Black Sea Fleet

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Black Sea Fleet

Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg

Great landmark of the Black Sea Fleet
Lineup 1783
Country Russian Empire 1914Russian Empire Russian Empire (1783–1917) Soviet Union (1917–1991) Russia (since 1991)
Soviet Union 1955Soviet Union 
RussiaRussia 
Armed forces Russian armed forces
Armed forces Russian Navy
Type fleet
headquarters Sevastopol
Awards Order of the Red Banner
commander
commander Admiral Igor Osipov

The Black Sea Fleet ( Russian Черноморский флот ; transcribed Tschernomorski flot ) is the part of the former Imperial Russian Navy or the Soviet Navy and today's naval forces of Russia , which is stationed in the Black Sea and operates there and in the Mediterranean . She is stationed in various ports on the Black Sea and the Azov Sea . Its main base has been the port city of Sevastopol on the south-western tip of the Crimea since the 18th century . The continued use of this naval base repeatedly led to irritations in relations between Russia and Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union . In 2010 there were more than 16,000 soldiers and over 40 ships in the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Period of the Russian Empire (1783–1922)

Russian fleet in Sevastopol. Ivan Aivazovsky , 1846
Launched in Nikolajew , here the ship of the line Imperatriza Yekaterina Velikaya
The destroyers Sharkiy , Sorkiy and Swonkiy in 1924 in Bizerta

After Tsar Peter I gained access to the Black Sea in 1695 , he ordered the establishment of the so-called Azov flotilla . With the territorial gains after the Russo-Turkish War 1768–1774 , shipbuilding and the construction of a new fleet began. In 1783 the fleet was founded on the orders of Tsarina Catherine II . This fleet was quickly upgraded and expanded with new ships. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Black Sea Fleet fought in various wars against both the Turkish and French navies .

After Napoleon Bonaparte had invaded Egypt administered by the Ottomans in 1798 (" Egypt Campaign "), Russia and the Ottoman Empire formed an alliance against the French. A squadron of the Black Sea Fleet and Turkish naval forces operated together in the Mediterranean under the command of Admiral Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov against the French fleet and together they conquered the Ionian Islands and even landed in French-occupied Italy.

After Nikolayev was founded in 1789, the Admiralty of the Russian Black Sea Fleet was stationed here until 1898 .

In the Crimean War (1853-1856), the Black Sea Fleet was initially against the Turks in the Battle of Sinop successful, but behaved after the appearance of British and French fleets passive and limited to the defense of Sevastopol, where the ships only as floating coastal batteries were used . When Sevastopol fell in 1856, the surviving ships were blown up ( self-sinking ) by their crews to prevent the Allies from using the Sevastopol Bay. In the Peace of Paris , which ended the war, the Black Sea was neutralized and Russia prohibited from keeping more warships on it than Turkey. This restriction was lifted again in 1871 at the London Pontus Conference .

After the October Revolution in Russia, the Black Sea Fleet went under the red flag of the Bolsheviks . In order not to let the fleet fall into the hands of the counterrevolution and foreign interventions during the Russian Civil War , Lenin gave the order to scuttle the fleet on June 18, 1918.

However, part of the Black Sea Fleet joined the so-called White Movement , which fought against the results of the October Revolution in the Russian Civil War, and supported the White Army's struggle against the Bolsheviks in the Black Sea region. When the Red Army conquered the Crimean peninsula in November 1920 , these ships moved to Istanbul on November 14th . There they were reorganized on November 21 in the so-called Russian squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Mikhail Alexandrowitsch Kedrow (1878-1945), and after the French Council of Ministers on December 1, 1920 approved the relocation of the squadron to Bizerta in what was then the French protectorate of Tunisia had moved the fleet there between December 1920 and February 1921 and was interned there . When France recognized the Soviet Union under international law on October 29, 1924 , it formally handed the ships over to the Soviet Union. But they were now so out of date and in such poor condition for lack of money and maintenance that they were no longer usable. They were sold and gradually broken up. Most of the crews stayed as emigrants in Tunisia or France.

Period of the Soviet Union (1922–1991)

After the civil war, the Black Sea fleet was rebuilt. For this purpose, even sunk ships were lifted and repaired and new ships were added to the fleet. During the Second World War , the Black Sea Fleet took an active part in the war against Germany and its allies. In addition to combat ships, members of the Black Sea Fleet were also used as ground troops on all fronts.

In June 1941 the fleet consisted of the following ships:

After the Second World War, the Black Sea Fleet was expanded into a modern operational and strategic association of the Soviet naval fleet . In addition to its use in the Black Sea, the Black Sea Fleet was also used in the Mediterranean. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the victory over the German Reich and the end of the Second World War , the fleet was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on May 7, 1965 . After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Black Sea fleet was divided between the now independent Ukraine and Russia. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia initially had considerable difficulties in ensuring the combat readiness of its ships. Ukraine was barely able to keep its ships going due to its tense economic and financial situation.

Division between the Russian Federation and Ukraine (1992–1995)

Missile cruiser "Moskva" in Sevastopol

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 and the resulting independence of Ukraine , most of the Black Sea Fleet of the Soviet Navy was located on the territory of Ukraine. On January 2, 1992, Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk ordered all former Soviet troops, including the Black Sea Fleet, stationed on the territory of Ukraine to be placed under Ukrainian command. Only the strategic military units were excluded. On April 7, 1992, Russian President Boris Yeltsin placed the Black Sea fleet under Russian control by decree and called for further negotiations to resolve the crisis. On August 2, 1992, Kravchuk reached an agreement with Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the conflict over the Black Sea Fleet that the two states would form a joint command over the approximately 380 ships and boats for a transitional period until 1995.

On June 17, 1993, Kravchuk and Yeltsin signed another agreement in Moscow on the Black Sea Fleet, which was mainly stationed in Crimea . According to this, from September 1993 to 1995 the fleet of around 300 ships and boats as well as the buildings and port facilities were each to be split in half and, in accordance with the agreement, the Black Sea fleet should continue to be jointly managed and financed and under the joint command of the presidents of Russia and Ukraine. As early as September 3, 1993, the two presidents agreed in Massandra to revise the previous agreement on the Black Sea Fleet. Ukraine agreed to sell Ukraine's 50% stake in the Black Sea fleet to Russia . The naval base in Sevastopol in the Crimea, located on Ukrainian territory, was leased by Russia. Corresponding lease payments in favor of Ukraine were offset against Ukraine's debts to Russia. This decision by Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk was heavily criticized in parliament.

On April 15, 1994, negotiations on the Black Sea Fleet took place again in Moscow. Ukraine agreed with Russia that the remaining Ukrainian share of 50% of the approximately 300 ships and boats in the fleet will be reduced once again to around 15 to 20%. Thus 30 to 35% of the share in the fleet was sold to Russia. The Ukrainian naval forces were left with more than 60 ships and some unfinished hulls of the former Soviet Black Sea fleet. Most of it was in poor condition and not seaworthy. In addition, negotiations took place on the use of the naval bases in the Crimea. Russia demanded the sole right to use the naval base in Sevastopol . Sevastopol, the home port of the Black Sea Fleet, had a special status in the Soviet Union, which continued to exist even when Crimea was part of Ukraine from 1991 to 2014. On June 9, 1995, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma signed an agreement in Sochi , according to which the Sevastopol naval base will remain a base of the Russian Navy and the Crimean military infrastructure may be used by Russia. The formerly Soviet Black Sea Fleet was split up again. According to Article 4 of the Agreement, Russia received 81.7% and Ukraine 18.3% of the ships in the Black Sea Fleet. On December 31, 1995, joint control by Russia and Ukraine formally ended.

On May 31, 1997, the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Boris Yeltsin and Leonid Kuchma , signed another three-part agreement in Kiev on the status of the fleet. Russia leased the military facilities in Sevastopol for the next 20 years and used the ports in Sevastopol and Karantinnaya Bay and the facilities in Streletskaya together with the Ukrainian Navy. After the ratification of the parliaments of both states, the agreement did not enter into force until July 12, 1999.

Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation

Leonid Kuchma (l.) And Vladimir Putin on a visit to the flagship Moskva in Sevastopol in July 2001
Signing of the contract in 2010

The main port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is Sevastopol; Another Black Sea port in Russia is Novorossiysk . The fleet has been nuclear disarmed since the early 1990s . In 1995, around 48,000 soldiers were subordinate to the Black Sea Fleet, which had 14 submarines, 31 surface combat ships, 43 patrol and coastal defense boats, 125 combat aircraft and 85 helicopters.

The fleet is of great historical and geopolitical importance for Russia, but its military value has declined considerably since the collapse of the Soviet Union due to the division and severe budget cuts. A large-scale modernization program is currently running. The strategic value of the navy in the Black Sea with regard to its use in the Mediterranean is limited by the fact that the Bosporus has been under western control since Turkey joined NATO in 1952 and is also subject to the restrictions on use of the Montreux Convention . Other Soviet or Russian fleets also became more important as part of the strategic nuclear forces than the Black Sea fleet.

More recent regional conflicts in the Caucasus region (particularly in Georgia ) and the development of oil transit in the region helped the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation to limited new tasks after 1992. Their naval aviators , marines and landing craft took part in the Chechnya war both directly and directly. During the 2008 Caucasus War , the Black Sea Fleet was involved in the blockade of the Georgian coast and attacked the Georgian Navy .

In the dispute over the price increase for Russian gas to Ukraine to the 2005/2006 market price level, an increase in the rent for the Russian bases in Ukraine was also discussed. In a new agreement, Ukraine has been guaranteed USD 97 million annually in mooring fees.

After the Black Sea Fleet repeatedly became a rhetorical target of attack by the Ukrainian leadership during Yushchenko's tenure, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and his then Ukrainian colleague Viktor Yanukovych agreed to extend the stationing of the Black Sea Fleet for a further 25 years from the expiry of the previous contract in April 2010 Year 2017. So the Russian Black Sea Fleet should remain stationed in the Crimea until 2042. In return, Ukraine received a 30 percent discount on Russian natural gas. The Russian and Ukrainian parliaments approved the contract on April 27, 2010. Fighting broke out in the Ukrainian parliament during the session; Opposition politicians threw smoke bombs.

The 2014 Crimean crisis began in February 2014 , as a result of which the Republic of Crimea declared itself independent on March 11, 2014 and then applied for admission to the Russian Federation. This request was accepted by Russia and the treaty was ratified by the Federation Council on March 21, 2014 . The legitimacy of these steps under international law is controversial.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation officially took over military control of Crimea on March 22, 2014 . A total of 147 Ukrainian military installations were brought under Russian control and the Russian Black Sea Fleet initially took over 54 of a total of 67 ships of the Ukrainian naval forces . Some of the ships have already been returned to Ukraine, but the handover process (together with other military technology such as battle tanks ) has been put on hold due to the events in eastern Ukraine.

Choir of the Black Sea Fleet

Choir of the Black Sea Fleet: performance in its own theater in Sevastopol 2004

The Black Sea Fleet is musically active, like many other military organizations: The " Black Sea Fleet Choir " performs in its own theater in Sevastopol - it regularly tours internationally and is considered very successful. (see also: Alexandrow Ensemble for the Red Army Choir, as well as military music service for an overview of the musical activities of the Bundeswehr )

Ships and boats

30th Warship Division

11th Anti-Submarine Brigade
197th DropShip Brigade
  • Project 1171 alligator class
    • Nikolai Filchenkow
    • Orsk
    • Saratov
  • Project 775 (NATO designation: Ropucha I class)
    • Novocherkassk
    • Tsesar Kunikov
    • Jamal
  • Project 775M (NATO designation: Ropucha II class)
    • Azov

247th Submarine Battalion

  • Project 877
    • B-871 Alrossa
  • Project 636 .3
    • B-261 Novorossiysk
    • another 5 boats under construction
  • Project 641B ; Tango class
    • B-380 Swjatoi Knjas Georgi (preparation for decommissioning)

68th Warship Brigade

400th Anti-Submarine Battalion
418th Anti-Mine Battalion
  • Project 266M Natya class
    • Kovrovets
    • Ivan Golubets
    • Turbinist
    • Vice-Admiral Zhukov

41st Missile Ship Brigade

166th Missile Ship Battalion
259th Missile Ship Battalion

184th Brigade

  • Project 1124M Grischa III class
    • Poworino
    • Jeisk
    • Kassimov
  • Project 266ME Natya class
    • Valentin Pikul
  • Project 12660
    • Zheleznyakov
  • Project 1265 Sonya class
    • Mineralnye Vody
    • Leader Ilyin

9th Brigade Auxiliary Ships

  • Project 320 Yenisei ( Russian Енисей ), hospital ship
  • Project 1559B Ivan Bubnow (Иван Бубнов), task force supplier
  • Project 3228
    General Ryabikov
    (Генерал Рябиков), weapons transport ship

Units of the Ukrainian Navy

Following the accession of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation, the following units of the Ukrainian Navy, among others, were temporarily placed under the Black Sea Fleet:

On April 3, 2014, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the Ukrainian military equipment, including the ships, would be returned to Ukraine. On April 19, 2014 the “Kirovograd”, the corvette “Vinnyzja”, the gunboat “Cherson”, the tug “Kovel”, the tanker “Horlivka” and the tug “Nowooserne” set course for Odessa. On June 3, 2014, three more supply ships were returned to Ukraine. The return should be completed by the end of 2014. On July 5, 2014, the return of the military equipment was suspended due to the situation in eastern Ukraine. In March 2015 it became known that the return is still suspended and will only be resumed after the end of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. By the end of June, 43 of 79 warships, all vehicles and some of the aircraft and helicopters had been returned to Ukraine.

Aviation

In addition to the up to 2014 by the Ukrainian Air Force used the airport Sevastopol , the Black Sea Fleet has its own military airfield "Chersonesski Mayak" in Sevastopol.

She is also a co-user of the military airfields Gwardejskoje near Simferopol and Katscha near Sevastopol.

Commanders

Russian Empire
Russian Civil War ( White Guard , Russian Squadre )
  • Adm Wasili Kanin (November 26, 1918– March 25, 1919)
  • VAdm Michail Sablin (March 25 - August 20, 1919)
  • VAdm Dmitri Nenyukov (August 20, 1919– February 8, 1920)
  • VAdm Michail Sablin (February 8 - February 17, 1920)
  • VAdm Alexander Gerasimow (February 17 - April 19, 1920)
  • VAdm Michail Sablin (April 19 - October 12, 1920)
  • VAdm Mikhail Kedrov (October 12 – December 3, 1920)
Russian Civil War ( Red Guard )
Soviet Union
Russian Federation

See also

Web links

Commons : Black Sea Fleet of Russia  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ukraine: Eggs and Fog Bombs in Parliament . German wave. April 28, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
  2. ↑ After the war she used the Soviet airship Pobeda to search for mines for a short time .
  3. ↑ Russian Black Sea Fleet gets new combat and supply ships. RIA Novosti, August 28, 2014, accessed December 23, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Ukraine wants to pull the Russian Black Sea Fleet out of Sevastopol. russlandonline, June 15, 2005, accessed April 28, 2010 .
  5. ^ Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol until 2042
  6. ^ FAZ: Russia officially takes over military control of Crimea from March 22, 2014
  7. ↑ Russia hands over more ships from Crimea to Ukraine. RIA Novosti, June 3, 2014, accessed December 23, 2014 .
  8. ↑ Moscow suspends delivery of Crimean military equipment to Ukraine. RIA Novosti, July 5, 2014, accessed December 23, 2014 .
  9. ↑ Diesel submarine "Novorossijsk" is put into service. RIA Novosti, August 22, 2014, accessed August 22, 2014 .
  10. ↑ BSF to be reinforced with new frigates and subs . FLOT.com. April 14, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  11. ↑ flot.sevastopol.info
  12. ↑ flot.sevastopol.info
  13. ↑ flot.sevastopol.info
  14. ↑ a b Russia returns ships and weapons to Ukraine. www.watson.ch, April 3, 201, accessed on August 22, 2014 .
  15. ↑ a b Денис Селезнёв: На маленьком флоту. На что сейчас способны остатки украинского флота. korrespondent.net, August 6, 2014, accessed August 22, 2014 (Russian).
  16. ↑ a b Russia returns 6 Ukrainian warships. ukrinform.ua, April 19, 2014, accessed August 22, 2014 .
  17. ↑ a b Russia returns warships to Ukraine. RIA Novosti, April 3, 2014, accessed August 22, 2014 .
  18. ↑ Russia will return submarine “Zaporozhye” to Ukraine , voice of Russia on March 31, 2014
  19. ↑ The only Ukrainian submarine becomes a museum piece in the Crimea. RIA Novosti, April 22, 2014, accessed April 23, 2014 .
  20. ↑ Russia hands over more ships from Crimea to Ukraine. Voice of Russia, June 3, 2014, accessed August 22, 2014 .
  21. ↑ Kiev will later get its military technology back from the Crimea. Sputnik Germany, March 13, 2015, accessed on March 13, 2015 .
  22. ^ Coordinates of Sevastopol military airfield
  23. ^ Coordinates of the Gwardejskoje military airfield
  24. ↑ Coordinates of the Katscha military airfield
  25. ↑ Will Russia invade Ukraine?