User:Alcherin/Black Sea in WWII

early 1941
25 June 1941 Action of 25 June 1941 Kingdom of Romania Soviet Union The Romanian motor gunboat V2 engages and heavily damages a Soviet BKA-class armored motor gunboat, the latter being subsequently captured by Romanian forces, then repaired and commissioned by the Romanian  as V-12

26 June 1941 Raid on Constanța Kingdom of Romania Nazi Germany Soviet Union Largest naval battle in the Black Sea during World War II, three Romanian warships (the flotilla leader Mărăști, the destroyer Regina Maria and the minelayer Amiral Murgescu), supported by German and Romanian coastal artillery, repel an attack of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, resulting in the sinking of the Leningrad-class destroyer leader Moskva by Romanian mines and the damaging of her sister ship Kharkov by Romanian and German gunfire, as well as the damaging of the cruiser Voroshilov by Romanian mines and the destruction of 9 Soviet aircraft (2 claimed by Amiral Murgescu, 1 by Mărăști and 6 by Romanian anti-aircraft coastal artillery)

On June 26 the Soviet forces attacked the Romanian city of Constanța. During this operation, the destroyer leader Moskva was lost to mines while evading fire from coastal batteries. Moskva

The Soviet Leningrad-class destroyer leader was sunk on 26 June 1941 during the Raid on Constanța by Romanian mines,   laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I  and Aurora

Danube actions 26 June No 102

The Soviet Project 1125 class armored patrol gunboat was sunk on 26 June 1941 near Periprava by Romanian riverine artillery of the Romanian 17th Marine Battalion

27 June 1941 Action of 27 June 1941 Kingdom of Romania Soviet Union The Romanian motor gunboats V1 and V3 engage and repel four Soviet BKA-class armored motor gunboats, damaging two of them

9 July 1941 Action of 9 July 1941 Kingdom of Romania Soviet Union The Romanian torpedo boat Năluca and motor torpedo boats Viscolul and Vijelia depth-charge and sink the Soviet Shchuka-class submarine submarine Shch-206

No 103/BKA-111

The Soviet Project 1125 class armored patrol gunboat was sunk on 11 July 1941 near Vâlcov by Romanian riverine artillery of the Romanian 17th Marine Battalion

13 July 1941 Action of 13 July 1941 Kingdom of Romania Soviet Union The Romanian monitor Mihail Kogălniceanu engages and repels a Soviet monitor near the village of Copana Balca, the latter being damaged

14 July 1941 Action of 14 July 1941 Kingdom of Romania Soviet Union The Romanian monitor Mihail Kogălniceanu engages and repels the Soviet monitor Udarnyy near the city of Ismail, the latter being damaged

No 403/BKA-124, BKA 113

The Soviet Project 1125 class armored patrol gunboat was sunk on 19 July 1941 near Periprava by Romanian riverine artillery of the Romanian 17th Marine Battalion

Odessa
18 September 1941 Action of 18 September 1941 (part of the Siege of Odessa) Kingdom of Romania Soviet Union The Romanian motor torpedo boats Viscolul and Vijelia launch four torpedoes at a Soviet destroyer South of Odessa, damaging her

The Soviet 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 the German dive bombers in the process.

Sevastopol
The Luftwaffe was considered weak (the bulk of it was engaged in the Battle of Moscow), so the Soviet Navy kept the heavy cruiser Krasny Kavkaz, light cruisers Krasny Krym and Chervona Ukraina, and seven destroyers to protect the port.

The Luftwaffe did what it could to disrupt the Soviet defences. On 31 October, the destroyer Bodryy shelled German positions along the coastline. StG 77 Ju 87s attacked and wounded 50 of its crew by strafing her deck and superstructure with machinegun fire. On 2 November Junkers Ju 88s of KG 51 scored several hits on the cruiser Voroshilov, and put it out of action for months. On 7 November He 111s from KG 26 sank the liner Armeniya evacuating soldiers and civilians from Sevastopol, with only eight of the 5,000 passengers surviving. On 12 November, StG 77 sank the cruiser Chervona Ukraina, and KG 26 damaged the destroyers Sovershennyy and Besposhchadnyy. But with the Luftwaffe units being dispatched to other sectors and theatres, the Soviet forces again achieved air superiority with 59 aircraft (39 serviceable).

Wanting to avoid strong Soviet forces protecting the north of the port, including the 95th Rifle Division, Manstein chose to press the center and southern Soviet defences. He ordered the German 50th Infantry Division to probe the center of the Soviet line east of the Chernaya river. The 132nd Infantry Division supported the probe and was able to push to within 4 kilometres of Severnaya Bay.The 72nd Rifle Division, with the support of the coastal batteries, moved in to stop the attack. The 72nd Infantry Division continued towards Balaklava, and the 22nd Infantry Division joined the assault. Assisted by shelling from two light cruisers and the battleship Parizhskaya Kommuna, the Red Army halted this attack, and Manstein called off the offensive on 21 November, having lost 2,000 men.

December offensive
Manstein recognised that he could not take the port quickly, and was going to have to organise a proper set-piece offensive. With German offensive operations suspended in December, Manstein found himself the only commander on the Eastern Front with an offensive mission. He was not ready to carry out his attack until 17 December. In the meantime, Oktyabrsky used the interval to sail the 11,000 soldiers of the 388th Rifle Division into Sevastopol between 7–13 December. By the time of the Axis attack, Petrov's force held a strong defensive position. The naval commander demanded that Petrov hold the coast along the northern flank of Sevastopol on the Belbek River in order to retain Coastal Battery 10, an artillery complex near Mamaschai. On the other hand, the German LIV Corps had only 15,551 men in its four infantry divisions (22nd, 24th, 50th, and 132nd). In order to commit as many forces to the battle as possible, Manstein left the weak XLII Corps, containing just the 46th Infantry Division and two Romanian brigades, to protect the entire front from Yalta to Kerch.

The attack began at 06:10 on 17 December. The 22nd Infantry Division attacked the 8th Naval Brigade on the Belbek River, pushing west towards the coast, while the 50th and 132nd Infantry Divisions conducted fixing attacks on the Soviet center. The 22nd succeeded in rolling up the flank of the Naval Brigade after five days of fighting. However, Oktyabrsky ordered its retirement south towards Sevastopol, abandoning Mamaschai and forming a new front north of Belbek city and the Belbek river. In the south, XXX Corps tried and failed to break through with the 72nd and 170th Infantry Divisions. Only minor gains were made against the 172nd Rifle Division, even with help from the Romanian 1st Mountain Brigade. The 79th Naval Brigade and 345th Rifle Division arrived by sea as reinforcements, using the long winter nights and their naval superiority. Meanwhile, the battleship Parizhskaya Kommuna shelled German forces whenever they threatened a breakthrough. The offensive came to an abrupt end when the Red Army staged an amphibious landing at Kerch.

Kerch
Between 26 and 30 December 1941, the USSR launched an amphibious assault on the Kerch peninsula to relieve the encircled Soviet forces at Sevastopol. It succeeded in gaining and sustaining a bridgehead for five months. However, a German−led counteroffensive named Operation Trappenjagd (Bustard Hunt) destroyed the bridgehead and the three Soviet Armies supporting the landing in May 1942. This allowed Manstein to concentrate all of his resources against Sevastopol for the first time. The front over Sevastopol grew quiet and a stalemate ensued. The Luftwaffe kept up the pressure on Soviet sea communications and although supplies still made it through, Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky, commanding the Black Sea Fleet, was forced to reduce the number of coastal bombardment missions.

other late 1941
M-58

The Soviet M-class submarine was sunk near Constanța on 18 October 1941 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Aurora

M-34

The Soviet M-class submarine was sunk near Constanța on 30 October 1941 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Aurora

S-34

The Soviet S-class submarine was sunk near Cape Emine on 12 November 1941 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Dacia

Shch-211

The Soviet Shchuka-class submarine was sunk near Varna on 16 November 1941 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Dacia

17 December 1941 Battle of Jibrieni Kingdom of Romania Soviet Union The Romanian destroyer Regele Ferdinand, while escorting an Axis convoy, depth-charges and sinks the M-class submarine M-59

Sevastopol
The Luftwaffe could not support the land assault and maintain pressure on Soviet sea communications alone. With only KG 26 engaged in anti-shipping operations against Soviet sea communications, the OKW looked to the Kriegsmarine to supply Schnellboot (S-Boat) motor torpedo boats to help eliminate Soviet shipping supplying and evacuating the port. The time it took to dismantle and move the 92-ton boats by rail to Romanian ports was going to be too long. In a rare appeal for help, the German forces turned to their Italian allies, aware of their expertise with motor torpedo boat operations. The Regia Marina sent the 101st Naval Squadron, which brought nine torpedo boats and nine coastal submarines under the command of the highly competent Capitano di Fregata Francesco Mimbelli. The Italian boats were only 24 tons and the submarines were 35 tons, which made them easier to transport by truck and barge. The squadron was based at Feodosiya and Yalta, which made it the only Axis naval force to participate in the siege.

8 June 1942 Once again, the army turned to the Luftwaffe for support. Richthofen responded by ordering attacks against Soviet supply lines. The same day, German bombers, including KG 100, began attacks on Soviet shipping. They sank the destroyer Sovershennyy and the survey vessel Gyuys, with the 4,727 ton transport Abkhaziya and destroyer Svobodnyy following them on 10 June.

11-15 June the Black Sea Fleet was bringing in reinforcements in spite of the Luftwaffe. On 12 June the cruiser Molotov and destroyer Bditel'nyy brought in 2,314 soldiers, 190 tons of ammunition and 28 artillery pieces. The Luftwaffe turned its attentions to these convoys. On 13 June it sank the transports Gruzyia, TSch-27, patrol boat SKA-092, motor boat SP-40, five barges and a floating crane. On 15 June another 3,400 soldiers, 442 tons of ammunition, 30 tons of fuel and 12 tons of provisions reinforced the Soviet positions.

The Luftwaffe was also engaged in applying pressure to Soviet naval forces. On 18 June the cruiser Kharkov was severely damaged. Attacks on 19 June by KG 51 destroyed the anti-aircraft platform in Severnaya Bay, allowing air operations to continue unopposed. The lack of anti-aircraft cover made it impossible for the minelayer Komintern to enter the harbour with reinforcements. The lack of supplies resulted in Soviet ammunition and fuel supplies slipping to critical levels on 20 June. The Luftwaffe was experiencing shortages of its own. The daily average of sorties was now reduced by 40 percent. Due to the shortages of bombs, all ordnance had to be dropped individually to minimise wastage. Some experienced crews had to conduct dive-bombing attacks 25–30 times a day. kg 51's Ju 88 crews in particular had felt the strain.

From 2 June to 3 July 8th Air Corps had flown 23,751 sorties and dropped 20,528 tons of bombs. The Luftwaffe claimed to have destroyed [...] a flak barge. German aerial attacks had sunk 10,800 tons of Soviet shipping including 4 destroyers, a submarine, 3 motor torpedo boats, 6 coastal vessels and 4 freighters. 12,000 tons of shipping were also damaged, with 2 destroyers, 10 coastal vessels and 2 freighters among the losses.

other 1942
Shch-210

The Soviet Shchuka-class submarine was sunk near Shabla on 12 or 15 March 1942 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Dacia

M-33

The Soviet M-class submarine was sunk near Odessa on 24 August 1942 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu and Dacia

Shch-208

The Soviet Shchuka-class submarine was sunk near Constanța on 26 August 1942 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Aurora

M-60

The Soviet M-class submarine was sunk near Odessa on 26 September 1942 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu and Dacia

1 October 1942 Battle of Cape Burnas Kingdom of Romania Nazi Germany Soviet Union The Soviet M-class submarine M-118 accomplishes her goal of sinking the German cargo ship Salzburg, but she is subsequently depth-charged and sunk by the Romanian gunboats Ghiculescu and Stihi, the two warships being guided by a German BV 138 flying boat

Shch-213

The Soviet Shchuka-class submarine was sunk near Constanța on 14 October 1942 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Aurora

Shch-212

The Soviet Shchuka-class submarine was sunk near the island of Fidonisi on 11 December 1942 by Romanian mines,  laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu and Dacia

L-24

The Soviet Leninets-class submarine was sunk near Shabla on 15 December 1942 by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu, Regele Carol I and Dacia

M-31

The Soviet M-class submarine was either sunk by Romanian mines near Fidonisi on 17 December 1942 or sunk with depth charges by the Romanian destroyer Mărășești on 7 July 1943

43-44
16-17 April or 7 July 1943 Sinking of M-31 Kingdom of Romania Soviet Union The Romanian flotilla leader Mărășești depth-charges and sinks the Soviet M-class submarine M-31 during a convoy escort mission between Constanța and Sevastopol

Italian CB-1, CB-2, CB-3, CB-4, CB-6 transferred to the Black Sea; Interned by the Romanians after the Italian surrender in September 1943

18 April 1944 Action of 18 April 1944 Kingdom of Romania Nazi Germany Soviet Union The Romanian gunboat Ghiculescu, aided by the German submarine hunter UJ-104, depth-charges and sinks the Soviet Leninets-class submarine L-6 near Sevastopol L-6

The Soviet Leninets-class submarine was sunk with depth charges between Constanța and Sevastopol by the Romanian gunboat Ghiculescu supported by the German submarine chaser UJ-104 on 18 or 21 April 1944

YA-26, YA-27

The Soviet YA-5 class mortar boat was sunk on 18 April 1944 near Odessa by Romanian mines, laid by the Romanian minelayers Amiral Murgescu and Dacia

27 April 1944 Action of 27 April 1944 Kingdom of Romania Nazi Germany Soviet Union The Romanian gunboat Ghiculescu fires 88 mm flare rounds at a group of three attacking Soviet motor torpedo boats of the G-5-class near Sevastopol, soon being joined by the rest of the German-Romanian convoy, all the warships subsequently shelling the Soviet MTBs, resulting in the sinking of one of them (TKA-332)

Relevant articles

 * List of battles of the Romanian Navy
 * Siege_of_Sevastopol_(1941–42)
 * Draft:List_of_ships_sunk_or_captured_by_the_Royal_Romanian_Navy