Siege of Odessa (1941)

Siege of Odessa

Part of the Eastern Front of World War II

Abandoned Soviet vehicles and barricades after the siege, October 1941

Date	8 August – 16 October 1941 (2 months, and 8 days)
Location	Odessa region, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Result	Axis victory, subsequent 1941 Odessa massacre

Belligerents

Romania

Germany

Soviet Union

Commanders and leaders

Ion Antonescu

Alexandru Ioaniţiu†

Nicolae Ciupercă

Iosif Iacobici

Ioan Glogojeanu† (Killed on the 22nd by delayed Soviet bomb placed at Romanian HQ. 16 other Romanian officers killed in bomb blast)

Ivan Petrov (later stages)

Units involved

Separate Coastal Army

Strength

160,000 men (initially)
340,223 men (total)

34,500 men (initial)
240 artillery pieces
120,000+ men (total)

Casualties and losses

92,545 overall
17,729 dead
63,345 wounded
11,471 missing
19 tanks
90 artillery pieces
20 aircraft

Low estimate: 41,268 overall
16,578 dead/missing
24,690 wounded
1 armored train
151 aircraft
1 destroyer damaged
High estimate: 60,000 overall

The Siege of Odessa, known to the Soviets as the Defence of Odessa, lasted from 8 August until 16 October 1941, during the early phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II.

Odessa was a port on the Black Sea in the Ukrainian SSR. On 22 June 1941, the Axis powers invaded the Soviet Union. In August, Odessa became a target of the Romanian 4th Army and elements of the German 11th Army. Due to the heavy resistance of the Soviet 9th Independent Army and the rapidly formed Separate Coastal Army, supported by the Black Sea Fleet, it took the Axis forces 73 days of siege and four assaults to take the city. Romanian forces suffered 93,000 casualties, against Red Army casualties estimated to be between 41,000 and 60,000.

On 27 July 1941, Hitler sent a letter to General Ion Antonescu in which he recognised the Romanian administration of the territory between the Dniester and the Bug rivers. The Romanian Third Army had already crossed the Dniester on 17 July. Lieutenant-general Nicolae Ciupercă's Fourth Army advanced over the river on 3 August, with the 5th Corps, comprising the 15th Infantry Division and 1st Cavalry Brigade, joined by the 1st Armored Division. On 8 August, the Romanian General Staff issued the Operative Directive No. 31 instructing the 4th Army to occupy Odessa off the march. It was thought that the city garrison, which was heavily outnumbered, would surrender quickly.

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