June—July [3] 35, men 78 guns 31 aircraft [4] 27, June—July , men [3]. Axis land forces reached the Crimea in the autumn of and overran most of the area. The only objective not in Axis hands was Sevastopol. Several attempts were made to secure the city in October and November A major attack was planned for late November, but heavy rains delayed it until 17 December Under the command of Erich von Manstein , Axis forces were unable to capture Sevastopol during this first operation. Soviet forces launched an amphibious landing on the Crimean peninsula at Kerch in December to relieve the siege and force the Axis to divert forces to defend their gains.
The operation saved Sevastopol for the time being, but the bridgehead in the eastern Crimea was eliminated in May After the failure of their first assault on Sevastopol, the Axis opted to conduct siege warfare until the middle of , at which point they attacked the encircled Soviet forces by land, sea, and air. The German Air Force Luftwaffe played a vital part in the siege, its 8th Air Corps bombing the besieged Soviet forces with impunity, flying 23, sorties and dropping 20, tons of bombs in June alone.
.jpg/440px-Niemieckie_jednostki_zaopatrzeniowe_podczas_walk_pod_Sewastopolem_(2-922).jpg "Babes sevastopol")
The intensity of the German airstrikes was far beyond previous German bombing offensives against cities such as Warsaw , Rotterdam or London. The Luftwaffe sank or deterred most Soviet attempts to evacuate their troops by sea. Finally, on 4 July , the remaining Soviet forces surrendered and the Germans seized the port. The Soviet Separate Coastal Army was annihilated, with , men killed, wounded or captured in the final assault and , casualties in the siege as a whole for both it and the Soviet Black Sea Fleet.
With the Soviet forces neutralized, the Axis refocused their attention on the major summer campaign of that year, Case Blue and the advance to the Caucasus oilfields. The Soviet naval base at Sevastopol was one of the strongest fortifications in the world. Its site, on a deeply eroded, bare limestone promontory at the southwestern tip of the Crimea made an approach by land forces exceedingly difficult. The high-level cliffs overlooking Severnaya Bay protected the anchorage, making an amphibious landing just as dangerous.
The Soviet Navy had built upon these natural defenses by modernizing the port and installing heavy coastal batteries consisting of mm and mm re-purposed battleship guns which were capable of firing inland as well as out to sea. The artillery emplacements were protected by reinforced concrete fortifications and 9. The port was a valuable target. Its importance as a potential naval and air base would enable the Axis to conduct far-ranging sea and air operations against Soviet targets into and over the Caucasus ports and mountains.
