Sevastopol

Black Sea port, resort, and fortress in the Crimea, Ukraine; population (1990) 361,000. It is the base of the Black Sea fleet (jointly owned by Russia and Ukraine). Industries include shipbuilding and wine making. Founded by Catherine (II) the Great in 1784, Sevastopol was successfully besieged by the English and French (October 1854-September 1855) during the Crimean War, and again in World War II by the Germans (November 1941-July 1942). On both occasions, the city was devastated. Retaken by Soviet forces in 1944, Sevastopol still remains officially a closed city, because of its naval installations.

Sevastopol contains a biological station of the Academy of Sciences (1871), an archaeological museum (1892), and a ‘Defence of Sevastopol’ panorama, dating from 1905 and depicting the Crimean War siege. The city was the headquarters of the White Army under Gen Wrangel during the Russian Civil War 1918-20.