Soviet naval crews scuttled their own Black Sea Fleet warships to prevent handover to Germany under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Key Facts
- Date
- 18 June 1918
- Location
- Tsemes Bay, Novorossiysk
- Acting Fleet Commander
- Captain 1st Rank Alexander Tikhmenev
- Treaty demanding transfer
- Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- Intended recipient
- German forces at Sevastopol
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Soviet government was obligated to transfer its Black Sea Fleet to Germany. Rather than comply, Soviet authorities issued both an official order to sail to Sevastopol and a secret order to scuttle the ships, placing fleet personnel in a direct conflict of orders.
On 18 June 1918, acting commander Tikhmenev, after deliberation with naval committees, ordered the ships to proceed to Sevastopol. However, the crews of many vessels refused to obey and instead scuttled their ships in Tsemes Bay off Novorossiysk, denying the fleet to German forces.
The scuttling meant Germany did not gain operational control of the Black Sea Fleet warships. The action reflected the wider tension between Soviet treaty obligations and revolutionary crew autonomy, and removed significant naval assets from any subsequent use in the ongoing Russian Civil War.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Alexander Tikhmenev.
Side B
1 belligerent