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{{Short description|1944 offensive into Crimea by the Red Army during World War II}}
{{about|the Soviet campaign in World War II|the earlier Axis invasion |Crimean campaign|other uses|Crimean War (disambiguation)}}
{{more citations needed|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Crimean offensive
| partof            = the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] of [[World War II]]
| image             = Крымская операция.jpg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = Soviet map of the Crimean offensive
| date              = 8 April – 12 May 1944
| place             = [[Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Crimean ASSR]], [[Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| result            = [[Soviet]] victory
| combatant1        = {{flag|Soviet Union|1936}}
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}}<br />{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Romania}}
| commander1        = {{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Fyodor Tolbukhin]]<br/>{{flagicon|Soviet Union|naval-1935}} [[Filipp Oktyabrskiy]]
| commander2        = {{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} [[Erwin Jaenecke]]<br/>{{flagicon image|Naval Ensign of Romania (1922–1947).svg}} [[Horia Macellariu]]
| strength1         = 462,400 men<ref name=glantz>{{harvnb|Glantz|House|1995|p=298}}</ref>{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=459}}<br />560 tanks and assault guns<br />6,000 guns<br />1,200 aircraft
| strength2         = 230,000–255,970 men{{sfn|Frieser|Schmider|Schönherr|Schreiber|2007|p=483}}{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=459}}
*{{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} 165,000
*{{flagicon|Kingdom of Romania}} 65,000
1,815 guns
| units1            = {{flagdeco|USSR|1936}} [[4th Ukrainian Front]]
*[[2nd Guards Army]]
*[[51st Army (Russia)|51st Army]]
*[[Separate Coastal Army]]
*[[4th Air and Air Defence Forces Army|4th Air Army]]
{{flagdeco|USSR|naval}} [[Black Sea Fleet]]<br/>{{flagdeco|USSR|1936}} [[Crimean resistance during World War II|Partisans]]
| units2            = {{flagdeco|Nazi Germany}} [[Army Group South Ukraine]]
*{{flagdeco|Nazi Germany}} [[17th Army (Wehrmacht)|17th Army]]
*{{flagdeco|Kingdom of Romania}} [[Vânători de munte|Mountain Corps]]
| casualties1       = '''84,839'''<br />17,754 killed or missing<br />67,065 wounded or sick<br />171 tanks<br />521 guns<br />179 aircraft<ref name=glantz/>{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=459}}<br/><br/>'''Losses at sea:'''<br/>1 submarine<br/>1 motor torpedo boat<br/>12+ aircraft
| casualties2       = '''96,700'''<ref name=mue/><br />{{flagicon|Nazi Germany}}<br />31,700 killed or missing<br />33,400 wounded<br />{{flagicon|Kingdom of Romania}}<br />25,800 killed or missing<br />5,800 wounded{{CN|date=December 2022}}<br /><br/>'''Losses at sea:'''<br/>{{flagicon|Nazi Germany}}<br />4 submarine hunters<br/>5 cargo ships<br/>1 tanker<br/>3 tugs<br/>3 lighters<br/>3 motorboats<br/>{{flagicon|Kingdom of Romania}} 3 cargo ships
| notes             = 
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Axis-Soviet War}}
{{Campaignbox Crimea and Caucasus}}
{{Romanian military actions in World War II}}
{{Campaignbox Black Sea campaigns (1941–44)}}
}}
The '''Crimean offensive''' (8 April – 12 May 1944), known in German sources as the '''Battle of the Crimea''', was a series of offensives by the [[Red Army]] directed at the German-held [[Crimea]]. The Red Army's [[4th Ukrainian Front]] engaged the German [[17th Army (Wehrmacht)|17th Army]] of [[Army Group South Ukraine]], which consisted of [[Wehrmacht]] and [[Romanian Land Forces|Romanian]] formations.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-12-08|title=A Look Back at the WWII Crimean Campaign|url=https://warontherocks.com/2014/12/a-look-back-at-the-wwii-crimean-campaign/|access-date=2021-06-28|website=War on the Rocks|language=en-US}}</ref> The battles ended with the evacuation of the Crimea by the Germans. German and Romanian forces suffered considerable losses during the evacuation.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Peninsula: The Crimea at War|url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/peninsula-crimea-war|access-date=2021-06-22|website=The National WWII Museum|date=5 July 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first=Mauricio|last=Rousselon|date=2015-07-30|title=The Eastern Front: Germany's Futile Battle For Crimea|url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2015/07/30/the-eastern-front-germanys-futile-battle-for-crimea/|access-date=2021-06-28|website=Warfare History Network|language=en-US}}</ref>

{{TOC limit}}

==Prelude==
[[File:Sivash.jpg|thumb|Soviet soldiers crossing Sivash Bay into Crimea in late 1943]]
The Germans took control of the Crimean Peninsula after the [[Crimean Campaign]] in 1942.
===Kerch-Eltigen operation===
{{Main|Kerch–Eltigen operation}}
During late 1943 and early 1944, the Wehrmacht was pressed back along its entire front line in the east. In October 1943, the 17th Army withdrew from the [[Kuban bridgehead]] across the [[Kerch Strait]] into the Crimea. During the following months, the Red Army pushed back the Wehrmacht in southern [[Ukraine]], eventually cutting off the land-based connection of 17th Army through the [[Perekop Isthmus]] in November 1943.

The Wehrmacht was able to successfully hold on to the Crimea even after it had been cut off by land due to their ability to supply it via the Black Sea. Holding the Crimea was considered important as its loss would negatively affect the attitude of Turkey and put Romanian oilfields under risk of Soviet air attacks. Aside from [[Kerch–Eltigen operation|Soviet landings across the Kerch Strait]] and in the north-eastern sector near [[Sivash]] at the end of 1943, the Soviet Army largely ignored the Crimea for the next five months.

[[Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist]] was removed from the command of Army Group A (from April 2: "[[Army Group South Ukraine]]"<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Frieser |title=Die Ostfront 1943/44: Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten |publisher=Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt |year=2007 |isbn=9783421062352 |editor-last=Frieser, Karl-Heinz |series=Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg |volume=8 |location=Munich |pages=339–450 |chapter=Die Rückzugsoperationen der Heeresgruppe Süd in der Ukraine |display-editors=et al.|first=Karl-Heinz|language=de}}</ref>{{Rp|1=450}}) on March 30, 1944. He was succeeded by [[Ferdinand Schörner]].

==Progress of the battle==
An assault across the Perekop Isthmus was launched on 8 April by elements of the [[4th Ukrainian Front]]'s [[2nd Guards Army|2nd Guards]] and [[51st Army (Russia)|51st Armies]].<ref name="Atlas">{{cite book|title=Atlas of World War 2|last1=Jordan|first1=David|last2=Weist|first2=Andrew|year=2004|publisher=Amber Books|location=London, England|isbn=0-7607-5557-4|pages= 124–125}}<!--|access-date=2010-03-19--></ref> The 17th Army defended but was unable to stop the advance. [[Kerch]] was reached by the [[Separate Coastal Army]] on 11 April; [[Simferopol]], about {{convert|37|mi|km|abbr=on}} northeast of Sevastopol, followed two days later. The 17th Army was retreating toward [[Sevastopol]] by 16 April,<ref name="Atlas"/> with remaining Axis forces in the Crimea concentrating around the city by the end of the third week of April.

The [[Oberkommando des Heeres|OKH]] intended to hold Sevastopol as a fortress, [[Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942)|as the Red Army had done]] during the first Crimean campaign in 1941–42. However, the fortifications of the city had never been restored and Sevastopol was not the strong defensive position that it had been in 1941. Fighting broke out in the city outskirts towards the end of April and the city fell on 9 May, less than a month after the start of the offensive. The Axis sea evacuation to [[Constanța]] was attacked by Soviet land-based bombers.<ref name="Atlas"/>

===Evacuation of Crimea===
[[File:RegeleFerdinand1930-1944.jpg|thumb|left|Romanian destroyer ''Regele Ferdinand'']]

The evacuation of the Crimea in April–May 1944, under the [[code name]] Operation 60,000,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://worldwar2.ro/operatii/?article=776|title=Operation "60,000" – 1944|author=Victor Nitu|website=worldwar2.ro}}</ref> was the most complex and extensive operation of the [[Romanian Navy]] during the Second World War. From 15 April to 14 May, numerous [[Kriegsmarine|German]] and Romanian warships escorted many convoys between Constanța and Sevastopol. The scale and importance of the operation can be attested by the usage in combat of all four Romanian destroyers, the largest Axis warships in the Black Sea. The last phase of the evacuation (10–14 May) saw the fiercest combat, as Axis ships transported, under constant attacks from Soviet aircraft and shore artillery, over 30,000 troops. Of these, 18,000 were transported by Romanian ships. On 11 May, the German tanker ''Friederike'' was torpedoed and heavily damaged by [[Soviet submarine L-4]], preventing her participation.<ref>{{cite web |title=L-4 Submarine of the Soviet Navy - L (Leninec) class |url=https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4873.html |website=uboat.net}}</ref>

In total, Romanian and German convoys evacuated over 113,000 Axis troops from the Crimea, most of them (over 63,000) during the first phase of the evacuation (15–25 April). No Romanian Navy warships were lost during the evacuation, however the destroyer [[NMS Regele Ferdinand|''Regele Ferdinand'']] came close to being sunk. She was struck by a large aerial bomb, which fell in her fuel tanks, but failed to detonate. The bomb was extracted several days after the end of the operation. Two naval actions involving the Romanian Navy took place during the second phase of the evacuation (25 April–10 May), near Sevastopol. On 18 April, the Soviet [[Leninets-class submarine|''Leninets''-class]] submarine ''L-6'' was twice attacked with depth charges and damaged by the Romanian gunboat ''[[NMS Sublocotenent Ghiculescu|Ghiculescu]]'', numerous bubbles emerged from the depths after each attack, before being finished off by the German submarine hunter ''UJ-104''. 
[[File:Доставка боеприпасов на передовую подразделением лейтенанта Ковалева.jpg|thumb|Pack donkeys of the Soviet [[3rd Mountain Rifle Corps]] delivering ammunition to the frontline on the Kerch peninsula, April 1944]]
During the night of 27 April, a convoy escorted by the Romanian gunboat ''Ghiculescu'', the German submarine hunter ''UJ-115'', one [[R-boat]], two KFK [[naval trawler]]s and 19 [[Marinefährprahm|MFPs]] (including the Romanian ''PTA-404'' and ''PTA-406'') engaged the Soviet [[G-5-class motor torpedo boat]]s ''TKA-332'', ''TKA-343'' and ''TKA-344'', after the three attacked and damaged the German submarine hunter ''UJ-104''. ''Ghiculescu'' opened fire with tracer rounds, enabling the entire escort group to locate the two Soviet MTBs and open fire. ''TKA-332'' was hit and sunk. Over 12 Soviet aircraft were also shot down during the evacuation, including two by the [[minelayer|minelaying]] [[destroyer escort]] {{NMS|Amiral Murgescu||2}}. The last Axis pockets in the Crimea were destroyed on 12 May. The last Axis warship to leave the peninsula was ''Amiral Murgescu'', carrying on board 1,000 Axis troops, including the German General [[Walter Hartmann]].<ref>Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, ''Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940-1945'', Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, pp. 132–157 (in Romanian)</ref><ref>Nicolae Koslinski, Raymond Stănescu, ''Marina română in al doilea război mondial: 1942–1944'', Făt Frumos Publishing, 1997 (in Romanian)</ref><ref>Robert Forczyk, ''Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941–44'', Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014, Chapter 9</ref>

==Consequences==
In a meeting with Adolf Hitler in Berchtesgaden, 17th Army commander Erwin Jaenecke had insisted that Sevastopol should be evacuated and his cut off Army of 235,000 men withdrawn. After the loss of the Crimea, he was held responsible, arrested in Romania and court-martialed. Only the intervention of [[Heinz Guderian]] saved his life. He was dismissed from the army on 31 January 1945.

The German and Romanian formations suffered the loss of 57,000 men, many of whom drowned during the evacuation. The sinking of the ''[[German ship Totila|Totila]]'' and ''[[German ship Teja|Teja]]'' on 10 May alone caused up to 10,000 deaths. In total, the German losses at sea amounted to five cargo ships, one tanker, three tugs, three lighters, three motorboats and four submarine hunters, while the Romanians lost three cargo ships.<ref>Nicolae Koslinski, Raymond Stănescu, ''Marina română in al doilea război mondial: 1942–1944'' (in Romanian)</ref><ref>Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, ''Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940–1945'' (in Romanian)</ref> The partially successful evacuation of Axis troops from the Crimea earned the commander of the Romanian Navy, Rear Admiral [[Horia Macellariu]], the [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]].<ref>Spencer C. Tucker, ''World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia'', p. 633</ref>


Between April 14 and May 13, 1944, a total of 120,853 men and 22,548 tons of cargo were evacuated by sea from the Crimea:

- 36,557 Romanians, of whom 4,262 were wounded

- 58,486 Germans, of whom 12,027 were wounded

- 723 Slovaks

- 15,391 Soviet volunteers

- 2,581 prisoners of war

- 7,115 civilians<ref>{{Cite web
 | url         = https://www.worldwar2.ro/operatii/?article=776
 | title       = Operation "60.000" – 1944
 | author      = Victor Nitu
 | date        = 2005
 | accessdate  = 1 September 2024
 | website     = World War 2.ro
}}</ref>

In Soviet propaganda, this offensive was listed as one of [[Stalin's ten blows]].

The table below is based on information from Glantz/House ''When Titans Clashed''.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}}:
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
'''Axis losses'''

German:<br />
Killed and missing: 31,700<ref name=mue>{{harvnb|Müller|2005|p=290}}</ref><br />
Wounded: 33,400<br />
Total: 65,100

Romanian:<br />
Killed and missing: 25,800<ref name=mue/><br />
Wounded: 5,800<br />
Total: 31,600

Total:<br />
Killed and missing: 57,500<br />
Wounded: 39,200<br />
Total: 96,700
{{col-3}}
'''Soviet losses'''

Killed and missing: 17,754<br />
Wounded: 67,065<br />
Total: 84,819

Tanks: 171<br />
Artillery: 521<br />
Aircraft: 179
{{col-end}}

==Land formations and units involved==
[[File:Действия Черноморского флота в ходе Крымской стратегической наступательной операции.jpg|thumb|Actions of the Black Sea Fleet during the Crimean Strategic Offensive Operation.]]
[[File:Раненые солдаты вермахта, плененные во время боев за освобождение Севастополя.jpg|thumb|Wounded German soldiers captured during the liberation of Sevastopol]]
=== Soviet ===
* [[4th Ukrainian Front]]
** [[2nd Guards Army (Soviet Union)|2nd Guards Army]]
** [[51st Army (Soviet Union)|51st Army]]
** [[4th Air Army]]
* [[Black Sea Fleet]]
* [[Separate Coastal Army]]
* [[Crimean resistance during World War II|Partisans]]

===Axis===

====German====
* [[Army Group A]]
** [[17th Army (Wehrmacht)|17th Army]]

====Romanian====
* [[Vânători de munte|Romanian Mountain Corps]]
** 1st Mountain Division
** [[2nd Mountain Troops Brigade (Romania)|2nd Mountain Division]]

==Citations==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |last=Clodfelter |first=M. |title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |year=2017 |edition=4th |isbn=978-0786474707 }}
* {{cite book
 | last1 = Frieser
 | first1 = Karl-Heinz
 | author-link1 = Karl-Heinz Frieser
 | first2 =Klaus 
 | last2 = Schmider
 | first3 =Klaus 
 | last3 = Schönherr
 | first4 = Gerhard 
 | last4 = Schreiber
 | first5 = Kristián 
 | last5 = Ungváry
 | author-link5 = Krisztián Ungváry
 | first6 =Bernd 
 | last6=Wegner
 | work = 
 | volume = VIII
 | title = Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg: Die Ostfront 1943/44 – Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten
 | trans-title = Germany and the Second World War: The Eastern Front 1943–1944: The War in the East and on the Neighbouring Fronts
 | publisher = Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt 
 | location = München
 | year = 2007
 | isbn = 978-3-421-06235-2
 | language = de
 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Glantz |first1=David M. |last2=House |first2=Jonathan |title=When Titans clashed: How the Red Army stopped Hitler |date=1995 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |location=Lawrence, Kansas |isbn=0-7006-0899-0}}
* Ziemke, E.F. ''Stalingrad to Berlin''
* {{cite book |last1=Müller |first1=Rolf-Dieter |title=Der letzte deutsche Krieg, 1939-1945 |date=2005 |publisher=Klett-Cotta |location=Stuttgart |isbn=3-608-94133-9}}

{{World War II}}
{{Subject bar
| portal2=Soviet Union
}}

{{coord missing|Ukraine}}

[[Category:World War II aerial operations and battles of the Eastern Front]]
[[Category:Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War]]
[[Category:Strategic operations of the Red Army in World War II]]
[[Category:Crimea in World War II]]
[[Category:Naval battles of World War II involving the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Naval battles of World War II involving Germany]]
[[Category:Naval battles of World War II involving Romania]]
[[Category:1944 in Russia]]
[[Category:April 1944 in Europe]]
[[Category:May 1944 in Europe]]