by Gareth Collins

Formed in Flensburg in Schleswig-Holstein as Seekommandant 'W' in April 1942, in July 1942 it was initially moved to Odessa to await assignment and was subordinate to the Admiral Schwarzes Meer. For a short time in June 1942 it was employed outside Balaklava for special assignments and set up a command post at Varnutka just outside Balaklava with Sonderabteilungen. Employment began as Seekommandant Kaukasus on 13 Aug 1942 with its command post at Maykop. In September/October 1942 it was moved to Anapa, then in November/December 1942 to Slavyanskaya. In January/March 1943 it had moved to Temryuk then finally from April to October 1943 to Kertch. The intended area of command was from the south of the Kuban delta on the Taman Peninsula on eastern Black Sea coast to the Turkish border. In reality the southern border of command extended to Novorossiysk. Novorossiysk itself was constantly on the front line and neither side could fully utilize the port there. From January 1943 the command area included the eastern part of the Taman Peninsula to the Caucasus area and in April 1943 the area of the Kertch Peninsula was included. In September 1943 Novorossiysk and Taman were lost and on 08 Oct 1943 the Kuban Bridgehead was evacuated. An additional task for the Seekommandant between April 1943 and October 1943 was the supplying of troops at the Kuban Bridgehead, then the Bridgehead evacuation. In October 1943 it was re-designated Seekommandant Ostkrim.

Seekommandant

Kapitän zur See Friedrich-Karl Wesemann (00 Apr 1942-00 Mar 1943)
Kapitän zur See Friedrich Grattenauer (00 Mar 1943-00 Oct 1943)

Stabsoffizier beim Stabe (A I)
Korvettenkapitän der Reserve Hans-Otto Soiné (00 Apr 1942-00 Oct 1943)

A I a
Fregattenkapitän Werner Neumann (00 May 1943-00 Oct 1943)

Subordinate Commands & Units

Hafenkommandant 15
Hafenkommandant 16
Hafenkommandant 17
Hafenkommandant 18
Hafenkommandant 19
Hafenkommandant 20
Hafenkommandant 21
Hafenkommandant Feodosia
Hafenkommandant Kertsch
Hafenkapitän Taman
Hafenkapitän Temrjuk
Hafenschutzflottille Kertsch
Marineartillerieabteilung 602
Marineartillerieabteilung 613
3. Marinenachrichtenabteilung (mot.)

Sources used

Research by Gareth Collins
Erich Gröner - Die Schiffe der deutschen Kriegsmarine und ihr Verbleib 1939-1945, J.F. Lehmanns Verlag, München (1976)
Hans H. Hildebrand - Die organisatorische Entwicklung der Marine nebst Stellenbesetzung 1848 bis 1945, Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück(2000)
Hans H. Hildebrand & Ernest Henriot – Deutschlands Admirale 1849-1945, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück (1989)
Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr & Hans-Otto Steinmetz – Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe, Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg (1980)
Walter Lohmann & Hans H. Hildebrand – Die Deutsche Kriegsmarine, Verlag Hans-Henning Podzun, Bad Nauheim (1956)

Reference material on this unit

- None known at this time -