The Sevastopol Naval Base (russian: Севастопольская военно-морская база; uk, Севастопольська військово-морська база) is a

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...

located in

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

, in the

disputed Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

n peninsula. The base is used by the Russian Navy, and it is the main base of the

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

Geography

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

History

The construction of the port started in 1772, while the

Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) The Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 was a major armed conflict that saw Russian arms largely victorious against the Ottoman Empire. Russia's victory brought parts of Moldavia, the Yedisan between the rivers Bug and Dnieper, and Crimea into th ...

, was still ongoing, and was finished in 1783, following the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire The territory of Crimea, previously controlled by the Crimean Khanate, was annexed by the Russian Empire on . The period before the annexation was marked by Russian interference in Crimean affairs, a series of revolts by Crimean Tatars, a ...

. On 13 May 1783, the first eleven ships of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...

reached the

Sevastopol Bay Sevastopol Bay ( uk, Севастопольська бухта; russian: Севастопольская бухта) is a city harbor that includes a series of smaller bays carved out its shores. The bay of Sevastopol splits the city of Sevastopo ...

. During the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included t ...

(1853–1856), all large ships were

scuttled Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

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 France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and

Piedmont-Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

. Eventually, the Russians had to abandon Sevastopol on 9 September 1855. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the ...

occupied Sevastopol on 1 May 1918 despite the ongoing negotiations to reach the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russia's ...

. After further negotiations, the most important ships of the Black Sea Fleet in Tsemes Bay in front of

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk ( rus, Новоросси́йск, p=nəvərɐˈsʲijsk; ady, ЦIэмэз, translit=Chəməz, p=t͡sʼɜmɜz) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities hono ...

were sunk by their crews. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Black Sea Fleet of the Soviet Navy was able to fend off the first air attack by the

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

. However, after the city defended itself for 250 days, Sevastopol fell to the Germans on 4 July 1942. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, the former Soviet Navy came under jurisdiction of

United Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States The United Armed Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States (russian: Объединённые Вооружённые силы Содружества Независимых Государств) was a short-lived military entity associated w ...

and later regulated by the separate treaty between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. After a failed attempt to annex Crimea in 1990s, in 1997 the Russian Federation singed partition Treaty on the Status and Conditions of the Black Sea Fleet with Ukraine which allowed the Russian allocated ships remain on Ukrainian territory until 2017 sharing the

along with ships of

Ukrainian Navy The Military Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Військо́во-морські́ си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни, ВМС ЗСУ) is the maritime forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Ar ...

. From then on,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

paid an annual lease to Ukraine for the use of the base until 2014, as regulated by the Partition Treaty on the Black Sea Fleet and the

Kharkiv Pact The Agreement between Ukraine and Russia on the Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine, widely referred to as the Kharkiv Pact ( ua, Харківський пакт) or Kharkov Accords (russian: Харьковские соглашения), was a treaty betw ...

. Since the

annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia ...

in 2014, the naval base is again under Russian control.

Gallery

File:First map of Sevastopol Bay by Ivan Baturin 1773.jpg, The first map of the Akhtiar (Sevastopol) Bay, created by navigator Ivan Baturin and his team, 1773. File:Ivan Constantinovich Aivazovsky - The Russian Squadron on the Sebastopol Roads.jpg, ''The Russian Squadron on the Sebastopol Roads'' (1846), by

Ivan Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (russian: link=no, Иван Константинович Айвазовский; 29 July 18172 May 1900) was a Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized a ...

. File:1904 Sevastopol.png, Map of Sevastopol, 1904. File:Sebastopol vers 1905 photo couleur.jpg, Color view of part of the port, 1905. File:Port-Sevastopol1918.jpg, Aerial view of the port, August 1918. File:Aleksandrovets&Muromets2005Sevastopol.jpg, Russian ships in Sevastopol, 2005. File:Ivanovets R-334 and 962 project 12417 2008 G1.jpg, Russian ships in Sevastopol, 2008. File:418 дивизион тральщиков 68-ой бригады кораблей ОВР. Севастополь. Крым. Россия. Май 2015 - panoramio.jpg, Russian ships in Sevastopol, 2015.

References

External links

Photos Black Fleet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sevastopol Naval Base Buildings and structures in Sevastopol Military units and formations established in 1783 Military installations established in 1783

Naval Base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...

Military history of Russia Military history of Ukraine Russia–Ukraine relations Military installations of Russia in other countries

Geography

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links