The Defence of Sevastopol 1941-1942: The Soviet Perspective by Donnell Clayton

Author:Donnell, Clayton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / World War II
ISBN: 9781473879263
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2016-02-29T05:00:00+00:00

On 29 April a new German Air Group, III/JG52, arrived in Crimea. In early May the German VIII Air Corps began to arrive in Crimea in greater numbers, composed of I/KG76 with twenty-eight Ju 88A-4s, I/JG3 (twenty-six Bf 109F-4s) and I/JG77 (thirty-seven Bf 109F-4s). The number of bombers doubled and fighters increased five-fold. For the time being, however, the number of sorties against Sevastopol was minimal, the attacks concentrating on Soviet transports at Kerch, Tuapse and Novorossiysk.

On 6 May the city was attacked by air from several different directions. About 100 high explosive and incendiary bombs fell. The Luftwaffe flew non-stop sorties from 6 to 8 May. Soviet accounts claim the reason was to divert attention from the Kerch front but in reality the increased activity was also to conceal the arrival by train of the 781st Heavy Artillery Regiment from Simferopol. The trains were delivering Dora, the largest artillery gun in the world, which was set up on a triple railway track in a cutting in Kazan-Tash hill, north of Bakhchisarai. The gun’s range was 30km and from its location it was 25km to Battery 30, its primary target.

On 7 May the German offensive to recapture the Kerch Peninsula began and six days later the Kerch front collapsed. Transport ships were used to evacuate what was left of Soviet forces from the Kerch Peninsula. Vice-Admiral Oktyabrsky protested against the removal of troops from Kerch as it would mean the only troops left in Crimea were at Sevastopol and returning German troops would give them a greater advantage in numbers. Otherwise it was a quiet day in Sevastopol but the storm was coming.

The period of January to May was used by the Soviets to make significant improvements to their defences. Here is a description of Sectors 1 and 2.

Sector 2 followed a twisting line 17.5km long. Troops assigned to the sector during the Third Assault were: 386th Rifle Division (769th, 775th, 772nd Rifle Regiments and 952nd Artillery Regiment), 7th Marine Brigade (five battalions) and 8th Marine Brigade (four battalions). The sector was supported by Battery 702 and Battery 703. Each battery had two 130mm B-7 guns taken from the sunken cruiser Chervona Ukraina. Battery 18bis, a 152mm battery, was located near the village of Dergacheva. One other stationary battery was located near Novo Shuli.

Sector 2 had three lines of defence consisting of twenty battalion strongpoints. The forward line passed through the top of the heights and along the reverse slopes of Mount Gasfort, Telegraph Hill and the heights above the Chorguns to Shuli. The main line was sub-divided into several defensive areas:

• The rear line along the slopes of Sapun Ridge.

• Mount Gasfort.

• Fedyukhiny Heights and the Black River.

• The forward line of heights along the road from Chorgun to Shuli.

• Strongpoints in the Kara-Koba Valley.

• The foot of the heights of Sugar Head and Mount Kara-Koba.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.