page_title: 345th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
section_title: Siege of Sevastopol
hierarchical_section_title: 345th Rifle Division (Soviet Union) / 1st Formation / Siege of Sevastopol
caption_attribution_description: English: The Soviet cruiser Molotov, 1941-1942. Русский: Крейсер Молотов ведет огонь, 1941-1942 годы.
context_page_description: The 345th Rifle Division began forming in September, 1941, as a standard Red Army rifle division, at Makhachkala on the Caspian Sea. Its first formation served exclusively in the southernmost parts of the Soviet-German front, specifically in the Caucasus and Crimea. It arrived at Sevastopol in December, and fought stubbornly in defense of the fortress-port until mid-July, 1942, when the city capitulated and the division was destroyed. In March, 1945, a new 345th was formed in the Far East, and a few months later took part in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August, but as it was in a reserve formation it saw little, if any, actual combat.
context_section_description: In mid-December, German 11th Army, under command of General Erich von Manstein, began its first deliberate assault on the Sevastopol defenses.  During a brief halt in this offensive, on December 23, a five-ship convoy carrying the 345th was escorted into the port, where it joined the Separate Coastal Army, under command of General I. Ye. Petrov; it would remain under these commands for the duration of the siege. It had been intended to land the division near Kerch along with the 302nd Mountain Rifle Division, but the crisis at Sevastopol forced the change in plans. The fresh troops were immediately ordered into the line to replace the 388th Rifle Division, which had been shattered in the earlier fighting.
  Manstein ordered an all-out attack on December 24, attempting to crack the boundary of Soviet defense sectors III and IV, in the area of Mekenzievy Mountain, south of the Belbek River. The Soviet reinforcements came as a rude surprise; the five attacking battalions of the 132nd Infantry Division ran up against one of the division's rifle regiments and were thrown back. On Christmas Day, the 1165th Rifle Regiment, with the T-26 tanks of the 81st Tank Battalion, which had landed with the division, supported by the 8th Marine Rifle Brigade, two artillery regiments, the armored train Zhelezniakov, and three Soviet destroyers in the Black Sea, launched a counter-attack, which developed into a see-saw affair with no major breakthroughs occurring. The landings at Kerch began at dawn on December 26, which indirectly forced the German units at Sevastopol to scale back their attacks. on December 27, 8th Marine Brigade was relieved in the line by two battalions of 1165th Rifle Regiment. German 22nd Infantry Division attacked near Mekenzievy Railway Station; they were temporarily held back by mortar fire, but then broke through at the junction of the 1165th and 1163rd Regiments. This attack was again stalled by artillery and mortar fire. The Germans then used rocket artillery to penetrate to the third defense line, and after heavy fighting they captured the rail station.
  On December 29, the 345th, along with the 79th Rifle Brigade, attacked Mekenzievy Station. The battleship Parizhskaya Kommuna, the cruiser Molotov, plus destroyers and minesweepers, fired over a thousand heavy- and medium-calibre shells in support. These caused heavy losses to German vehicles and personnel. The Soviet infantry attack met with initial success but by evening the Germans were once again in control of the station. On the following day, during intense combat, the station changed hands twice. In the afternoon the Germans attacked 1165th Regiment, gaining 400 metres of territory south of the station. By the end of the day the attacks stopped. On December 31, the division reported it had about 2,000 front-line infantry remaining. On the same day, German 11th Army made its final attempt in this phase of the siege to capture antiaircraft battery 365, known to the Germans as Fort Stalin. A preemptive Soviet artillery bombardment at dawn forced back the German timetable by two hours. At 1000 hrs., two battalions from the 22nd Infantry, with six StuG III assault guns in support, attacked the center and right flank of the 345th. This attack was repulsed. At 1235 hrs. two fresh German battalions were brought in to the attack, but the division held its ground. At 1800 hrs. the 8th Marine Rifle Brigade, and two regiments of the 95th Rifle Division, attacked into the Belbek valley to relieve pressure on the 345th. The day ended with the Red Army still in control of AA Battery 365, the German objective on this sector, and at the end of the day their assault was shut down.
  This phase of the siege ended, in part, because General Erik Hansen, commander of the German LIV Army Corps, was ordered to release his 132nd and 170th Infantry Divisions to counter the Soviet landings at Feodosiya. Consequently, the German forces had to give up the area around Mekenzievy Station, which was reoccupied by the division. The siege then settled into a relative lull over the next several
caption: Molotov firing
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