Separate Coastal Army The Separate Coastal Army was an army - level unit in the Red Army that fought in the World War II . It was ordered to be established on July 18 , 1941 by the order of the Southern Front from the forces of 9th Army ’ s Coastal Group and was stood up on July 20 , 1941 . 1st formation . At the beginning of the war the Soviet 9th Army was engaged in heavy fighting along the southern front of the Axis invasion of Southern Russia , retreating towards Odessa . On August 5 , 1941 STAVKA ordered the Coastal Army to defend the city of Odessa as long as possible . The army established a defense on the approaches to the city and engaged the Fourth Romanian Army , who was advancing towards the city , beginning August 10 , 1941 . On August 1 , 1941 , the Coastal Army comprised the 14th Rifle Corps , 25th Rifle Division , 95th Rifle Division , the 1st Odessa CAvalry Division ( seemingly an irregular formation ) , the 82nd Fortified Region , the 265th Corps Artillery Regiment , the 26th , 175th and 504th AA Battalions , and the 69th Fgt . Air Rgt . On August 20 , 1941 STAVKA reassigned the Army from the Southern Front to STAVKA ’ s direct subordination . In early September 1941 , the commander of the Coastal Army asked Moscow to allocate a regular rifle division number to the ad - hoc Odessa Rifle Division . James F . Goff wrote that " . . The Commissariat of Defense ordered it to be numbered 421st , because all lower numbers had already been assigned . " The Axis forces assigned 17 infantry divisions and 7 brigades to assault the city . By September 21 , 1941 , Soviet forces had stopped the German offensive 8 – 15 km from the city . For the next two months the Coastal Army , reinforced by the 157th Rifle Division and other forces , pinned down 20 Axis divisions . Finally , because of the threat of the German Army Group South breaking though into the Donbass and Crimea , it was decided to evacuate the Odessa Defense Region , including the Coastal Army into the Crimea . The Black Sea Fleet accomplished this task on the night of October 14 – 15 , 1941 . Sevastopol . After evacuating Odessa in October 1941 the Army was assigned to defend the Crimea . In the second half of October the Germany 11th Army and Romanian Army broke through into the steppe plains of Crimea . The Separate Coastal Army retreated towards Sevastopol ahead of the Axis forces . On November 4 , the Crimean defense forces formed the Sevastopol Defense District . On November 19 , the Coastal Army joined the Sevastopol defenses . When the army joined the Defense District the army was composed of the following units . Order of Battle as of 19 November 1941 On October 20 , the Army and the Sevastopol Defense District are reassigned to the Transcaucasus Front , on December 30 , to the Caucasian Front , on January 28 , 1942 to the Crimean Front , on April 26 , under the direct supervision of the Commander in Chief of the Southwest Direction . On May 20 , the Coastal Army is listed as being under the command of the North Caucasian Front . For eight months the Coastal Army along with the other forces of the Sevastopol Defense District held off numerous attacks by German and Romanian forces , causing large casualties and contributing to the difficulty in the Axis attempt to capture the Caucasus . On June 30 , Axis forces succeeded in breaking through the Sevastopol defenses , which resulted in a crisis for the Soviet forces . On July 1 , 1942 the STAVKA ordered the evacuation of the Crimea to the Caucasus . On July 7 , after elements of the army evacuate to the Caucasus , the Coastal Army disbands , and its formations and units transferred to other armies . Order of Battle as of 1 May 1942 Order of Battle as of 1 July 1942 Command Commanders : Members of the Military Council : Chief of Staff : 2nd formation . Assault on Kerch and Consolidation of Forces . On November 15 , 1943 the Stavka ordered the Coastal army reformed , from command elements of the North Caucasian Front , assigned troops from the 56th Army , and to be the assault army in Kerch – Eltigen Operation to establish a bridgehead on the Crimean peninsula . By November 20 , the 11th Guards Rifle Corps and 16th Rifle Corps were located in the Kerch bridgehead with the remaining troops of the army were located on the Taman Peninsula . Even before the army was able to expand the Kerch springboard it received orders to prepare an offensive to liberate Crimea . From late November 1943 until January 1944 the army conducted three separate operations ( including the landing at Cape Tarkhan ) , resulting in the expansion of their bridgehead and improving its operational positions . From February to early April 1944 , they held on to their occupied position , improved the engineering of them and conducted training for offensive operations . Order of Battle January 1 , 1944 Recapture of Crimea . In April and May 1944 the Coastal Army participated in Crimean Offensive ( 1944 ) . In the beginning of the offensive the army defeated the rearguard of the enemy north of Kerch . On April 11 , together with the ships and aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet and with the support of the 4th Air Army , liberated Kerch . The next day the army captured the AK - Monayskimi position – the last fortified line of defense of the German army on the Kerch Peninsula . On April 13 , the army liberated the city of Theodosia and with the assistance of Crimean partisan – Old Crimea / Stary Krym and Karasubazar ( Bilogirsk ) . Continuing to pursue the enemy , they liberated Sudak ( April 15 ) with the assistance of forces of the 4th Ukrainian Front , and with the assistance of partisans – Alushta and Yalta ( April 16 ) . By the end of April 16 , the army had reached the fortified positions of the Germans at Sevastopol . Reassigned on April 18 , to the 4th Ukrainian Front the army spent from then until May 7 , preparing its troops to storm the enemy fortifications at Sevastopol . On May 7 , the Coastal Army in conjunction with the 2nd Guards and 51st Armies , and supported by the Black Sea Fleet began the assault on the defenses of Sevastopol . The main forces of the coastal army assaulted in the direction of Cape Chersonese , where the enemy had concentrated the remnant of the German division and all available artillery . By noon on May 12 , the army in conjunction with the 19th Tank Corps cleared Chersonese of enemy forces . Order of Battle January 1 , 1944 On May 20 , 1944 the Coastal Army transferred from the 4th Ukrainian Front and to the direct subordination of STAVKA . The army remained in the Crimea for the remainder of the war with the mission of defending the coast of Crimea . In late July 1945 the headquarters of the Coastal and the 22nd Armies were used to form the Tauric Military District . Command Commanders : Members of the Military Council : Chief of Staff :