User:Indy beetle/sandbox/Black Sea Theatre of World War I

The Black Sea Theatre of World War I was

Ottoman situation
Of key importance to the Ottomans was their coal resources, which was used to fuel their navy, factories, and power plants. Mining centered around the Zonguldak Province (the so called "coal coast"), and by the outbreak of war an annual amount of one million tons was being produced.

Russian situation
At the outbreak of war, the Russian Black Sea Fleet consisted of five pre-dreadnought battleships (a sixth, Georgii Pobiedonosets, was too old for front-line service and remained in Sebastopol as a stationary command ship), two protected cruisers, four-to-nine destroyers, 17-24 torpedo boats, six gunboats, and six-to-seven submarines.

Opening actions
On 4 November, Andrei Eberhardt ordered the Black Sea Fleet to retaliate for the raid. Five Russian pre-dreadnoughts, a seaplane tender, two cruisers, and a flotilla of destroyers raided Zonguldak, causing some limited damage to the coal mines, and sank three steamers attempting to resupply the Ottoman Third Army in the Caucuses.

1915
On 19 July, the Midilli struck a Russian mine, taking it out of action until February of 1916.

On 15 September, UB-17 torpedoed and sank the British merchantman Patagonia 10.5 miles northeast of Odessa.

Bulgaria's entry into the war on 14 October somewhat complicated the strategic situation for Souchon. The Bulgarian Navy, consisting of a single torpedo gunboat, six torpedo boats, and several auxiliaries, could not adequately defend its own coast. Later that month, the Germans stationed several U-boats in Euxinograd, 170 miles closer to Odessa than Istanbul, making it a convenient base of operations. Two U-boats were also stationed in Varna.

1916
Throughout the year, the Russian navy transported a total of 53,000 soldiers to the Caucasus front.

On 2 July, UB-38 torpedoed and sank the British merchantman Rockcliffe.

1917
From January to April, a total of 61,000 troops were transported by the Black Sea Fleet.

The February Revolution disrupted the operations of the Black Sea Fleet, though the mutinies were not nearly as violent as those of the Baltic Fleet. This was probably due to the fact that the Black Sea crews had been successful in their operations and that their ships weren't bound by ice. Many of the ships in the fleet were renamed, and crew soviets were formed. Yet there was a significant divide between the officers and the enlisted men, and discipline was lacking.

In late April and late May Admiral Kolchak used the dreadnought Svobodnaya Rossiya (formerly Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya) to cover minelaying operations in preparation for an attack on Istanbul. But by the end of the spring, Order No. 1 from the Petrograd Soviet had sufficiently subverted the authority of the navy enough that operating the larger ships was no longer possible. On 26 May, the Soviet Central Committee in Sebastopol demanded that the naval officers surrender their weapons. Exasperated by the event, Admiral Kolchak symbolically tossed his sword into the sea ten days later. The following day he left his post and appointed Rear Admiral V.K. Lukin as commander in chief of the fleet. Since he had not sought permission from the Russian Provisional Government, Alexander Kerensky reprimanded him and sent him on an advisory mission to the United States.

Meanwhile in the Ottoman Empire, dwindling amounts of coal severely curtailed Yavuz's operations. Most of the German U-boats had been withdrawn from the Black Sea to assist with the unrestricted submarine warfare effort underway elsewhere. On 26 June, Svobodnaya Rossiya exchanged fire with Midilli off of the Bosphorus while covering a minelaying operation. Both sides escaped damage. This was the last engagement between Russian and Ottoman ships during the war.

In August Captain Aleksandr Nemits was promoted by Kerensky to Rear Admiral, assuming command of the Black Sea Fleet from Lukin. On 26 August Svobodnaya Rossiya raided the Ottoman port of Ordu.

After the collapse of the Russian Republic
The Black Sea Fleet's final sortie occurred on 1 November. A force of two dreadnoughts, three pre-dreadnoughts, four destroyers, and a seaplane tender under Rear Admiral Aleksandr Nemits sailed for a raid in the Bosphorus. But the October Revolution's influence had spread and the crew of Svobodnaya Rossiya, the flagship, mutinied, forcing the fleet to turn back.