1917 flying aboard the
cruiser Pamiat Merkuria, November 1917 Beginning after the
February Revolution of 1917,
Ukrainization spread over the
Black Sea Fleet. In April, the
Sevastopol Ukrainian Black Sea Society organized a rally involving many seamen. It was attended by Admiral
Alexander Kolchak, commander of the Black Sea Fleet, who expressed his support for the group. Following this, it grew to 4,000 members. Most of the Russian staff were moved and replaced with Ukrainians. Beginning in October, the crews of ships began establishing
councils and raising Ukrainian flags; which first flew the Ukrainian flag on July 12. After the
October Revolution, seamen and officers of the Black Sea Fleet set up a battalion of 612 men. The unit went to
Kyiv to provide armed support to the
Central Rada.
Bolshevik seamen, mostly consisting of delegates from the
Baltic Fleet, won over the remainder of the Black Sea Fleet for the Bolsheviks. Ukrainianized ships gathered in the port of Odesa. Several ships that supported the Central Fleet also arrived to "keep an eye" on the Ukrainian ships. On the night of 28 January, street fights broke out between
Red Guards and Ukrainian troops in Odesa. The Bolsheviks persuaded the crews of the Ukrainian ships to remain out of action. The Central Fleet opened fire on Odesa, firing over 100 shells and killing many civilians. The Bolsheviks subsequently seized power in the city and handed all the ships over to them. Rear Admiral
Mikhail Sablin hoped that Ukrainian forces would help save the ships in Sevastopol from being captured. Sablin was appointed
Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, and a
telegram was sent out to Kyiv: “Effective today the Sevastopol fortress and the Fleet in Sevastopol raised the Ukrainian flag. Sablin assumed the command of the Fleet”. Having no reply the admiral ordered to repeat the telegram beginning with the words “Comrades of [the] Kiev Central Rada...”, unaware that the Rada had been
deposed by
Pavlo Skoropadsky. At 4:00 PM, Sablin signaled from the
battleship Georgii Pobedonosets for the other ships to hoist Ukrainian flags. All ships complied save for the torpedo boat
Pronzitelnyi, which instead continued to fly a
red flag. To avoid confrontation, Sablin ordered
Pronzitelnyi to leave Sevastopol and move to
Novorossiysk. On 30 April, Sablin took a portion of the fleet to Novorossiysk and hoisted the
St. Andrew's Saltire, proclaimed the new Ukrainian ensign. The Germans captured the remainder of Sevastopol on 1 May. The Ukrainian colors were struck from the ships there and the entire fleet was declared as "
war booty". The Germans issued an ultimatum to return one
dreadnought and six
destroyers from Novorossiysk to Sevastopol where they would be captured, and the Ukrainians complied on 17 June. The ships that remained in Novorossiysk were destroyed per orders issued by
Vladimir Lenin. On 18 July, the Ministry of Naval Affairs in Kyiv established a new naval ensign and rank flags. From July to November, at the request of the secretariat, the Germans slowly transferred many ships under the command of the Skoropadsky-led
Ukrainian State. The Navy received their ships and sent them to Odesa. However, they were in poor condition. The gunboat
Kubanets was unable to leave her pier even once before she was captured by the
White Guard. Skoropadsky took measures to obtain the remainder of the ships from the Germans in Sevastopol. Rear Admiral was stationed in the city starting from 10 June to serve as Skoropadsky's permanent representative. The conditions to free the Black Sea Fleet experienced beneficial conditions following the end of
World War I. On 11 November, when Germany and
Austria-Hungary both
capitulated, Skoropadsky claimed his right to the fleet and appointed Klochovsky as its commander. Representatives of the
Crimean Regional Government and the White movement also claimed rights to the fleet. Because of this, the Germans decided not to release any more ships until the
Triple Entente's fleet arrived in the Black Sea. This happened on 24 November, and the Germans allowed Ukrainian officers in Sevastopol to return to their old ships. That same day, Klochkovskyin collusion with White Guard representative and Captain
Alexander Tikhmenevgave the order to hoist the St. Andrew's Saltire on all ships, hoping to show good intentions. However, the ships docked in Odesa and Sevastopol were taken by the Entente. Several months later, they were handed over to the "legitimate Russian authorities", being the Whites. Some of the vessels were taken by the
French and taken to
Bizerte. Some ended up in the
French Navy while others were
scrapped.
19191921 In May 1919, a marine division was formed by Mykhailo Bilynsky, a nobleman and economist, after realizing that the Black Sea Fleet would not be reclaimed. Just more than one regiment was ever formed, but this unit was "one of the best of the [Ukrainian People's Republic's] army", and successfully fought both the Bolsheviks and the White Army. In August 1919, Ukrainian troops successfully reclaimed the port of Odesa. The Naval Directorate, which had been created in September 1919 to replace the previous Ministry of Naval Affairs, set up a
naval cadet school in
Kamianets-Podilskyi. The
Dnieper River Flotilla was formed in the summer of 1920, made up of graduates of the naval cadet school in Kamianets-Podilskyi. Ukrainian naval authorities existed until 1921. == List of ships ==