of coastal infrastructure took place. The Black Sea Fleet was commanded by Vice Admiral F.S. Oktyabrskiy on the outbreak of war with Germany in June 1941. World War II During World War II despite the scale of the German/Axis advance in southern Russia, and the capture of Crimea by Axis forces in mid-1942, the Fleet, though badly mauled, gave a credible account of itself as it fought alongside the Red Army during the Siege of Odessa and the Battle of Sevastopol. Soviet hospital ship was sunk on 7 November 1941 by German aircraft while evacuating civilians and wounded soldiers from Crimea. It has been estimated that approximately 5,000 to 7,000 people were killed during the sinking, making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters in history. There were only 8 survivors. Cold War With the end of World War II, the Soviet Union effectively dominated the Black Sea region. The Soviet Union controlled the entire north and east of the Black Sea while pro-Soviet regimes were installed in Romania and Bulgaria. As members of the Warsaw Pact, the Romanian and Bulgarian navies supplemented the strength of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. Only Turkey remained outside the Soviet Black Sea security regime and the Soviets initially pressed for joint control of the Bosporus Straits with Turkey; a position which Turkey rejected. In 1952, Turkey decided to join NATO, placing the Bosporus Straits in the Western sphere of influence. Nevertheless, the terms of the Montreux Convention limited NATO's options with respect to directly reinforcing Turkey's position in the Black Sea. The Soviets, in turn, had some of their naval options in the Mediterranean restricted by the Montreux Convention limitations. In the later post-war period, along with the Northern Fleet, the Black Sea Fleet provided ships for the 5th Operational Squadron in the Mediterranean, which confronted the United States Navy during the Arab-Israeli wars, notably during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In 1988 Coastal Troops and Naval Aviation units of the Black Sea Fleet included: Danube Flotilla: 116th River Ship Brigade (Izmail, Odessa Oblast) 112th Reconnaissance Ship Brigade (Lake Donuzlav (Mirnyy), Crimean Oblast) 37th Rescue Ship Brigade (Sevastopol, Crimean Oblast) Marine and Coastal Defense Forces Department 810th Naval Infantry Brigade (Sevastopol, Crimean Oblast) 362nd independent Coastal Missile Regiment (Balaklava, Crimean Oblast) 138th independent Coastal Missile Regiment (Chernomorsk, Crimean Oblast) 417th independent Coastal Missile Regiment (Sevastopol, Crimean Oblast) 51st independent Coastal Missile Regiment