Wrangel's Fleet, the last remnant of the Black Sea Fleet

Black Sea Fleet

The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....

 of the Imperial Russian Navy

Imperial Russian Navy

The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...

, existed from 1920 until 1924. This squadron was a "White

White movement

The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...

" (anti-communist and counter-revolutionary) unit during the Russian Civil War

Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...

. It was known also as the Russian Squadron (Русская Эскадра).

History

In 1920 the last remnants of the former Denikin's forces were confined to the Crimea

Crimea

Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

n peninsula and commanded by Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel

Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel

Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel or Vrangel was an officer in the Imperial Russian army and later commanding general of the anti-Bolshevik White Army in Southern Russia in the later stages of the Russian Civil War.-Life:Wrangel was born in Mukuliai, Kovno Governorate in the Russian Empire...

. In November 1920 the Bolsheviks captured the White position and the White forces evacuated to Turkey. The fleet was re-organised under the command of Rear Admiral Mikhail Alexandrovich Kedrov and was granted asylum by the French. The fleet moved to Bizerta in Tunisia by February 1921 and was interned there under the command of Rear Admiral Mikhail Berens

Mikhail Berens

Mikhail Andreyevich Berens was a officer in the Imperial Russian Navy and the White Navy during the Russian Civil War.-Biography:...

. As well as the crews of the ships the Russian community included 4,500 civilian refugees.

The French Government recognised

Diplomatic recognition

Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral political act with domestic and international legal consequences, whereby a state acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state...

 the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 in 1924 and gave ownership of the ships to the Soviets.
A technical commission directed by Alexei Krylov

Alexei Krylov

Aleksey Nikolaevich Krylov was a Russian naval engineer, applied mathematician and memoirist.-Biography:Alexei Nikolaevich Krylov was born on August 3 O.S., 1863 to the family of an Army Artillery officer in a village Akhmatovo near town Alatyr of the Simbirsk Gubernia in Russia...

 arrived in Bizerta in December and found the warships unrepairable. They were therefore scrapped locally. Many of the sailors of the fleet settled in France as White Emigre

White Emigre

A white émigré was a Russian who emigrated from Russia in the wake of the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War, and who was in opposition to the contemporary Russian political climate....

s.

Composition of the Russian Squadron

• Battleships
  • General Alexiev
  • Georgi Pobedonosets
    Russian battleship Georgii Pobedonosets
    The Georgii Pobedonosets was a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Russian Navy, the fourth and final ship of the . She was, however, only a half-sister to the others as her armor scheme was different and she was built much later than the earlier ships...
    
    

• Cruisers
  • General Kornilov
    Bogatyr class cruiser
    The Bogatyr-class were a group of protected cruisers built for the Imperial Russian Navy. Unusually for the Russian navy, two ships of the class were built for the Baltic Fleet and two ships for the Black Sea Fleet.- Ships :...
    
    
  • Almaz
    Russian cruiser Almaz
    Almaz was a 2nd-class cruiser in the Imperial Russian Navy, built by Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg, Russia, as a yacht for Viceroy Alexeev, the naval minister of the Russian Empire. - Service history:...
    
    

• Destroyers
  • Kapitan Saken
  • Bespokoiny
    Derzky class destroyer
    The Derzky- or Bespokoiny-class destroyers were built for the Imperial Russian Navy just before World War I. Nine ships were built for the Black Sea Fleet These ships were a derivative of the Novik, but were slightly smaller...
    
    
  • Derzky
  • Gnevny
  • Pylkiy
  • Pospeshny
  • Schastlivy (grounded 24 October 1919 while being towed to internment)
  • Tserigo
    Fidonisy class destroyer
    The Fidonisy- or Kerch-class were a group of destroyers built for the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy. They were a slightly enlarged version of the Derzky-class destroyer, with an extra gun and more torpedo tubes...
    
    
  • Zharkiy
  • Zvonkiy
  • Zorkiy

• Submarines
  • Tyulen
    Morzh class submarine
    The Morzh class submarines were built for the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy shortly before World War I.-Background:The class was constructed as part of an ambitious programme of naval construction devised by the Naval General Staff in 1909. This envisaged, among other things, the...
    
    
  • Burevestnik
    Bars class submarine (1915)
    The Bars class were a group of submarines built for the Imperial Russian Navy during World War I. A total of 24 boats were built between 1914 and 1917-Design:...
    
    
  • AG-22
    American Holland class submarine
    The American Holland Class Submarines, also AG Class or A Class, were Holland 602 type submarines used by the Imperial Russian and Soviet Navies in the early 20th Century...
    
    
  • Utka

• Gunboats
  • Vsadnik
  • Dzhigit
  • Gaidamak
  • Strazh
  • Grozny