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Crimean campaign
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
01941 Sowjetische Kriegsgefangene auf der Krim am 6. 11
Soviet prisoners of war in the Crimea, 6 November 1941
Date18 October 1941 – 4 July 1942
LocationCrimean ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Result Axis victory
Territorial
changes
Axis forces capture the Crimean Peninsula
Belligerents
Flag of German Reich (1935–1945) Nazi Germany
Flag of Romania Kingdom of Romania
Naval support:
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned Fascist Italy (1922–1943)
Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Flag of German Reich (1935–1945) Erich von Manstein
Flag of German Reich (1935–1945) Erick-Oskar Hansen
Flag of German Reich (1935–1945) Maximilian Fretter-Pico
Flag of German Reich (1935–1945) Hans Graf von Sponeck
Flag of Romania Florea Mitrănescu [ro]
Flag of Romania Gheorghe Avramescu
Flag of German Reich (1935–1945) Wolfram von Richthoften
Flag of the Soviet Union Gordey Levchenko
Flag of the Soviet Union Ivan Petrov
Flag of the Soviet Union Filipp Oktyabrsky
Flag of the Soviet Union Pyotr Novikov (POW)
Flag of the Soviet Union Dmitry Kozlov
Flag of the Soviet Union Lev Mekhlis
Flag of the Soviet Union Alexey Pervushin [ru] (WIA)
Flag of the Soviet Union Konstantin Kolganov [ru]
Flag of the Soviet Union Vladimir Lvov [ru]
Flag of the Soviet Union Sergey Gorshkov
Units involved

Flag of German Reich (1935–1945) 11th Army

Flag of the Soviet Union Crimean Front

Flag of the Soviet Union Sevastopol Defence Region

Flag of the Soviet Union Black Sea Fleet

Casualties and losses
30,000 dead, wounded or missing 65,000 captured
212 vehicles destroyed
672 guns





Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F016223-0024, Russland, Krim, Panzer IV im Einsatz

German Panzer IV tank and soldiers in the Crimea, 1942.

The Crimea campaign was an eight-month-long campaign by Axis forces to conquer the Crimean Peninsula, and was the scene of some of the bloodiest battles on the Eastern Front during World War II.[citation needed] The German, Romanian, and defending Soviet troops suffered heavy casualties as the Axis forces tried to advance through the Isthmus of Perekop linking the Crimean peninsula to the mainland at Perekop, from summer of 1941 through to the first half of 1942.[citation needed]

From 26 September 1941 the German 11th Army and troops from the Romanian Third Army and Fourth Army were involved in the fighting,[1] opposed by the Red Army's 51st Army and elements of the Black Sea Fleet. After the campaign, the peninsula was occupied by Army Group A with the 17th Army as its major subordinate formation.[2]

Once the Axis (German and Romanian troops) broke through, they occupied most of Crimea, with the exception of the city of Sevastopol, which was given the title of Hero City for its resistance, and Kerch, which was recaptured by the Soviets during an amphibious operation near the end of 1941 and then taken once again by the Germans during Operation Bustard Hunt on 8 May.[1][3] The Siege of Sevastopol lasted 250 days from 30 October 1941 until 4 July 1942, when the Axis finally captured the city.[citation needed]

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 Uralets four miles 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 in the port of Constanța on 7 November.[4][5][6]

Sevastopol, the main object of the campaign, was surrounded by German forces and assaulted on 30 October 1941. German troops were repulsed by a Soviet counterattack. Later, many troops who had been evacuated from Odessa contributed to the defence of Sevastopol. The Germans then began an encirclement of the city. Other attacks on 11 November and 30 November, 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 17 December was repulsed at the last moment with the help of reinforcements and Soviet troops landed on the Kerch peninsula the day after Christmas, to relieve Sevastopol. The Soviet forces remained on the peninsula until a 9 April German counterattack. They held on for another month before being eliminated on 18 May. With the distraction removed, German forces renewed their assault on Sevastopol, penetrating the inner defensive lines on 29 June.[citation needed] Soviet commanders had been flown out or evacuated by submarine towards the end of the siege and the city surrendered on 4 July 1942, although some Soviet troops held out in caves outside of the city until 9 July.[1]

In 1944, Crimea was recaptured by troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front during the Crimean Offensive (8 April 1944 – 12 May 1944) and its three sub-operations:[citation needed]

  • Kerch–Eltigen Operation (31 October 1943 – 11 December 1943)
  • Perekop–Sevastopol Offensive Operation (8 April 1944 – 12 May 1944)
  • Kerch–Sevastopol Offensive Operation (11 April 1944 – 12 May 1944)

Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 p. 62, Keegan
  2. p. 71, p. 79, Bishop
  3. see Kerch in Osvobozhdeniye gorodov on www.soldat.ru
  4. Antony Preston, Warship 2001-2002, Conway Maritime Press, 2001. p. 76
  5. Richard Compton-Hall, Submarines at War 1939-1945, Periscope Publishing, 2004, p. 127
  6. Florian Bichir, Corsarii uitați ai adâncurilor, p. 101 (in Romanian)

Bibliography[]

  • Bishop, Chris, The Military Atlas of World War II, Igloo Books, London, 2005 ISBN 1-904687-53-9
  • 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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