Valery Mikhailovich Sablin was a Soviet Navy officer and a member of the communist party. In November 1975 he led a mutiny on the Soviet warship the Sentry (Storozhevoy, in Russian) in the hope of starting a political revolution in the USSR. His mutiny failed and he was shot nine months later.

The mutiny

On 7 November 1975, Captain 2nd Rank Valery Sablin seized the Storozhevoy, a Soviet missile frigate, and locked up the ship's captain and other officers. Sablin's plan was to take the ship from the Gulf of Riga north into the Gulf of Finland and to Leningrad, from where he would, by radio and television, recount the sins and hypocrisy of the Soviet system and demand reforms. However a junior officer jumped ship and raised the alarm. When the Storozhevoy cleared the mouth of the Gulf of Riga, she did so with ten bomber and reconnaissance aircraft and nine warships in pursuit. Sablin surrendered after several bombs were dropped in front and behind the ship.

He was arrested, tried before a military court in May 1976; Sablin was found guilty of betraying the Motherland. Although this crime usually carried a 15-year prison sentence he was executed on 3 August 1976. His second in command, Alexander (Sasha) Shein, received an eight-year sentence. All of the other mutineers were freed.

Report of the mutiny in the west

The authorities did not want news of the uprising to spread and were therefore even prepared to present it to world public opinion as an attempted defection to the West - something that could not be further from the truth. The gulf of Riga is impassable to the north, closed off by the Estonian islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. A ship making for Leningrad from Riga needs to head west towards Gotland, then Northwest towards Stockholm, then turn east into the Gulf of Finland. This gave the impression that the Sentry was heading to Sweden instead of Leningrad. Until the end of the Cold War western intelligence believed that the crew was going to defect.

The author Tom Clancy was inspired by the (supposed) defection of the Sentry to write the 1984 novel The Hunt for Red October (later made into a film).

Quotes

"Trust the fact that history will judge events honestly and you will never have to be embarrassed for what your father did. On no account ever be one of those people who criticise but do not follow through their actions. Such people are hypocrites - weak, worthless people who do not have the power to reconcile their beliefs with their actions. I wish you courage, my dear. Be strong in the belief that life is wonderful. Be positive and believe that the Revolution will always win."

-Valery Sablin's last letter to his son before his execution.

"I am convinced that a revolutionary consciousness will catch fire among our people."

-Valery Sablin's farewell letter to his parents.

External links

• A Leninist Hero of our Times, an article about Sablin's mutiny by Alan Woods.