Day of the Ukrainian Sea

Day of the Ukrainian Sea

On April 29, 1918, in Sevastopol, the red flags of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers were lowered, and the Ukrainian flag was hoisted. The headquarters ship “George the Victorious” stood under the signal: “Admiral Sablin had assumed command of the Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet”. The Black Sea Fleet was declared the Fleet of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UPR), and Ukrainian flags were solemnly hoisted on ships and the Sevastopol fortress.

According to the IV Universal Resolution of the Central Rada of January 9 (22), 1918, the Ukrainian People’s Republic became “an independent, free, and sovereign state of the Ukrainian people, independent of anyone.” Accordingly, in January 1918, the Law on the UPR Fleet was adopted, according to which the Black Sea Military and Transport Fleet was declared the Fleet of the Republic. However, the implementation of this law had to be postponed – the Bolsheviks seized the local authorities, and the Ukrainian political movement in the Black Sea cities went underground. Even though almost all the ships of the Black Sea Fleet were under Bolshevik control, calls for recognition of the UPR government resumed in late February 1918. Ukrainians comprised two-thirds of the fleet’s personnel, and UPR Navy Minister D. Antonovych recalled that the Ukrainian sailors held together and behaved very independently.

In March-April, Ukrainian troops, together with the allied forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary, inflicted numerous defeats on the Red Army, which led to the weakening of Bolshevik power in the Crimea. Finally, a group of UPR troops under the command of UPR Army Colonel P. Bolbochan entered the Crimean Peninsula in combat, crossing the Sivash on April 22. They liberated Dzhankoy and reached Simferopol. According to eyewitnesses, “…nowhere in all Ukraine were the Ukrainian troops greeted with such enthusiasm, with such ovations and such admiration as the population of Simferopol and other occupied territories”. As a result, the Ukrainian movement on the peninsula became more active, and Ukrainian agitation in Sevastopol intensified. This brilliant military campaign soon ensured Ukraine’s acquisition of the Black Sea Fleet.

On April 29, 1918, despite the protests of the Russian sailors, most of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet came under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and hoisted the blue-yellow flag. From the memoirs of the chronicler of the naval movement, S. Shramchenko: “It was a wonderful day. The Sevastopol roadster shone like a mirror. At 4 p.m., the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the battleship George the Victorious, raised the signal by order of the fleet commander: “Fleet, hoist the Ukrainian flag!” The red flags fell. On most of the ships, the command “Stand to the side” was heard… And to the trumpet and whistle of the petty officers, the Ukrainian flag was raised… Large yellow-blue banners fluttered almost everywhere along the Black Sea Fleet. The telegram sent to Kyiv noted: “On this day, the Sevastopol fortress and the fleet stationed there raised the Ukrainian flag.” Rear Admiral Sablin assumed command.”

Unfortunately, due to his indecisiveness and attachment to “Great Russia”, M. Sablin permitted the Bolshevik-controlled ships to leave for Novorossiysk. On the night of May 1, he put these ships under the flag of St. Andrew and ordered the whole fleet to go to Novorossiysk. However, only half of the available personnel (3,500 men) on the ships followed the admiral. Seven battleships, three cruisers, twelve destroyers, fifteen submarines, five floating bases, three Romanian auxiliary cruisers, and many transport and auxiliary ships remained in the Sevastopol roadstead under the Ukrainian flag. Ukrainian sailors categorically refused to obey M. Sablin’s orders. In the current situation, the command of the fleet was taken over by Captain 1st Rank M. Ostrogradsky, a talented officer who not only supported the idea of an Independent Ukraine, but also fought for it to the last, always emphasizing that Ukraine cannot be strong without a fleet and access to the sea.

April 29 is when the victory of the Ukrainian movement on the Black Sea Fleet was finally recorded and became the birth of the Ukrainian Navy. In April 1919, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs of the USSR proclaimed April 29 as the Day of the Ukrainian State Fleet and the Day of the Ukrainian Sea. All participants of these historical events were awarded a bronze medal. On April 29, 1919, the units of the Ukrainian Marine Corps stationed in Kolomyia held the first celebration of the Day of the Ukrainian State Fleet.

Today, the 35th Separate Marine Brigade, named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Ostrogradsky, defends our Motherland on the most challenging sections of the front under the slogan “Will and Honor”.

1. The original flag of the Minister of the Navy of the Ukrainian state, preserved by Lieutenant S. Shramchenko. Approved in September 1918. Source: https://ww2.zsu.gov.ua
2. Leonid Perfetsky. Raising the Ukrainian flag on April 29, 1918. Source:
3. Gordynsky “Leonid Perfetsky”. New York-Toronto, 1990. TsDAZU, bibl. f. No. 5, inv. No. 912-D
4. Patriotic Demonstration of Sailors of the Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet. Sevastopol, April 1918. Source: unr.memory.gov.ua
5. Rear-Admiral Mykhailo Ostrogradsky. Source: Drawing by Bohdan Pirgach (2014)
6. Lieutenant of the UPR fleet Svyatoslav Shramchenko in 1919. Source: “Meta”, No. 376, 2001. Central State Archives of Ukraine, f. 35, op. 1, file 69, sheet 62.