Battle of Sevastopol or (Siege of Sevastopol). it was a battle developed from October 1941 to July 1942 , between Nazi German forces and the Soviet army in the framework of World War II . The Germans wanted to seize the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula and control the naval base, facing the Black Sea .
Summary
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- 1 Historical Background
- 1 Development of the conflict
- 2 Battle results
- 3 Consequences of the conflict
- 4 Sources
Historical background
Nazi Germany invades the USSR
On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany and its allies attacked the Soviet Union , taking the Red Army and its leaders by surprise. German units advanced deep into Soviet territory using the blitzkrieg tactic. The mechanized infantry rushed forward, sweeping everything in their path. The German army was divided into three large forces: the Northern Army was heading towards Leningrad , the Center Army heading towards Moscow and the Southern Army targeting the Soviet Republic of Ukraine . Part of this last force was the German 11th Army., This army had the mission to seize the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and control the port of Sevastopol .
The German 11th Army was made up of seven infantry divisions. It also had the support of Romanian units. In the opposite trench, the Soviet defense of Crimea had given the Black Sea Fleet and the Naval Army time to strengthen Sevastopol, which was at a great numerical disadvantage. 33 km of tank trenches, 56 km of barbed wire and around 9,600 landmines were made .
Development of the conflict
The siege of Sevastopol
The German army attacked from the north, but, the Soviet army managed to resist the attack due to its favorable positions, 10 German tanks were destroyed by four sailors. On November 10 the German forces resumed the attack with 60,000 men, but after 10 days they had to stop. Then they got their hands on their gigantic Dora cannon , the largest piece of artillery ever built. The Germans launched a five-day artillery attack in which toxic gas was said to have been used.
On December 17 , six German infantry divisions and two Romanian brigades restarted another attack on the port of Sevastopol, supported by 1,275 guns and mortars, some 150 tanks and 300 aircraft. However, the Soviet counteroffensive forced the German invaders to stop their attacks on January 4 , 1942. The Soviet army had not been able to be dislodged from the Kerch Strait until that time.
With the development of the German offensive on the Caucasus , known as Operation Fall Blau , the pressure on Sevastopol increased. On May 21 a heavy bombardment was carried out on the city, coordinated with a successful attack on the Soviet second defensive line by Romanian and German forces on June 7.
Battle results
Realizing that defeat was imminent, the supreme staff of the armed forces of the USSR ordered the generals and admirals to leave the city in the submarines. On June 29 the last line of resistance fell and the remaining sailors fought heroically in the rubble of the facilities destroyed by German artillery. The light cruiser Chervona Ukraina (Red Ukraine) was destroyed, as well as one submarine and four destroyers. The battle continued until July 9. The conflict ended with the destruction and seizure of Sevastopol by Nazi Germany.
On the German side the casualties were 35,866 between dead and wounded and on the Soviet side 95,000 prisoners of war and 11,000 dead
Consequences of the conflict
The taking of Sevastopol took longer than expected, and von Manstein’s 11th Army could not participate from the beginning in Operation Blau, which would end with the German defeat at Stalingrad.
