The Sevastopol Naval Base (russian: Севастопольская военно-морская база; uk, Севастопольська військово-морська база) is a naval base located in Sevastopol, 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 po ...

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), 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, ...

. 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 the ...

(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, United Kingdom, Ottoman Empire and Piedmont-Sardinia. Eventually, the Russians had to abandon Sevastopol on 9 September 1855. 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. During 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. 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 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. 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-eight ...

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. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv ...

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 Sevastopol Sevastopol Sevastopol 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