Kerch–Eltigen operation

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Kerch-Eltigen Operation
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Kerch–Eltigen operation
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II

Soviet landings in Crimea, 1943
DateNovember 1943
Location
Result See Aftermath section
Belligerents
 Soviet Union  Germany
 Romania
Commanders and leaders
Ivan Petrov
Soviet Union Lev Vladimirsky
Nazi Germany Erwin Jaenecke
Kingdom of Romania Corneliu Teodorini
Units involved
Ground:
18th Army
56th Army
Naval:
Black Sea Fleet
Azov Flotilla
Nazi Germany V Army Corps
Nazi Germany XLIX Mountain Corps
Kingdom of Romania Mountain Corps
Strength
150,000[1]
45 assault guns[2]
75,000+
582 guns
Casualties and losses
6,985 killed or missing[1]
20,412 sick or wounded[1]
38 tanks captured
25 anti-tank guns captured
Total:
27,397[1]
unknown

The Kerch–Eltigen operation was a

Yenikale
but was unable to prevent an Axis counterattack that collapsed the southern beachhead at Eltigen. Subsequently, the Red Army used the beachhead at Yenikale to launch further offensive operations into the Crimea in May 1944.

Background

Following the defeat and withdrawal of German and

Crimean Peninsula. The southern, diversionary assault was planned for the small town of Eltigen (now part of the city of Kerch
) and the northern, main assault landed at Yenikale.

Soviet successes north of the Crimea had cut off the German

Mountain Corps defended the south and southeastern areas of the Crimea. The Germans also had anti-aircraft artillery batteries/operators and 45 assault guns to bolster their defence.[2] Commanding the Axis forces were Generaloberst Erwin Jaenecke and Major-General Corneliu Teodorini.[3]

Soviet offensive

For the landings, the Soviet

for naval operations.

Despite poor weather and rough seas that postponed the landings, the Soviets succeeded in landing Colonel V. F. Gladkov's 318th Rifle Division of the 18th Army and the 386th Naval Infantry Battalion at Eltigen on the 1 November. The landing was characterised by ad hoc use of naval craft of all kinds and the loss of formation organisation in the face of bad weather and darkness. Fighting their way ashore, the Soviet units pushed back the Romanian forces and established a small beachhead.

Two days later, at Yenikale, over 4,400 men of the Soviet 56th Army (landed were units of

383rd Rifle Division which landed on the 7 November, and the 339th Rifle Division
, which crossed over the course of the 6 to 8 November.

Axis victory at Eltigen

Although the Red Army managed to land the

Feodosiya. The Soviets countered by attempting to supply the beachhead at night, resulting in close-range naval encounters but completely insufficient to secure the delivery of supplies. Soviet attempts at aerial resupply were interdicted by the Luftwaffe.[7]

The Axis forces besieged the beachhead for five weeks before attacking on the 6 December. During the attack, Romanian cavalry of the 6th Division made diversionary attacks from the south while Romanian mountain troops supported by assault guns attacked from the west. By the 7 December, the beachhead had collapsed and the Romanians took 1,570 prisoners and counted 1,200 Soviet dead at a cost of 886 men to themselves. The Romanians also captured 25 anti-tank guns and 38 tanks.[8]

Battle of Mount Mithridates

In the course of the Eltigen Beachhead's collapse, some 820 Soviet troops

Mount Mithridates and defeating German artillery positions there. This alarmed General Jaenecke, as the attack had the potential of breaching the German front facing the Yenikale Beachhead. Jaenecke committed the Romanian 3rd Mountain Division to a counter-attack against the Soviet troops. By the 11 December, the Romanians recaptured Mount Mithridates. An unknown number of these Soviet troops were subsequently evacuated to Opasnoe village in the Yenikale Beachhead by the Azov Flotilla under the command of Rear Admiral Sergey Gorshkov
.

Aftermath

In the face of strong German reinforcements, the Soviets contented themselves with reinforcing the Yenikale Beachhead. By the 4 December, the Soviets had landed 75,000 men, 582 guns, 187 mortars, 128 tanks, 764 trucks, and over 10,000 short tons (9,100 t) of munitions and material at Yenikale.[10] The Soviets pushed some 9 km (5.6 mi) inland and to the outskirts of Kerch. Although the Germans succeeded in initially defending the Crimea against the Soviet landings, the successful landing near Kerch had placed the Soviets in a strong position from which they could push and conquer the entire Crimean peninsula, an operation they successfully concluded in May 1944.

Legacy

A

Tamara Mikhaylovna Smirnova is named for the landing of Soviet troops in November 1943.[11]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d Glantz & House 2015, p. 397.
  2. ^ a b Frieser et al. 2007, pp. 468–469.
  3. ^ Forczyk 2013, p. 258.
  4. ^ On the 20 November 1943, Headquarters of the North Caucasus Front was renamed the Separate Coastal Army and took over control of the units in the Kerch beachhead. Gretschko, p. 285.
  5. ^ Axworthy, Scafeș & Crăciunoiu 1995, p. 130.
  6. ^ Kuznetsov 2011, p. 145.
  7. ^ Grechko 1979, p. 282.
  8. ^ Axworthy, Scafeș & Crăciunoiu 1995, p. 131.
  9. ^ 1,500 men, per the Soviet official history (map 103).
  10. ^ Grechko 1979, p. 284.

Sources