Black Sea raid

Black Sea raid
Part of World War I

Shelling of Sevastopol by the Turkish Fleet on 30. October 1914 (illustration by W. Stöwer)
Date29 October 1914[a]
Location
Black Sea
44°N 35°E / 44°N 35°E / 44; 35
Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
 Ottoman Empire Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Ottoman EmpireGerman Empire Wilhelm Souchon N/A
Strength
1 battlecruiser
1 light cruiser
1 protected cruiser
1 torpedo cruiser
4 destroyers
1 gunboat		 Shore defences
1 pre-dreadnought
1 minelayer
1 gunboat
3 destroyers
Casualties and losses
1 battlecruiser damaged 1 minelayer scuttled
1 gunboat sunk
1 destroyer damaged
Numerous merchant vessels damaged or destroyed[b]
Unknown human losses[c]

The Black Sea raid was an Ottoman naval sortie against Russian ports in the Black Sea on 29 October 1914, supported by Germany, that led to the Ottoman entry into World War I. The attack was conceived by Ottoman War Minister Enver Pasha, German Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, and the German foreign ministry.

The German government had been hoping that the Ottomans would enter the war to support them but the government in Istanbul was undecided. The Germanophile Ottoman War Minister, Enver Pasha, began conspiring with the German ambassador to bring the empire into the war. Attempts to secure widespread support in the government failed, so Enver decided to instigate conflict. With the help of the Ottoman naval minister and German Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, Enver arranged for the Ottoman fleet to go out to sea on 29 October supposedly to perform maneuvers. They were to provoke Russian vessels into opening fire and then accuse them of inciting war. Instead, Souchon raided the Russian coast in a flagrant display of hostility, causing little lasting damage but enraging the Russians.

Enver impeded attempts by anti-war officials in Istanbul to apologise for the incident. The Russians declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 2 November, followed by the British and the French three days later; the British quickly initiated naval attacks in the Dardanelles. The Ottomans did not officially declare war until 11 November.


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  1. ^ Erickson 2001, p. 36.
  2. ^ Sondhaus 2014, p. 107.
  3. ^ Tucker 2014, p. 263.
  4. ^ Dowling 2014, p. 131.
  5. ^ McMeekin 2011, p. 111.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference GM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ McMeekin 2015, p. 128.
  8. ^ Kieser 2015, Propaganda, Mobilization, and Strategies of War.
  9. ^ New York Times Company 1917, pp. 1032–1033.