Key Facts
- Total Soviet casualties
- 570,000 men
- Total Axis casualties
- 38,000 men
- Duration
- 26 Dec 1941 – 19 May 1942 (~5 months)
- VIII. Fliegerkorps sorties/day
- ~1,500 during Trappenjagd
- Soviet materiel lost (Trappenjagd)
- 258 tanks, 1,133 artillery, 315 aircraft
- Trappenjagd breakthrough time
- 210 minutes
Strategic Narrative Overview
Axis forces contained the Soviet beachhead through winter while aerial bombing disrupted naval supply lines. From January to April 1942, the Crimean Front launched repeated costly offensives that all failed, losing 352,000 men. On 8 May 1942, Manstein launched Operation Bustard Hunt, breaking through the Soviet southern front in 210 minutes, encircling and destroying the 51st Army by 11 May, then pursuing remnants of the 44th and 47th armies to Kerch by 19 May.
01 / The Origins
By late 1941, German and Romanian forces of the 11th Army had besieged Sevastopol in the Crimea. To relieve pressure on the city, Soviet planners organized an ambitious amphibious landing on the Kerch Peninsula in eastern Crimea, aiming to open a second front behind Axis lines. Two Soviet armies landed on 26 December 1941, hoping to stretch Axis defenses and ultimately break the siege.
03 / The Outcome
Organized Soviet resistance on the Kerch Peninsula collapsed by 19 May 1942. The Crimean Front lost three armies totaling twenty-one divisions. The Axis victory freed Manstein's 11th Army to besiege and capture Sevastopol within six weeks. The peninsula subsequently served as a German staging area for Operation Blücher II on 2 September 1942, supporting the drive toward the Caucasus oilfields.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
2 belligerents
Erich von Manstein, Wolfram von Richthofen.
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.