Black Sea campaigns (1941–1944)

For the World War I campaigns in the same theatre, see Naval warfare of World War I.

Black Sea Campaigns
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Romanian destroyer Mărășești
Date 22 June 1941 – August 1944 Location Black Sea Result Soviet Victory
Belligerents
Romania Germany Italy Bulgaria Croatia Hungary	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Horia Macellariu Helmut Rosenbaum Francesco Mimbelli	Filipp Oktyabrskiy Lev Vladimirsky
Strength
Romania 4 Destroyers 12 Torpedo Boats 4 Gunboats 3 Submarines 5 Midget Submarines 4 Submarine Chasers 1 Submarine Tender 2 Minelayers 4 Auxiliary Minelayers 3 Amphibious Landing Barges Bulgaria 4 Torpedo Boats Various MTBs, patrol boats, and other light craft Germany 1 Auxiliary Cruiser 6 Type IIB U-boats 10 S-boats 23 R-boats Hundreds of other light craft Italy 4 Torpedo Boats 6 Midget submarines Croatia 12 Submarine Chasers 47 Patrol Ships	Soviet Union 1 Battleship 5 Cruisers 18 Destroyers 44 Submarines 2 Gunboats 18 Minelayers 84 Torpedo Boats

The Black Sea Campaigns are the operations of the Axis and Soviet naval forces in the Black Sea and its coastal regions during World War II between 1941 and 1944, including in support of the land forces, and non-combat operations.

The Black Sea Fleet was as surprised by Operation Barbarossa as the rest of the Soviet Military. The Axis forces in the Black Sea consisted of the Romanian and Bulgarian Navies together with German and Italian units transported to the area via rail and Canal. Although the Soviets enjoyed an overwhelming superiority in surface ships over the Axis, this was effectively negated by German air superiority and most of the Soviet ships sunk were destroyed by bombing. For the majority of the war, the Black Sea Fleet was commanded by Filipp Oktyabrskiy, its other commander being Lev Vladimirsky.

All of the major Soviet shipyards were located in the Ukraine (Nikolayev) and Crimea (Sevastopol) and were occupied in 1941. Many incomplete ships which were afloat were evacuated to harbors in Georgia which provided the main bases for the surviving fleet. These ports such as Poti, however had very limited repair facilities which significantly reduced the operational capability of the Soviet Fleet.

Soviet naval strength

On 22 June 1941, the Black Sea Fleet of the Soviet Navy consisted of:

Ship Type	Number	Note/class
Battleship	1	Parizhskaya Kommuna
Cruisers	5	Molotov, Voroshilov, Chervona Ukraina, Krasnyi Krym and Krasny Kavkaz
Destroyer Leaders	3	Leningrad-class destroyer and Tashkent-class destroyer
Destroyers (Modern)	11	6 Type 7, 5 Type 7U,
Destroyers (old)	4	Novik type
Submarines	44
Escort Vessels/Gunboats	2
Mine warfare vessels	18
Motor Torpedo Boats	84

Axis naval strength

Romanian Navy

The Royal Romanian Navy consisted of four destroyers (two Mărăști-class, two Regele Ferdinand-class), twelve torpedo boats, four gunboats, six minelayers, three amphibious landing self-propelled barges, four submarine chasers, three submarines (Delfinul/The Dolphin, Rechinul/The Shark and Marsuinul/The Sea Hog) and five midget submarines (CB class),

Ship Type	Number	Note/class
Destroyers	4	Mărăști class: Mărăști and Mărășești (Italian-built) Regele Ferdinand class: Regele Ferdinand and Regina Maria (Italian-built)
Torpedo Boats	12	Vosper class: Viforul, Viscolul and Vijelia (British-built) Power class: Vedenia, Vântul, Vijelia, Viforul, Vârtejul and Vulcanul (sold incomplete to Romania at the end of 1941 and completed in 1943 and 1944 at Galați) ex-Austro-Hungarian: Sborul, Smeul and Năluca
Gunboats	4	C class: Dumitrescu, Ghiculescu, Lepri and Stihi (French-built)
Minelayers	2	Aurora (ex-Austro-Hungarian) Amiral Murgescu (Romanian-built, launched at Galați in 1939)
Auxiliary Minelayers	4	Dacia (French-built passenger ship, converted by the Romanians into a minelayer with a capacity of 200 mines and armed with 3 x 105 mm naval guns and 2 x 20 mm AA guns) Durostor (Danish-built passenger ship, converted by the Romanians into a minelayer) România (French-built passenger ship, converted by the Romanians into a minelayer and armed with 4 x 20 mm AA guns) Regele Carol I (British-built passenger ship, converted by the Romanians into a minelayer with a capacity of 200 mines and armed with 2 x 105 mm naval guns and 2 x 20 mm AA guns)
Submarine Chasers	4	VS class: VS Nr.1, VS Nr.2 and VS Nr.3 (German-built) Oltul (Italian-built tug, sold to Romania and converted into a submarine chaser)
Amphibious Landing Craft	3	PTA class: PTA Nr.404, PTA Nr.405 and PTA Nr.406 (Bulgarian-built self-propelled barges)
Submarines	3	Delfinul (Italian-built) Rechinul (Romanian-built) Marsuinul (Romanian-built)
Midget Submarines	5	CB class (Italian-built, handed over to Romania after the Italian surrender in September 1943)
Submarine tenders	1	Constanța (Italian-built)

Bulgarian Navy

Despite Bulgaria's neutral status in the German-Soviet war, the Bulgarian navy was involved in escort duties to protect Axis shipping against Soviet submarines in Bulgarian territorial waters. The small Bulgarian navy consisted of 4 old torpedo boats, various motor torpedo boats, patrol boats, minelayers, minesweepers and other light craft.

Germany and Italy

German auxiliary cruiser Romania

Italian midget submarine

As Turkey was neutral during World War II, the Axis could not transfer warships to the Black Sea via the Bosphorus. However, several small ships were transferred from the North Sea via rail, street and canal networks to the Danube. These included six Type IIB U-boats of the 30th U-boat Flotilla which were dis-assembled and shipped to Romania along the Danube. They were then re-assembled at the Romanian Galați shipyard in late 1942 and afterwards sent to Constanța. The Germans also transported 10 S-boats (Schnellboote) and 23 R-boats (Räumboote) via the Danube and built armed barges and KTs ( kriegstransporter, literally war transports ) in the captured Nikolayev Shipyards in Mykolaiv. Some ships were obtained in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, and then converted to serve the German cause, such as the auxiliary cruiser Romania, which became the flaghip of the Kriegsmarine in the Black Sea, the minelayer Xanten and the Anti-submarine trawler UJ-115 Rosita. Additional vessels were built in German or local shipyards, captured from Soviets, or transferred from the Mediterranean nominally as merchant ships. The German Black Sea fleet ultimately operated hundreds of medium and small warships or auxiliaries before its self-destruction immediately prior to the defection of Bulgaria. Very few vessels were able to make good their escape via the Danube.

The Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) dispatched a small force to the Black Sea. The force dispatched included six CB class midget submarines and a flotilla of Torpedo Armed Motorboats (Motoscafo Armato Silurante, or MAS). The MAS were commanded by Francesco Mimbelli and were based in Yalta.

Hungarian Merchant Navy

Hungary became landlocked in the aftermath of World War I, but some Hungarian merchant ships were able to reach the black sea via the Danube River. Hungarian cargo ships like the Kassa and Budapest were operated as part of Axis sea transport forces on the Black Sea, and thus participated in the Axis evacuation from Crimea.

Croatian Naval Legion

The Croatian Naval Legion was formed in July 1941. It was initially comprised some 350 officers and ratings in German uniform, but this eventually swelled to 900–1,000. Their first commander was Andro Vrkljan, later replaced by Stjepan Rumenović. The Croats' purpose in posting a naval contingent to the Black Sea was to evade the prohibition on an Adriatic navy imposed by the 18 May 1940 Treaty of Rome with Italy. This prohibition effectively limited the Croatian Navy (RMNDH) to a riverine flotilla. Upon it's arrival at the Sea of Azov, managed to scrounge up 47 damaged or abandoned fishing vessels, mostly sailing ships, and to man them hired local Russian and Ukrainian sailors, many deserters from the Soviet Navy. The Legion later acquired 12 German submarine hunters and a battery of coastal artillery. Lieutenant Josip Mažuranić notably commanded the submarine hunter UJ2303.

Romanian naval production

The following list includes all the warships built or assembled in Romania that were used during World War II:

• Amiral Murgescu minelayer, built in Romania between 1938 and 1939
• Rechinul submarine, built in Romania between 1938 and 1941
• Marsuinul submarine, built in Romania between 1938 and 1941
• Democrația-class, four minesweepers built in Romania and launched in 1943 but not commissioned until the 1950s
• V7 class, two gunboats built in Romania in 1943
• Brătianu-class, four old monitors assembled in Romania from Austro-Hungarian-manufactured parts in 1907-1908
• U-9 German submarine, re-assembled in Romania after being diss-assembled and transported along the Danube to serve in the Black Sea
• U-18 German submarine, re-assembled in Romania after being diss-assembled and transported along the Danube to serve in the Black Sea
• U-19 German submarine, re-assembled in Romania after being diss-assembled and transported along the Danube to serve in the Black Sea
• U-20 German submarine, re-assembled in Romania after being diss-assembled and transported along the Danube to serve in the Black Sea
• U-23 German submarine, re-assembled in Romania after being diss-assembled and transported along the Danube to serve in the Black Sea
• U-24 German submarine, re-assembled in Romania after being diss-assembled and transported along the Danube to serve in the Black Sea
• 6 torpedo boats

Operations in 1941

The Soviets began the war in the Black Sea by a bombardment of Constanța on 26 June. During this operation, the destroyer leader Moskva was intercepted by the Romanian destroyer Regina Maria and after a brief fight, Moskva hit a mine and sank. The Black Sea Fleet supplied the besieged garrison in Odessa and evacuated a significant part of the force (86,000 soldiers, 150,000 civilians) at the end of October, but lost the destroyer Frunze and a gunboat to Stukas in the process. The Black Sea Fleet played a valuable part in defeating the initial assault on Sevastopol. In December, there was an amphibious operation against Kerch which resulted in the recapture of the Kerch Peninsula. A naval detachment including the cruiser Krasnyi Krym remained in Sevastopol to give gunfire support. Soviet submarines also raided Axis shipping on the Romanian and Bulgarian coasts, sinking 29,000 long tons (29,000 t) of shipping. During fall of 1941, both sides laid many mine fields in southern Black Sea: Romanian defensive minefields sunk at least 5 Soviet submarines during this period (M-58, S-34, ShCh-211, M-34, M-59), however during such operations the Axis forces lost the Romanian minelayer Regele Carol I, sunk by a mine laid by Soviet submarine L-4: 2 of the 5 Soviet submarines (M-58 and ShCh-211) will be later sunk on that same minelayer's fields, after the sinking of the ship, in addition to another submarine sunk in 1942. In total, up to 15 Soviet submarines were sunk by Romanian defensive minefields until the end of the War. Another Romanian minelayer was lost, the Aurora, when the ship was destroyed by Soviet bombers on 15 July.

Operations in 1942

Operations in 1942 were dominated by the Siege of Sevastopol. During the winter, Soviet warships including the only battleship Parizhskaya Kommuna provided fire support and supply missions near Sevastopol. The Soviets continued supply missions until 27 June, losses were heavy and included the cruiser Chervonnaya Ukraina, destroyer leader Tashkent and six modern destroyers. The cruiser Voroshilov and destroyers tried to intervene without success in the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula in May and the Soviets could not prevent a landing across the Kerch strait in the Taman Peninsula in September. The remainder of the Black Sea Fleet evacuated to ports in the Caucasus that had very limited facilities. Soviet submarines were active in the western part of the Black Sea where they attacked Axis shipping. Unfortunately this included sinking the refugee ship Struma. On 1 October the Soviet submarine M-118 was sunk with depth charges by the Romanian gunboat Sublocotenent Ghiculescu.

Operations in 1943

In 1943, the Black Sea Fleet was reduced to the following ships:

• Battleship Sevastopol
• Four cruisers (two Kirov class - Molotov and Voroshilov -, Krasniy Krim and Krasniy Kavkaz)
• Destroyer leader Kharkov
• Five modern and three old destroyers
• 29 submarines

All of these ships suffered from poor maintenance due to a lack of facilities.

Operations initially consisted of several offensive operations by the Soviets including the defence of Malaya Zemlya in Novorossiysk and some coastal bombardments and raids.

On 7 July, the Romanian destroyer Mărășești sank the Soviet submarine M-31. As the war was going badly for the Axis on other fronts, the Germans began to evacuate the Kuban bridgehead in September. This was successfully accomplished. Kharkov and two destroyers—Sposobny and Besposchadny—were sunk by Stukas while raiding the Crimea. As a result of this loss, Stalin insisted on personally authorizing the use of any large ships. The Kerch-Eltigen Operation followed in November.

Operations in 1944

By early 1944, the Soviet surface fleet was practically nonoperational due to a poor state of repair. Most of the offensive work was carried out by small vessels and the Soviet Naval air force. The land situation had significantly deteriorated for the Axis. The area around Odessa was liberated in March trapping the Axis forces in the Crimea. The last Axis forces near Sevastopol surrendered on 9 May 1944 and a considerable number of men were evacuated. (See Battle of the Crimea (1944) for details).

Differently from surface units, Soviet submarines continued to attack Axis shipping, unfortunately a victim of these attacks was also the refugee ship MV Mefküre

On 20 August 1944, the Soviets carried on an unexpected large air raid against the main Axis base in Black Sea. A number of targets were sunk including the German U-boat U-9, and the old Romanian torpedo boat Naluca. U-18 and U-24 were both damaged and were scuttled few days later. The Naval war in Black Sea was now almost over, but U-boats remained operative until they consumed their fuel: with a single strike, Soviet aviation had halved the German submarine force, but the effect could have been greater if such an attack had been carried out earlier.

See also

• Baltic Sea Campaigns (1939-1945)

Bibliography

• Ruge, Fredrich - The Soviets as Naval Opponents, 1941-1975 (1979), Naval Press Annapolis ISBN 9780870216763

External links

• Black Sea Fleet History (Russian Language)
• Black Sea fleet History Unofficial (Russian Language)