Separate Coastal Army
| Separate Coastal Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | Aug 10, 1941 - July 7, 1942 (1st Formation) November 15, 1943 - August 1945 (2nd Formation) |
| Country | USSR |
| Branch | Red Army |
| Type | Combined Arms Army |
| Role | Field Army |
| Size | Varies |
| Engagements |
Siege of Odessa (1941) Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942) Kerch–Eltigen Operation Crimean Offensive (1944) |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Major-General Nikandr Chibisov (July 1941) Lieutenant General GP Safronov (July - October 1941) Major-General Ivan Yefimovich Petrov (October 1941 - July 1942) Army General Ivan Yefimovich Petrov (November 1943 - February 1944) Army General Andrey Yeryomenko (February - April 1944) Lieutenant General Kondrat Semenovich Melnik (April 1944 - until the end of the war) |
The Separate Coastal Army (Russian: Приморская армия) was an army-level unit in the Red Army that fought in World War II. It was ordered to be established on July 18, 1941 by the order of the Southern Front from the forces of 9th Army’s Coastal Group and was stood up on July 20, 1941.
At the beginning of the war the Soviet 9th Army was engaged in heavy fighting along the southern front of the Axis invasion of Southern Russia, retreating towards Odessa. On August 5, 1941 STAVKA ordered the Coastal Army to defend the city of Odessa as long as possible. The army established a defense on the approaches to the city and engaged the Fourth Romanian Army, who was advancing towards the city, beginning August 10, 1941.
On August 1, 1941, the Coastal Army comprised the 14th Rifle Corps, 25th Rifle Division, 95th Rifle Division, the 1st Odessa Cavalry Division (seemingly an irregular formation), the 82nd Fortified Region, the 265th Corps Artillery Regiment, the 26th, 175th and 504th AA Battalions, and the 69th Fgt. Air Rgt. On August 20, 1941 STAVKA reassigned the Army from the Southern Front to STAVKA’s direct subordination.
In early September 1941, the commander of the Coastal Army asked Moscow to allocate a regular rifle division number to the ad-hoc Odessa Rifle Division. James F. Goff wrote that "..The Commissariat of Defense ordered it to be numbered 421st, because all lower numbers had already been assigned."
The Axis forces assigned 17 infantry divisions and 7 brigades to assault the city. By September 21, 1941, Soviet forces had stopped the German offensive 8–15 km from the city. For the next two months the Coastal Army, reinforced by the 157th Rifle Division and other forces, pinned down 20 Axis divisions. Finally, because of the threat of the German Army Group South breaking though into the Donbass and Crimea, it was decided to evacuate the Odessa Defense Region, including the Coastal Army into the Crimea. The Black Sea Fleet accomplished this task on the night of October 14–15, 1941.
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