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Black Sea
Tag
(24)
1914
November
17
Russians shell Trebizond
On 17 November 1914 the Russian Black Sea Fleet shelled Trebizond, a key supply port for the Ottoman army in the Caucasus. Mines were laid there at night.
18
Battle of Cape Sarych
On 18 November 1914, in fog off the Crimea, Russian battleships clashed with Goeben. After a quarter of an hour of fire Souchon turned away into the fog.
December
10
Goeben shells Batum
On 10 December 1914 the battlecruiser Goeben shelled the Russian port of Batum in the Caucasus. The bombardment lasted under ten minutes and did little damage.
1915
March
27
Russians bombard the Bosporus forts
On 27 March 1915 the Black Sea Fleet left Sevastopol for the Bosporus. Next day two Russian battleships first bombarded the forts guarding the strait.
April
03
Turkish raid on Odessa
On 3 April 1915 the Turkish cruiser Mecidiye struck a Russian mine off Odessa and sank. Goeben and Breslau, covering the raid, escaped the Black Sea Fleet.
25
Russians bombard the Bosporus again
On 25 April 1915, the day of the Gallipoli landings, the Russian Black Sea Fleet shelled the Bosporus forts to tie down Turkish forces near Constantinople.
1916
March
04
Russian landing at Atina
At dawn on 4 March 1916 Russian plastuns landed at Atina, behind a Turkish position on the Black Sea. The Turks fled and the road to Rize lay open.
30
Sinking of the hospital ship Portugal
On 30 March 1916 the German U-33 torpedoed the Russian hospital ship Portugal in the Black Sea off Rize. Between 85 and 115 people died, including nurses.
April
06
Start of the advance on Trebizond
On 6 April 1916 a flotilla with two plastun brigades sailed from Novorossiysk to Lazistan, covered by the Black Sea Fleet. Russia was moving on Trebizond.
17
Key event
Russians capture Trebizond
In mid-April 1916 the Turks abandoned Trebizond, the chief port of northern Anatolia, without a fight. On 18 April General Lyakhov's Russians entered it.
July
08
Sinking of the hospital ship Vpered
On 8 July 1916 the German U-38 torpedoed the Russian hospital ship Vpered in the Black Sea off Lazistan. Seven or eight people were killed.
October
20
Explosion of the battleship Imperatritsa Mariya
On 20 October 1916 the dreadnought Imperatritsa Mariya, flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, blew up and sank at Sevastopol. More than 200 sailors were killed.
1917
June
19
Mutiny of the Black Sea Fleet
On 19 June 1917 sailors at Sevastopol disarmed the officers of the Black Sea Fleet. Admiral Kolchak threw his sword into the sea and gave up command.
1918
February
24
Turks retake Trebizond
On 24 February 1918 Ottoman troops entered Trebizond without a fight. After the Russian Caucasus Army fell apart, the Turks were regaining lands lost in 1916.
March
13
Germans occupy Odessa
On 13 March 1918 German and Austro-Hungarian troops entered Odessa. The Odessa Soviet Republic collapsed and its authorities fled by ship to Sevastopol.
17
Germans occupy Nikolayev
On 17 March 1918 Central Powers troops entered Nikolayev, the centre of Black Sea shipbuilding. In its yards they seized an unfinished battleship.
April
14
Turks take Batum
On 14 April 1918 the Turks took Batum, the main Transcaucasian Black Sea port. The fortress surrendered after a few hours, and Constantinople celebrated.
19
Germans enter the Crimea
On 18–19 April 1918 German troops broke the Reds' defences on the Perekop Isthmus and entered the Crimea. Their goal was Sevastopol and the Black Sea Fleet.
May
01
Germans occupy Sevastopol
On 1 May 1918 the Germans entered Sevastopol and seized the old ships of the Black Sea Fleet. Admiral Sablin took the dreadnoughts out to Novorossiysk.
June
18
Scuttling of the Black Sea Fleet
On 18 June 1918 at Novorossiysk sailors scuttled ships, including the dreadnought *Svobodnaya Rossiya*, rather than surrender them. The rest went to Sevastopol.
November
26
Allies in Sevastopol
In late November 1918 an Allied squadron entered Sevastopol and took over from the Germans the old Black Sea Fleet ships, including the dreadnought Volya.
December
11
Ukrainians occupy Odessa
On 11 December 1918 Directorate troops entered Odessa. The Russian volunteers withdrew to the port, where an Allied zone formed under cover of Entente warships.
18
French land at Odessa
On 18 December 1918 General Borius's French division landed at Odessa. At the French demand, the Directorate's troops began to leave the city.
1920
November
14
Wrangel's army evacuates the Crimea
On 14 November 1920 the last White ships left Sevastopol. Within a few days almost 146,000 people had been taken from the Crimea to Constantinople.