Sevastopol Naval Base

Sevastopol Naval Base
Севастопольская военно-морская база
Севастопольська військово-морська база
Sevastopol, Crimea
Satellite imagery of Sevastopol naval base
Site information
TypeNaval base
OwnerDisputed:
Operator Black Sea Fleet
Controlled by Russia
ConditionOperational
Location
Sevastopol Naval Base
Coordinates44°36′28″N 33°31′48″E / 44.60778°N 33.53000°E / 44.60778; 33.53000
Site history
Built1772–1783
Built by Russian Empire
In use1783–present
Garrison information
Garrison Black Sea Fleet
Occupants Russian Navy

The Sevastopol Naval Base (Russian: Севастопольская военно-морская база; Ukrainian: Севастопольська військово-морська база) is a naval base located in Sevastopol, in the disputed Crimean Peninsula. The base is used by the Russian Navy, and it is the main base of the Black Sea Fleet. Internationally, the base is recognised as part of Ukrainian territory under Russian occupation.

Geography

The Sevastopol Naval Base is almost completely located within the administrative territory of Sevastopol. It has several berths located in several bays of Sevastopol – Severnaya (Russian: Северная бухта; Ukrainian: Північна бухта), Yuzhnaya (Russian: Южная бухта; Ukrainian: Південна бухта), Karantinnaya (Russian: Карантинная бухта; Ukrainian: Карантинна бухта) and others.

History

Tsarist Russia

The port was renovated in 1772, while the Russo-Turkish War was still ongoing, and was finished in 1783, following the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire. On 13 May 1783, the first eleven ships of the Imperial Russian Navy reached the Sevastopol Bay.[1]

During the Crimean War (1853–1856), all large ships were scuttled in the entrance to the bay in 1854 to prevent the entry of enemy ships into the bay. The city defended itself for 349 days against the allied armies of France, United Kingdom, Ottoman Empire and Piedmont-Sardinia. Eventually, the Russians had to abandon Sevastopol on 9 September 1855.[1]

On 29 October 1914, during a surprise attack as part of the Black Sea raid, the Ottoman Navy battlecruiser Yavuz (formerly SMS Goeben of the Imperial German Navy) shelled the Sevastopol base and attacked various Russian ships in the vicinity.[2] Within days of this seemingly relatively militarily minor encounter, the Ottoman Empire formally joined in World War I, fighting against the Russian Empire and its Entente allies.[3][4]

Soviet Russia

During World War I, the Imperial German Army occupied Sevastopol on 1 May 1918 despite the ongoing negotiations to reach the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. After further negotiations, the most important ships of the Black Sea Fleet in Tsemes Bay in front of Novorossiysk were sunk by their crews.[1]

During the Crimean campaign (1941–1942) of World War II, the Black Sea Fleet of the Soviet Navy was able to fend off the first air attack by the Nazi German Luftwaffe. However, after the city defended itself for 250 days, Sevastopol fell to the Germans on 4 July 1942.[1]

Ukrainian control

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet initially came under jurisdiction of United Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The ownership over Black Sea Fleet as well as its home base in Sevastopol became a subject of dispute between sovereign Russia and Ukraine.

In 1997, the Russian Federation and Ukraine signed the Partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet which ended the dispute. Ukraine which allowed the Russian-allocated ships to remain on Ukrainian territory until 2017, sharing the Sevastopol Bay along with ships of the Ukrainian Navy.

The lease arrangements were altered by the 2010 Kharkiv Pact, which tied a 30% reduction in the price of natural gas charged by Russia since 2009 to the continued occupation of the naval base until 2042.[5]

From then on, Russia paid an annual lease to Ukraine for the use of the base until the annexation-eviction occurred in 2014.[6][7][5]

Russian control (2014–present)

Since the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014, the naval base is again under Russian control.[8]

Post-invasion of 2022

Main article: Crimea attacks (2022–present)

On 13 September 2023, Storm Shadow missiles were used in a strike against the port of Sevastopol,[9] seriously damaging the Kilo-class submarine Rostov na Donu and seriously damaging (according to some sources, beyond repair[10]) the Ropucha-class landing ship Minsk.[11][12][13]

On 22 September 2023, at least three Storm Shadow missiles hit Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, reportedly killing Admiral Viktor Nikolayevich Sokolov, commander of the Black Sea Fleet. Russia later released videos purporting to show him alive,[14] while Ukraine later said it was re-evaluating his claimed death.[15][16]

On 25 September 2023, Russian authorities have announced that they would demolish the existing headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet.[17]

  • The first map of the Akhtiar (Sevastopol) Bay, created by navigator Ivan Baturin and his team, 1773.
  • The Russian Squadron on the Sebastopol Roads (1846), by Ivan Aivazovsky.
  • Map of Sevastopol, 1904.
  • Color view of part of the port, 1905.
  • Aerial view of the port, August 1918.
  • Russian ships in Sevastopol, 2005.
  • Russian ships in Sevastopol, 2008.
  • Russian ships in Sevastopol, 2015.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Flottenstützpunkt Sewastopol" (in German). Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  2. ^ Staff, Gary (15 December 2014). "The Large cruiser of 1909 'H' – GOEBEN". German Battlecruisers of World War One: Their Design, Construction and Operations. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 118. ISBN 9781612519661. Retrieved 11 March 2026. On 29 October [...] Goeben stopped at a distance of 7nm off Sevastopol [...]. As it was very hazy towards the coast, Goeben approached closer than had been planned, and at 06.30 the coastal batteries opened fire on the Panzerkreuzer. Goeben returned the fire at a range of 7,800m, and then fired on the arsenal and military town at a range of 12,000m. Altogether she fired forty-seven 28cm and 12 15cm projectiles. In return Goeben was hit by a Russian 10in shell, near the aft funnel, and two other shells [...]. [...] At 06,45 she ceaased fire and as smoke had come into view in the SE, Goeben turned towards it. At 06.55 the Russian forts ceased fire, and in total, together with the coastal defence battleship Georgi Pobedonosets, they had fired 360 projectiles. [...] From 07.07 to 07.12 three Russian torpedo boats – Leitenant Pushchin, Zharkiy and Zhivuchiy – came in sight at 100hm to 125hm, and were fired on with the medium-calibre armament. The fourth salvo achieved two hits on the torpedo-boat leader Leitenant Pushchin [...] and the torpedo boats turned away from Goeben. The next target taken under fire by Goeben was the minelayer Prut, from 07.15 to 07.21. A fire broke out aboard the minelayer, and as she was loaded with 700 mines the crew abandoned ship. [...] Then the steamer Ida, loaded with coal, was taken as a prize at 07.32, before at 08.40 Prut sank. Goeben then turned south [...]. She had fired 131 15cm shells against the torpedo boats and Prut.
  3. ^ Fromkin, David (3 August 2010) [1989]. "An Intrigue at the Sublime Porte". A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East. New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 73. ISBN 9781429988520. Retrieved 11 March 2026. [...] the Czar's government [...] on 2 November declared war.
  4. ^ McMeekin, Sean (6 May 2013) [2011]. "Turkey's Turn". The Russian Origins of the First World War. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 112. ISBN 9780674072336. Retrieved 11 March 2026. [...] Russia duly declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 2 November 1914. The Ottomans followed suit, declaring war on Russia and its French and British allies (along with Belgium, Serbia, and Montenegro) eight days later.
  5. ^ a b "Kyiv's gas strategy: closer cooperation with Gazprom or a genuine diversification". Centre for Eastern Studies. 15 July 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Ukraine stellt Hafen zur Verfügung, Moskau gibt Energierabatt" (in German). Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  7. ^ "State Duma approves denunciation of Russian-Ukrainian agreements on Black Sea Fleet". TASS. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  8. ^ Deutsche Presse-Agentur (19 March 2014). "Annexion: Russland sichert sich militärische Kontrolle über die Krim" (in German). Die Zeit. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  9. ^ "British cruise missiles were used in significant Ukrainian attack on Russian submarine". Sky News. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  10. ^ Oryx. "Attack On Europe: Documenting Russian Equipment Losses During The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine". Oryx. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  11. ^ "Two Russian Navy Black sea ships hit by missiles, one destroyed VIDEO". 13 September 2023.
  12. ^ "Ukraine launches missile attack on Crimea". BBC News. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  13. ^ Edwards, Tim Lister,Josh Pennington,Olga Voitovych,Christian (13 September 2023). "Ukrainian missiles strike Russian warships in Crimean naval base". CNN. Retrieved 13 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Sebastian, Katharina Krebs,Anna Chernova,Clare (27 September 2023). "Russian admiral claimed to have been killed in Ukrainian attack appears in video interview". CNN. Retrieved 27 October 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ "Ukraine live briefing: Russia releases more video of Black Sea Fleet commander". Washington Post. 27 September 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  16. ^ Dooley, Matthew (23 September 2023). "Putin's top Black Sea Admiral 'killed' as Ukraine launches multi-pronged attack". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  17. ^ Giles Gear; Dominic Nicholls. "Ukraine: The Latest -Russia blows up own HQ". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
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