Novorossiysk Naval Base was established by the Bolsheviks in 1920. During the Russian Civil War its fleet fought the White Army in Crimea and Transcaucasia. Active development of the base was stimulated by the deterioration of the political environment. In the years of the World War II Novorossiysk served as a stronghold for the occupied Sevastopol and Odessa, its marines took part in the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula and ensured the evacuation. After the war Sevastopol became the main base for the Soviet Navy's Black Sea Fleet and Novorossiysk military base was discontinued. The bay was reassigned as an administrative naval area. Later the USSR Ministry of Fisheries anchored there its submarine fleet and survey ships, consecutively the bay was renamed into ‘Geoport’.