Black Sea campaigns ( 1941 – 44 ) The Black Sea Campaigns are the operations of the Axis and Soviet naval forces in the Black Sea and its coastal regions during World War II between 1941 and 1944 , including in support of the land forces , and non - combat operations . The Black Sea Fleet was as surprised by Operation Barbarossa as the rest of the Soviet Military . The Axis forces in the Black Sea consisted of the Romanian and Bulgarian Navies together with German and Italian units transported to the area via rail and Canal . Although the Soviets enjoyed an overwhelming superiority in surface ships over the Axis , this was effectively negated by German air superiority and most of the Soviet ships sunk were destroyed by bombing . For the majority of the war , the Black Sea Fleet was commanded by Filipp Oktyabrskiy , its other commander being Lev Vladimirsky . All of the major Soviet shipyards were located in the Ukraine ( Nikolayev ) and Crimea ( Sevastopol ) and were occupied in 1941 . Many incomplete ships which were afloat were evacuated to harbors in Georgia which provided the main bases for the surviving fleet . These ports such as Poti , however had very limited repair facilities which significantly reduced the operational capability of the Soviet Fleet . Soviet naval strength . On 22 June 1941 , the Black Sea Fleet consisted of : Axis naval strength . Romanian Navy . The Royal Romanian Navy consisted of four destroyers ( two " Mărăşti " - class , two " Regele Ferdinand " - class ) , six fleet torpedo boats , three submarines ( " Delfinul / The Dolphin " , " Rechinul / The Shark " and " Marsuinul / The Sea Hog " ) , five midget submarines ( CB class ) , two minelayers and seven motor torpedo boats . Germany and Italy . As Turkey was neutral during World War II , the Axis could not transfer warships to the Black Sea via the Bosphorus . However , several small ships were transferred from the North Sea via rail , street and canal networks to the Danube . These included six Type IIB U - boats of the " 30th U - boat Flotilla " which were dis - assembled and shipped to Constanza in 1942 . The Germans also transported 10 S - boats ( " Schnellboot e " ) and 23 R - boats ( " Räumboote " ) via the Danube and built several armed barges in the captured Nikolayev Shipyard s in Mykolaiv . The Italian " Regia Marina " ( Royal Navy ) dispatched a small force to the Black Sea . The force dispatched included six CB class midget submarine s and a flotilla of Torpedo Armed Motorboats ( " Motoscafo Armato Silurante " , or MAS " ) . The MAS were commanded by Francesco Mimbelli and were based in Yalta . Operations in 1941 . The Soviets began the war in the Black Sea by a bombardment of Constanța on 26 June . During this operation , the destroyer leader " Moskva " was lost to mines while evading fire from coastal batteries . The Black Sea Fleet supplied the besieged garrison in Odessa and evacuated a significant part of the force ( 86 , 000 soldiers , 150 , 000 civilians ) at the end of October , but lost the destroyer " Frunze " and a gunboat to " Stuka s " in the process . The Black Sea Fleet played a valuable part in defeating the initial assault on Sevastopol . In December , there was an amphibious operation against Kerch which resulted in the recapture of the Kerch Peninsula . A naval detachment including the cruiser Krasnyi Krym remained in Sevastopol to give gunfire support . Soviet submarines also raided Axis shipping on the Romanian and Bulgarian coasts , sinking of shipping . Operations in 1942 . Operations in 1942 were dominated by the Siege of Sevastopol . During the winter , Soviet warships including the only battleship " Parizhskaya Kommuna " provided fire support and supply missions near Sevastopol . The Soviets continued supply missions until 27 June , losses were heavy and included the cruiser " Chervonnaya Ukraina " , destroyer leader " Tashkent " and six modern destroyers . The cruiser " Voroshilov " and destroyers tried to intervene without success in the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula in May and the Soviets could not prevent a landing across the Kerch strait in the Taman Peninsula in September . The remainder of the Black Sea Fleet evacuated to ports in the Caucasus that had very limited facilities . Soviet submarines were active in the western part of the Black Sea where they attacked Axis shipping . Unfortunately this included sinking the refugee ships and . Operations in 1943 . In 1943 , the Black Sea Fleet was reduced to the following ships : All of these ships suffered from poor maintenance due to a lack of facilities . Operations initially consisted of several offensive operations by the Soviets including the defence of Malaya Zemlya in Novorossiysk and some coastal bombardments and raids . As the war was going badly for the Axis on other fronts , the Germans began to evacuate the Kuban bridgehead in September . This was successfully accomplished . " Kharkov " and two destroyers — " Sposobny " and " Besposchadny " — were sunk by " Stukas " while raiding the Crimea . As a result of this loss , Stalin insisted on personally authorizing the use of any large ships . The Kerch - Eltigen Operation followed in November . Operations in 1944 . By early 1944 , the Soviet surface fleet was practically nonoperational due to a poor state of repair . Most of the offensive work was carried out by small vessels and the Soviet Naval air force . The land situation had significantly deteriorated for the Axis . The area around Odessa was liberated in March trapping the Axis forces in the Crimea . The last Axis forces near Sevastopol surrendered on 9 May 1944 and a considerable number of men were evacuated . ( See Battle of the Crimea ( 1944 ) for details )