The Croatian Naval Legion , officially known as the Croatian Naval Battalion - Black Sea was a military unit of the Navy of the Independent State of Croatia

Navy of the Independent State of Croatia

The Croatian Navy of the Independent State of Croatia was a national navy during World War II. Circa 1942, the force was divided into a Coast and Maritime Traffic Command with headquarters in Crikvenica, Makarska and Dubrovnik, and a River and River Traffic Command with headquarters in...

 which fought as part of the Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

 on the Eastern Front

Eastern Front (World War II)

The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...

.

Upon its formation the unit had 343 men. Upon deployment the legion received a large influx of Ukrainian

Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

 volunteers, which raised the size of the unit to 1000 men. Members of the legion rescued Erich von Manstein

Erich von Manstein

Erich von Manstein was a field marshal in World War II. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces...

from a boat fire.