Battle of Alexandrovsky Fort

Last updated
Battle of Alexander Fort
Part of the Southern Front of the Russian Civil War
Date21 May 1919
Location
Bay of Tyub- Karaganskom in the Caspian Sea.
Result British/White Russian victory
Belligerents

Flag of Russia.svg White Russia

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag RSFSR 1918.svg  Russian SFSR
Commanders and leaders
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg David Norris Flag RSFSR 1918.svg A.V.Burov
Strength
5 auxiliary cruisers, 1 seaplane carrier 1 auxiliary cruiser, 1 destroyer, 1 minelayer, 1 floating battery, 2 submarines, minor units
Casualties and losses
2 auxiliary cruisers damaged. 5 killed, 7 wounded. 1 auxiliary cruiser damaged. 1 destroyer, 1 minelayer, 1 floating battery and auxiliary units lost.
Relief Map of Kazakhstan.png
Red pog.svg
Fort-Shevchenko
Location within Kazakhstan
Caspian Sea relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Fort-Shevchenko
Fort-Shevchenko (Caspian Sea)

The Battle of Alexander Fort (or Battle of Tyub-Karaganskom), was a naval battle fought in the Caspian Sea during the Russian Civil War at the naval military base of Fort Alexandrovsky.

Contents

Background

As part of the allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, the Royal Navy established the British Caspian Flotilla. Most of the ship were merchants converted into auxiliary cruisers. The commander of the force was Commodore David Norris, who planned an attack against the key Soviet Russian naval base in the Caspian Sea. The attack resulted in the largest naval engagement of the front, with wide use of auxiliary cruisers. [1]

Battle

The Reconnaissance of the Bolshevik Advanced Base at Fort Alexandrovsk (Caspian Sea) - the destruction of the hostile fleet, May 21st 1919, by part of the British Caspian Squadron commanded by Commodore David Norris The Reconnaissance of the Bolshevik Advanced Base at Fort Alexandrovsk (caspian Sea) - the destruction of the hostile fleet, May 21st 1919, by part of the British Caspian Squadron commanded by Commmodore D Norr Art.IWMART4061.jpg
The Reconnaissance of the Bolshevik Advanced Base at Fort Alexandrovsk (Caspian Sea) - the destruction of the hostile fleet, May 21st 1919, by part of the British Caspian Squadron commanded by Commodore David Norris

Despite the presence of two small submarines and a destroyer on the Soviet side, superior numbers of auxiliary cruisers gave the British ships an advantage. On May 20, some first accidents occurred: a seaplane from the tender Aladir Useynov crashed while on a reconnaissance mission, meanwhile two ships could not join the British task force (Slava and Bibi-Eybat: both suffering from engine troubles), additional engine troubles forced Sergie and the auxiliary cruiser Zoroaster to turn back.

Still, Norris's ships could enjoy superior numbers: on May 21, the flotilla approached Alexandrovsky Fort and the Soviets lost the patrol boat Schastlivyy due to grounding while attempting to distract the British. Once the main battle erupted, the Soviets initially appeared victorious: a direct hit was scored on the bridge of Kruger (but with little damage), while two direct hits caused more harm to the Emile Nobel, which suffered 5 killed and 7 wounded. The first phase of the battle resulted in a temporary British retreat and Emile Nobel had to pull out of the fight. Other British sources state casualties were 5 killed and 3 wounded, in addition to 3 White Russians killed and 2 wounded: none of the ships suffered serious damage. [2]

Shortly after, Commodore Norris engaged the Soviets once more, focusing the superior firepower of his ships: this time results were different when Kruger shelled and sunk the floating battery n°2 (responsible of the previous hits on the British ships with, a loss of 12 men). The destroyer Moskvityanin was quickly lost due to grounding after multiple failures on guns and engines. The depot-ship Revel was full of oil and a large explosion was triggered after she was hit, mortally damaging the minelayer Demosthenes (later scuttled). The explosion also engulfed the mine-carrier Tuman, the auxiliary ship Gelma, the smaller Zoroaster (not to be confused with the British ship) and a number of small barges. The small submarine Minoga was also damaged by fire. Meanwhile the Soviet flagship, the auxiliary cruiser Caspian, was damaged by two direct hits.

Commodore Norris halted fire, having caused serious losses to the enemy and after having spent most of the ammunition. During the battle, the Soviet submarine Makrel attempted to move into an attack position but failed. Soviet propaganda later claimed the British halted their fire due to Makrel's action, but the British ships never noticed the danger. [3] [4]

Aftermath

The day after the main engagement, the Soviets evacuated the remains of their flotilla without British interference. The second seaplane from the tender Aladir Useynov scored a direct hit with a bomb on the grounded destroyer Moskvityanin, before crashing into the sea. The Soviet flagship Caspian, despite being damaged, was fit enough to lead the evacuation of the garrison: Kruger and Ventured attempted to intercept the convoy but the sudden arrival of the destroyers Karl Liebknecht and Yakov Sverdlov resulted in a brief stand-off and the British ships retreated. Both destroyers opened fire but the distance was excessive: the area was soon covered by thick fog (due to the crash of the seaplane) augmented by smoke screen released by British cruisers as cover. [5]

Commodore Norris had scored a significant victory over the Soviet Russian Navy, sinking enemy ships with little losses and forcing the Soviets to leave an important base. However, the White Admiral Kolchack criticized the lack of the complete destruction of the Caspian flotilla.

Two days later, on May 23, British motor torpedo boats scuttled some of the wrecks left in the harbor by the Soviets. [6]

Order of battle

Royal Navy

British Caspian Flotilla

Auxiliary Cruisers

Tenders:

Soviet Russian Fleet

Submarines:

6 patrol boats (one lost) 18 merchants/transport/support ships including depot-ship Revel (lost).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cruiser</span> Type of large warships

A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea denial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Heligoland Bight (1914)</span> First major naval battle of First World War

The Battle of Heligoland Bight was the first Anglo-German naval battle of the First World War, fought on 28 August 1914, between ships of the United Kingdom and Germany. The battle took place in the south-eastern North Sea, when the British attacked German patrols off the north-west German coast. The German High Seas Fleet was in harbour on the north German coast while the British Grand Fleet was out in the northern North Sea. Both sides engaged in long-distance sorties with cruisers and battlecruisers, with close reconnaissance of the area of sea near the German coast—the Heligoland Bight—by destroyer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convoy PQ 17</span> Code name for an Allied World War II convoy in the Arctic Ocean

PQ 17 was the code name for an Allied Arctic convoy during the Second World War. On 27 June 1942, the ships sailed from Hvalfjörður, Iceland, for the port of Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union. The convoy was located by German forces on 1 July, after which it was shadowed continuously and attacked. The First Sea Lord Admiral Dudley Pound, acting on information that German ships, including the German battleship Tirpitz, were moving to intercept, ordered the covering force based on the Allied battleships HMS Duke of York and USS Washington away from the convoy and told the convoy to scatter. Because of vacillation by Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the Tirpitz raid never materialised. The convoy was the first large joint Anglo-American naval operation under British command; in Churchill's view this encouraged a more careful approach to fleet movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Tovey, 1st Baron Tovey</span> Royal Navy admiral of the fleet (1885–1971)

Admiral of the Fleet John Cronyn Tovey, 1st Baron Tovey,, sometimes known as Jack Tovey, was a Royal Navy officer. During the First World War he commanded the destroyer HMS Onslow at the Battle of Jutland and then commanded the destroyer Ursa at the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight. During the Second World War he initially served as Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet in which role he commanded the Mediterranean Fleet's Light Forces. He then served as Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet and was responsible for orchestrating the pursuit and destruction of the Bismarck. After that he became Commander-in-Chief, The Nore with responsibility for controlling the east coast convoys and organising minesweeping operations.

HMS <i>Unbroken</i> Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Unbroken (P42) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness; it was part of the third group of that class and has been the only vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She entered service as P42 and was renamed Unbroken on 1 February 1943.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adriatic Campaign of World War I</span>

The Adriatic Campaign of World War I was a naval campaign fought between the Central Powers and the Mediterranean squadrons of Great Britain, France, the Kingdom of Italy, Australia, and the United States.

SMS <i>Roon</i> Armored cruiser of the German Imperial Navy

SMS Roon was the lead ship of her class of armored cruisers built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the early 1900s as part of a major naval expansion program aimed at strengthening the fleet. The ship was named after Field Marshal Albrecht von Roon. She was built at the Kaiserliche Werft in Kiel, being laid down in August 1902, launched in June 1903, and commissioned in April 1906. The ship was armed with a main battery of four 21 cm (8.3 in) guns and had a top speed of 20.4 knots. Like many of the late armored cruisers, Roon was quickly rendered obsolescent by the advent of the battlecruiser; as a result, her career was limited.

HMS <i>Cleopatra</i> (1915) Royal Navy C-class light cruiser

The fourth HMS Cleopatra was a C-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw service during World War I and the Russian Civil War. She was part of the Caroline group of the C class.

The 5th Fleet was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, active during the early portions of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and again in World War II, primarily in the Aleutian campaign, during which it was augmented and designated the Northern Area Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British campaign in the Baltic (1918–1919)</span> 1918–1919 British naval intervention during Russian Civil War

The British campaign in the Baltic 1918–1919 was a part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The codename of the Royal Navy campaign was Operation Red Trek. The intervention played a key role in enabling the establishment of the independent states of Estonia and Latvia. It failed to secure the control of Petrograd by White Russian forces, which was one of the main goals of the campaign.

HMS <i>Fearless</i> (1912) British Active-class scout cruiser

HMS Fearless was one of three Active-class scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy shortly before the First World War. Upon completion in 1913, the ship was assigned to the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron (LCS) of the 1st Fleet. She became flotilla leader of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla (DF) shortly before the start of the war in August 1914 and was transferred to the Harwich Force shortly after it began. Fearless participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight and the Cuxhaven Raid later that year. The ship was transferred to the Grand Fleet in early 1915 and played a minor role in the Battle of Jutland the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harwich Force</span> Military unit

The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war.

HMS <i>Lurcher</i> (1912) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Lurcher was a modified Acheron-class destroyer, named after the lurcher-type dog, and the fifth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name; when new she was the fastest ship in the Royal Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Caspian Flotilla</span> Naval force of the Royal Navy in the Caspian Sea in 1918

The British Caspian Flotilla was a naval force of the Royal Navy established in the Caspian Sea in 1918. It was part of the allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The flotilla initially reported to the Rear-Admiral Commanding, Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Sea of Marmora until 1919.

HMS <i>Kruger</i> Flag ship of the British Caspian Flotilla during the Russian Civil War

HMS Kruger was the flagship of the British Caspian Flotilla during the Russian Civil War. It was originally a screw steamer with steel hull named President Kruger and used for oil cargo with limited facilities to accommodate passengers. It belonged to Caucasus and Mercury Partnership with home port of Baku. It was seized by David Norris on 14 August 1918 along other boats of Caspian basin. According to Lionel Dunsterville, Kruger was "a fine ship and as fast as anything on the Caspian, with the exception of the gunboats, and she had accommodation sufficient for my staff, the clerks, and the office, as well as about 300 men normally ; at a pinch she could carry 800 men by utilizing all deck space."

HMS Lightfoot was a Marksman-class flotilla leader of the British Royal Navy. Construction by J. Samuel White began in June 1914, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, and the ship was launched and completed in 1915. She survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1921.

The Anzali Operation was a naval and amphibious action carried by the Caspian Flotilla during the Russian Civil War.

HMS <i>Aladar Youssanoff</i>

HMS Aladar Youssanoff was a Russian a cargo-tanking steel steamship for the transportation of dry cargo, as well as oil and kerosene in bulk which was seized by the British Royal Navy and used as seaplane tender in 1919 alongside HMS Orlionoch.

References

  1. "The Royal Navy in the Caspian Sea 1918-1920". gwpda.org. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  2. Paul Halpern, The Mediterranean Fleet, 1919–1929, Routledge, 2016
  3. "Балтийские «касатки» в войне на Хвалынском море (1919–1920 гг.)". militera.lib.ru. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  4. "Бой в Тюб-Караганском заливе". militera.lib.ru. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  5. John T. Smith, Gone to Russia to Fight: The RAF in South Russia 1918-1920, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2010
  6. "Soviet Naval Battles during Civil War (re-done)". soviet-empire.com.