At the end of the month, III./JG 52 transferred to the Crimea, where Erich von Manstein's 11th Army was laying siege to Sevastopol. The 11th Army also faced Soviet forces on the Kerch Peninsula. Red Army forces had conducted amphibious landings there on 26 December 1941 and had strong air cover. At this time, Graf was competing with "Leutnant" Gerhard Köppen of 7./JG 52 (with 72 victories) as the "Gruppe’s" top pilot. They were constantly flying extra missions to outdo each other. On 30 April 1942, Graf had his best day to date. In seven missions over fourteen hours, he shot down six enemy aircraft to take his tally to 69. Exhausted, he then missed a day but on 2 May he exceeded that feat with seven victories from six missions. It was at this time that his squadron got the famous moniker, the "Karaya Staffel", from a record that Süß would incessantly play at the airfield and hum along to in the air. On 5 May, Köppen (with his score at 85 victories) was shot down over the Sea of Azov and was last seen being shelled by nearby Soviet artillery.