Sevastopol - The City That Wouldn't Surrender

This thread is dedicated to the discussion of the defense of Sevastopol - now a major Ukrainian port town, but back in 1941 a prime target for Adolf Hitler's Wehrmacht in their Eastern 'Barbarossa' campaign. The city was held under siege from the 30th October 1941 to the 4th of July 1942. It eventually fell under the waves of German offenses of Erich von Manstein's 11th Army, but the bravery and patriotism of the Soviet soldiers who died defending Sevastopol will never be forgotten. Their deeds can be likened only to those of the defenders of Stalingrad, and even then that comparison wouldn't seem fair. This was a different battle with different circumstances, and the unbelievable acts of patriotism and courage that happened here are a phenomenon of the whole Great Patriotic War.


Red Army soldiers loading mortar shells. Sevastopol, 1941.


The battle in the seas surrounding Sevastopol. The 'Parisian Commune' battleship exiting the harbour.


The memorial to the fallen soldiers of the Sevastopol' defense.


Soviet marine forces running to their positions. Sevastopol, 1942.


'The Defence of Sevastopol' - A. Deineka

 

Yes the Soviets fought heroically at Sevastopol, nevertheless the achievement of Manstein's armies, and Manstein's winning strategy, can't be ignored. The Germans were fighting an offensive battle against a dug-in, well-equipped, and determined enemy and managed to win the battle nevertheless.

It's a basic military maxim that defense, as a rule, is much much less difficult than attacking. And that generally the accepted minimum ratio of attackers to defenders to make success likely is 3 to 1. The Germans had nowhere near that ratio against the Soviets 235,000 troops http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Sevastopol_(1941%E2%80%931942)

and moreover, the Soviets were (sporadically) resupplied with men and supplies by water (in spite of furious attacks on Russian shipping by the Luftwaffe) from the eastern shores of the Black sea and sea of Azov (which the Soviets still held at the time).

Savastopol was one of the largest battles of the ostfront (Operation Citadel at Kursk, in July 1943, being the biggest battle, not only on the eastern front but the biggest in history) and Hitler recognized this as he made Manstein a Feild Marshall as a reward (and ordered a special medal struck for soldiers who had fought in the Crimean campaign).

 

Ive always liked Sevastopol as it really gave the Soviet Naval guys a name for themselves.

 

I agree, you've pretty much got to give it to von Manstein in terms of military strategic talent. The Germans had pretty good coordination of naval and infantry forces, not to mention the Luftwaffe doing a great deal to stop the Soviet supply ships coming in. The fact that Sevastopol fought on, having been cut off from the mainland completely, surrounded by enemy forces from land and sea, fighting an enemy with unbelievable air superiority, is pretty enthralling. I don't think the thought of surrender occured even once to the defenders, the soldiers of the Soviet Army.

As Wikipedia puts it,

But the fact remains that Sevastopol' fell, and you can't ignore that fact, so Erich von Manstein's tactical brilliance, along with the might of the Wehrmacht did what they were there for, and did it in a pretty effective, swift way. But, I have to add, the Germans occupying the city didn't have much to look forward to, apart from ruins and rubble, much like Stalingrad.

Picture of the ruined harbour.


Soviet Medal for the Defense of Sevastopol.

And this must have been that specially issued German award you were talking about.

 

Quite true. The Soviet marines were often known as 'The Black Death' among the German forces, and that nickname owes its creation to the defence of Sevastopol'. Well, not only Sevastopol', but I would think that it played a large role in their reputation as one of the more fierce sections of the Red Army.

 

Sometimes when Cherbourg, Metz and Hürgentwald were used as examples of allied incompetence I have to wonder what are we supposed to think about Sevastopol, the Belarus fortress battle whose name escape me at the moment and other Red Army last-stands then? True, these were strong, fit men but they were barely trained and definitely not Category I material either and it took the Germans how long to reduce them with all of their air, armor and artillery superiority? Not a knack on German military skill but just musing over the greatest force multiplier, terrain and fortification.

If memory serves a NKVD Brigade fought in the battle as well and it successfully evacuated the port after destroying all useful equipment.

 

nice badge pics tovarisch,ray

 

So was this the only land battle soviet marines faught in?

 

Erm... well, it's the only one that they're really famous for. There must have been other land combat that they were engaged in. I'll have a look.

 

I've had a look, they had a key role at Stalingrad, the Caucasus, the defence of Novorossiysk, Kerch, the Crimean peninsula basically. They had a part in the liberation of Moldavia, the whole charge across Europe, and in the Far East in the war against Japan.

 

They also participated in numerous landings and raids all along the western coast of the black sea. They were very well feared and respected from the Romanians and Bulgarians. "Boogeymen of the Black Sea" one could say!

 

Two questions: What do you consider the best sources in English about the seige of Sevastopol? Manstein's own account in Lost Battles is good while C.G. Sweeting's thin Blood and Iron: The German Conquest of Sevastopol spends a lot of space on weapons used while the battle narrative could be better.

Secondly, has anyone ever thought of a three-way comparison of Brest (France), Singapore, and Sevastopol? All three were ports attacked/sieged from the landward side by infantry, armor, artillery, and air support. All three put up a heroic defense with a hodge-podge force, and all three were thought to be impregnable. Interesting food for thought.

Greg C.

 

Quite right

Hmm..good question I've only actually read Soviet books and accounts, I'll scavenge round for some translated info, and I'll have a look for German accounts as well.

I found this book called 'Sevastopol 1942 - Von Manstein's Triumph'
Might be of use.

 

Just bought a Russian book on Soviet marines history, it says here it's the only book of it's kind. Probably just a marketing trick, but who knows. It's got a big list of battles and conflict regions that they were a part of, to name a few :

-The defense of Moscow in 1941
-The defense of Leningrad
-Stalingrad
-The Karelian front bordering with Finland
-The battle of the Caucasus
-The landings in North Korea in 1945
-The battle for Vienna in 1945
-The battle for Konigsberg in 1945 (did I spell it right?)

 

Super! I just read about this battle at Sevastopel