hunt on 8May.[1][3] The Siege of Sevastopol lasted 250days, from 30October 1941 to 4July 1942, when the Axis finally captured the city.
In the early hours of 6 November, the Romanian submarine Delfinul, commanded by Constantin Costăchescu, torpedoed and sank the Soviet 1,975-ton cargo ship Uralets6.4 kilometres (4mi) to the south of Yalta. The submarine was subsequently attacked by Soviet forces, but she followed a route along the Turkish coast and managed to evade up to 80 depth charges before safely arriving at Constanța on 7 November.[4][5][6]
Sevastopol, the main object of the campaign, was surrounded by German forces and assaulted on 30October 1941. However, the Germans were repulsed by a Soviet counterattack. Later, many troops who had been evacuated from the city of Odessa contributed to defending Sevastopol. The Germans then began an encirclement of the city. Other attacks on 11November and 30November, in the eastern and southern sections of the city, failed. German forces were then reinforced by several artillery regiments, one of which included the railway gun Schwerer Gustav.[citation needed] Another attack on 17December was repulsed at the last moment with the help of reinforcements, and Soviet troops landed on the Kerch Peninsula one day after Christmas to relieve Sevastopol. They remained in the area until being subject to a German counterattack on 9April and being eliminated by 18May. With the distraction removed, German forces renewed their assault on Sevastopol, penetrating the inner defensive lines on 29June.[citation needed] Soviet commanders had been flown out or evacuated by submarine towards the end of the siege and the city surrendered on 4July 1942, although some Soviet troops held out in caves outside of the city until 9 July.[1][additional citation(s) needed]
↑ Richard Compton-Hall, Submarines at War 1939-1945, Periscope Publishing, 2004, p. 127
↑ Florian Bichir, Corsarii uitați ai adâncurilor, p. 101 (in Romanian)
Bibliography
Bishop, Chris, The Military Atlas of World War II, Igloo Books, London, 2005 ISBN1-904687-53-9
http://www.soldat.ru/spravka/freedom/1-ssr-3.html Dudarenko, M.L., Perechnev, Yu.G., Yeliseev, V.T., et.el., Reference guide "Liberation of cities": reference for liberation of cities during the period of the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945, Moscow, 1985 (Дударенко, М.Л., Перечнев, Ю.Г., Елисеев, В.Т. и др., сост. Справочник «Освобождение городов: Справочник по освобождению городов в период Великой Отечественной войны 1941–1945»)
Keegan, John, The Times Atlas of the Second World War, Crescent Books, New York
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The siege of Sevastopol, also known as the defence of Sevastopol or the Battle of Sevastopol, was a military engagement that took place on the Eastern Front of the Second World War. The campaign was fought by the Axis powers of Germany and Romania against the Soviet Union for control of Sevastopol, a port in Crimea on the Black Sea. On 22 June 1941, the Axis invaded the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa, with Axis land forces reaching the Crimean peninsula in the autumn of 1941 and overrunning most of the area. The only objective not in Axis hands was Sevastopol. Several attempts were made to secure the city in October and November 1941. A major attack was planned for late November, but heavy rains delayed it until 17 December 1941. Under the command of Erich von Manstein, Axis forces were unable to capture Sevastopol during this first operation. Soviet forces launched an amphibious landing on the Crimean peninsula at Kerch in December 1941 to relieve the siege and force the Axis to divert forces to defend their gains. The operation saved Sevastopol for the time being, but the bridgehead in eastern Crimea was eliminated in May 1942.
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