Russian battleship Potemkin

{{For|the film|The Battleship Potemkin}} {{DISPLAYTITLE:Russian battleship ''Potemkin''}} {{more footnotes|date=March 2008}} {| |} The '''''Potemkin''''' ({{lang-ru |Князь Потёмкин Таврический, ''Kniaz Potemkine Tavritchesky''}}, ‘Prince Potemkin of [[Tauris]]’) was a [[pre-dreadnought]] [[battleship]] (''Bronenosets'') of the [[Imperial Russian Navy]]'s [[Black Sea Fleet]]. The ship was made famous by the '''Battleship ''Potemkin'' uprising''', a [[rebellion]] of the crew against their oppressive officers in June 1905 (during the [[Russian Revolution of 1905]]). It later came to be viewed as an initial step towards the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]], and was the basis of [[Sergei Eisenstein]]'s [[silent film]] ''[[The Battleship Potemkin]]'' (1925). Following the mutiny in 1905, the ship's name was changed to '''''Panteleimon''''' after [[Saint Pantaleon]], but restored to ''Potemkin'' in 1917, before a final rename to '''''Boretz za Svobodu''''' (Fighter for Freedom) later in that year. == Design and construction of the ship == The ship was [[keel laying|laid down]] at the [[Nikolayev shipyard]] in October 1898, [[ship naming and launching|launched]] in October 1900, and [[commission (ship)|commission]]ed in 1904. She was named in honour of [[Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin]], a military figure of the 18th century. The vessel was built based on the prototype of the {{ship|Russian battleship|Tri Sviatitelia|1893|2|up=on}} and a modernized version of {{sclass|Peresviet|battleship|1}}s (see [[Russian battleship Oslyabya|''Oslyabya'']]). The armour scheme was designed after {{HMS|Majestic|1895|6}}. Several innovations were incorporated in the design. This was the first Russian battleship with liquid fuelled boilers (although these were replaced by coal fired boilers after a fire during trials) and centralised fire control. === Origins of the Mutiny === [[File:Poster15.jpg|thumb|left|Soviet poster portraying the 1905 revolution. The caption reads "Glory to the People's Heroes of the ''Potemkin''!"]] During the [[Russo-Japanese War]] (1904–1905) the [[Imperial Russian Navy]] had deployed and lost two of its three battleship fleets; the ''Baltic'' and the ''Pacific'' squadrons, later redesignated as the 1st and 2nd Pacific Fleets. The remaining ''Black Sea Fleet'' had been blocked by treaty from exiting the Black Sea to participate in the war. However, many of the ''Black Sea Fleet's'' most experienced officers and men had been transferred to the war zone in the Pacific to replace losses from that war.{{sfn|Watts|1990|p=24}} This left primarily raw recruits and less capable officers within the fleet. With the news of the disastrous [[battle of Tsushima]] in May 1905, coupled with the aspect that the ''Black Sea Fleet'' might be next, morale dropped to an all time low and only needed a spark to set off a major catastrophe. On 27 June 1905, a month after the battle of Tsushima, that "spark" was supplied, in the form of a complaint about bad food being fed to the men.{{sfn|Watts|1990|p=24}} Earlier, the Central Committee of the Social Democratic Organization of the ''[[Black Sea Fleet]]'' had started preparations for a simultaneous crew uprising on all of the ships of the fleet to take place some time in the autumn of 1905. However, at the time of planning ''Potemkin'' was away for firing exercises at Tendra Island, and the rebellion broke out on its own on {{OldStyleDate|27 June|1905|14 June}}, spontaneously and prematurely.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} The uprising was triggered when [[Ippolit Giliarovsky]], the second in command of the battleship, allegedly threatened to punish crew members for their refusal to eat meat found to contain [[maggot]]s when it was delivered to the warship. Reportedly he mustered the crew on the quarterdeck near where a [[tarpaulin]] was laid out and armed marines were drawn up. The sailors assumed that a group execution was pending and rushed the marines (themselves sailors), calling on them not to shoot. The actual events sparking the mutiny remain uncertain and have been overshadowed by the version depicted in the famous [[Sergei Eisenstein]] film ''[[The Battleship Potemkin]]''. It is known that discipline in the Imperial Navy was harsh; morale dropped lower following the disastrous news from the [[Battle of Tsushima]] on 27 May 1905. Before this a group of sailors dedicated to revolution had formed. The group, called Tsentralka, plotted in secret a massed mutiny of the Black Sea Fleet that would support revolutionary groups on land.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} The mutineers killed seven of the ''Potemkin'''s eighteen officers, including Captain [[Evgeny Golikov]] and Giliarovsky. The surviving officers were placed under arrest, as were those of an accompanying torpedo-boat, the Ismail torpedo boat N267. One sailor, [[Grigory Vakulinchuk]], was fatally wounded during the fight. The seamen organized a Ship's Commission led by [[Afanasi Matushenko]].{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} ==== Dead officers ==== # Artillery Lieutenant Neupokoyev (shot in the head by [[Vakulenchuk]]) # Lieutenant Liventsev (watch commander, shot several times). # Lieutenant [[Ippolit Giliarovsky]] (second in command, shot then thrown in the sea). # Lieutenant Grigoryev (shot while swimming away). # Dr Smirnov (thrown overboard then shot). # Torpedo Lieutenant Wilhelm Ton (shot by 10 sailors at once after killing a sailor). # Captain Golikov, murdered just after the mutiny was complete.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|pp=84–95}} === Arrival in Odessa === [[File:Monument to Battleship Potemkin-Odessa.JPG|thumb|upright|Monument to the Crew of the Battleship Potemkin in Odessa, Ukraine]] [[File:Leader of Potemkin revolt.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Matochenko, the leader of the uprising, is seen to the left of centre. Photo taken after arrival at Constanta – note officer in Romanian uniform at left]] In the evening of that same day, the rebellious battleship came to [[Odessa]] flying a [[red flag]]. A [[general strike]] had been called in Odessa and there was some unrest, for which the arrival of the battleship provided a focus and incentive. However, the representatives of the contact commission of the Odessa Social Democratic parties were not able to convince the battleship crew to land armed sailors and help workers to get weapons and act together. There was division and confusion amongst both sailors and strikers.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} On {{OldStyleDate|29 June|1905|16 June}}, Vakulenchuk’s funeral turned into a political demonstration. Demonstrators crowded on the flight of steps leading from the port area to the centre of the city were reportedly fired on by dismounted cavalry, a scene that forms the dramatic highpoint of the film ''Battleship Potemkin''. There is some controversy over whether the encounter on the Odessa Steps actually occurred but ''[[The Times]]'' of London correspondent and the resident British Consul reported a number of clashes between demonstrators and troops throughout the city and heavy loss of life. The evening of the following day ''Potemkin'' fired two shells at the part of the city containing the headquarters of the imperial military authorities. One civilian was killed and the city suffered limited damage. The Imperial military sent reinforcements to Odessa in order to suppress the civil disorder. The government issued an order either to force the ''Potemkin'' crew to give up or sink the battleship. Two [[Squadron (naval)|squadrons]] of the Black Sea Fleet were sent for this purpose. They gathered at the Tendra Island on {{OldStyleDate|30 June|1905|17 June}}. ''Potemkin'' faced the joint squadron and—refusing to give up—sailed through the centre of it. This “silent battle” ended victoriously for ''Potemkin'': the crews of the joint squadron refused to fire at the battleship and one of the battleships—{{ship|Russian battleship|Georgii Pobedonosets||2}}—joined ''Potemkin''. The joint squadron went to [[Sevastopol]]. The three rebellious warships headed for Odessa. However, the recently mutinied battleship ''Saint George'' soon turned against the Potemkin by means of a counter-mutiny, and ran aground on the shores of Odessa.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} The Central Committee of the [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party]] tried to provide support for the ''Potemkin'' uprising. However, [[Mikhail Vasilyev-Yuzhin]], who came to Odessa at the request of [[Vladimir Lenin]] to lead the uprising, found the battleship had left the port.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|23 June|1905|10 June}} ==== Tsentralka (revolutionary sailors' organisation) meet at Malakhov hill east of [[Sebastopol]] to plan a mutiny of the ''[[Black Sea Fleet]]''.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=22}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|24 June|1905|11 June}} ==== 40 revolutionary sailors are removed from the ''Potemkin'', only one leader caught. It's announced they will be leaving for gun testing at Tendra island.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=34}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|25 June|1905|12 June}} ==== Tsentralka agrees that the ''Potemkin'', not the ''[[Russian battleship Rostislav|Rostislav]]'', should start the mutiny. The ship leaves Sebastopol in the afternoon.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=34}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|26 June|1905|13 June}} ==== The ''Potemkin'' arrives at Tendra. Its torpedo boat ''[[Ismail]]'' gets supplies from [[Odessa]] where a [[General strike]] is occurring. Among the cargo is a supply of maggot-ridden beef.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=56}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|27 June|1905|14 June}} ==== The mutiny starts. 4am-the ''Ismail'' returns with the rotten meat.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} The furious sailors notice the maggots and the revolutionaries start a boycott of the [[Borscht]] made with the meat. The sailors are assembled on deck and ordered to eat it, only 12 sailors obey. The rest are threatened with 20 armed [[marines]], the sailors dispersed. Second-in-command Gilyarovsky calls for tarpaulin so he can execute 30 sailors who did not flee, and not soil the decks. 30 revolutionaries steal rifles from the armoury, and take over the signal and engine rooms. They rush aboard, the marines do not fire. Stoker Nikishkin fires the first shot.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|pp=63–7}} The captain flees to his cabin. Gilyarovsky shoots [[Grigory Vakulinchuk]] then orders the guards to fire, they flee, he is shot. They stop torpedo boat ''Ismail'' from escaping with officers who jumped overboard.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=91}} 7 officers are killed, 12 arrested. 25 sailors are elected to a committee with Matyushenko chairing. They make ensign Alekseyev captain. They raise the red flag and toss the Tsar's portrait into the sea.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} At 10pm they arrive at Odessa.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|28 June|1905|15 June}} ==== 40 sailors escort the body of Vakulenchuk to the steps {{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=111}}(one would betray the mutiny to the gendarmes). 10,000 people assemble. Three port officials and 50 cossacks are driven off. Social democrats arrive but fail to convince the sailors to attack. Two [[Mensheviks]] and one [[Bolshevik Revolution|Bolshevik]] are allowed to stay.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} Martial law is declared, 1,260 people (die?/are wounded?) and 15 million roubles in damage are caused in the fighting on the [[Richelieu steps]].{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=138}} Three battleships, a destroyer and torpedo boat are sent in pursuit. 6pm: the military transport ''[[Vekha]]'' is easily captured once the four officers are tricked onboard the ''Potemkin''.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|pp=129–30}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|29 June|1905|16 June}} ==== Three officers choose to stay (one, Dr Golenko, would later betray them), the rest are set ashore.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=142}} 16:00 Vakulenchuk is buried, the funeral is ambushed and three sailors are caught/shot.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=156}} 18:35 Hearing of an officer's meeting at the theatre, the crew tried to destroy it but the treacherous committee member, Frederick Vedenmeyer, fed them fake coordinates so they overshot. He then claimed to see a white flag of surrender from soldiers ashore when in fact they were revolutionaries signalling encouragement.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|pp=164–5}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|30 June|1905|17 June}} ==== The [[battleship]]s ''3 Saints'', ''12 Apostles'' and ''[[St George, battleship|St George]]'' arrive in Odessa. Meant to capture the mutineers, they flee instead.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=173}} 12:05 The ''Potemkin'' advances in between the battleships, Matyushenko hopes to goad the officers into firing on them and provoke a mutiny. The ''12 Apostles'' tries to ram them but sympathetic sailors reverse the engines. Captain Kolands then tried to blow his own ship up but revolutionaries have severed the detonating wires.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=184}} As the squadron retreated a second time, the crew of the St George (616 crew) rebel. Tsentralka member Dorofey Koshuba breaks into the armoury, arms the sailors and arrests Captain Guzevich. The takeover is bloodless except for the second in command who shoots himself. A 10 member committee is set up.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=186}} Matyushenko takes the officers to the ''Potemkin'', then ashore. ==== {{OldStyleDate|1 July|1905|18 June}} ==== 10:00 Unrest on the ''St George'': Dr Golenko was sent to maintain the crew's allegiance, instead he turned them against the ''Potemkin'' by claiming all their [[petty officer]]s would be arrested and Odessa would be bombarded.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=206}} A port official distracted the ''Potemkin's'' leaders while the petty officers took over the engine room and disabled the rifles. They deliberately run the ''St George'' aground, fearing the ''Potemkin's'' guns. The ''[[Vekha]]'' also abandons the revolutionaries.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=210}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|2 July|1905|19 June}} ==== The fifth mutiny occurs. The ''Prut'' was a training ship with 22 officers and over 600 sailors, two-thirds of which were machinists. 9:30 Tsentralka member Aleksandr Petrov and 50 others break into the armoury and kill three officers. Their priest holds a cross up to repel the rebels, and one cuts his hand with a bayonet saying: "The devil himself would not have allowed what you have allowed to go on here."{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|pp=222–5}} 16:00 The ''Prut'' arrives at Odessa only to find the ''Potemkin'' has left. ''Potemkin'' arrives at [[Constanţa]]{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=226}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|3 July|1905|20 June}} ==== 2:00 The [[destroyer]] ''Stremilteny'' is mainly manned by officers and is pursuing the ''Potemkin''. It failed to capture the ''Prut'' since when they met, they were unaware of the mutiny. 3:00 The ''Prut'' is captured by the torpedo boat ''Zhutky''.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|pp=232–3}} 7:30 [[Constanţa|Constanţa's]] officials refuse to sell the sailors supplies, they leave for [[Feodosiya]] (Ukraine).{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=236}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|5 July|1905|22 June}} ==== 8:00 ''Potemkin'' arrives at [[Feodosiya]]. The port's officials give them all the supplies they request, except for coal or water.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=252}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|6 July|1905|23 June}} ==== Refused water and coal again, 30 sailors led by Matyushenko try to take some coal barges. They are ambushed by two companies of soldiers, only eight sailors return.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|pp=260–2}} 12:00 They leave Theodosia. The ''Ismail's'' crew attempted to take the helms and return to Sebastopol. This counter-mutiny was defeated, and the ''Ismail'' was towed to Constanta.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=269}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|7 July|1905|24 June}} ==== 23:00 The ''Potemkin'' reaches [[Constanţa]].{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|p=272}} ==== {{OldStyleDate|8 July|1905|25 June}} ==== The ''Potemkin'' surrenders while the ''Ismail'' is allowed to return to Sebastopol. Matyushenko orders the seacocks opened, after which the ''Potemkin'' half sinks. The people of [[Constanţa]] cheer the sailors.{{sfn|Bascomb|2007|pp=275–6}} === Voyage to Romania === In the evening of {{OldStyleDate|1 July|1905|18 June}}, the battleship sailed for [[Constanţa]] ([[Romania]]) together with the torpedo boat N267 for fuel and supplies (by that time, ''Georgiy Pobedonosets'' had surrendered to the authorities). On {{OldStyleDate|3 July|1905|20 June}}, the Ship’s Commission issued appeals “To all civilized world” and “To all European powers”, proclaiming the crew’s firm decision to fight against the [[Tsarist]] regime. [[Romania]]n authorities refused to permit supplies to be sent to the battleship. The same happened in the then Russian (now Ukrainian) port of [[Feodosiya]] on {{OldStyleDate|5 July|1905|22 June}} where a landing party from the warship was fired on by troops. On {{OldStyleDate|8 July|1905|25 June}}, ''Potemkin'' returned to Constanţa and its crew handed the ship over to the Romanian authorities.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} == Aftermath == The Romanian government then returned the battleship to the Russian navy. In October 1905 it was renamed ''Panteleimon'' (''Пантелеймон''). [[File:Zaqatala-PotemkinMonument.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The monument to the mutineers of the Battleship Potemkin in modern [[Zaqatala (city)|Zaqatala]], [[Azerbaijan]].]] In April 1917 the ship was renamed ''Potemkin-Tavricheski'' (''Потёмкин-Таврический'') once again, however, in May they changed it to ''Borets za svobodu'' (''Борец за свободу'' – ''Freedom Fighter''). In 1918 it was captured by the [[Germany|Germans]], then recaptured by the [[White movement|White Russians]]. In April 1919, the [[Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War|interventionists]] scuttled the ship in Sevastopol, to prevent her falling into [[Bolshevik]] hands. After the [[Russian Civil War]], the wreck of the ''Potemkin'' was raised from the bottom of the sea and dismantled because of irreparable damage.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} The majority of the mutineers chose to remain in Romania after 1905, at least until the revolution of February 1917. Of those who returned to Russia in the immediate aftermath of the mutiny, seven men were executed as ringleaders while fifty-six crewmen were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment. A number of petty officers from the ''Potemkin'' were able to successfully argue that they had acted only under duress, while the crew of the ''[[Viekha]]'', a support vessel caught up in the mutiny when it encountered the ''Potemkin'', were acquitted after it was established that they had successfully argued for the release of their own officers.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} Amongst the six hundred former crewmen of the ''Potemkin'' who remained in Romania in 1905 and generally merged into the local population, was the leader Afanasy Matushenko. Together with four colleagues Matushenko returned to Russia under promise of an amnesty in 1907. He was however arrested and hanged. Another leader, Joseph Dymtchenko, fled [[Romania]] in 1908 with thirty-one other sailors and settled in [[Argentina]]. At least one sailor, Ivan Beshoff, made it to [[Ireland]] via [[Turkey]] and London (where he allegedly met Lenin). He set up Beshoff's fish and chips in [[Dublin, Ireland]]. He died on October 25, 1987, aged 102, likely to be the last survivor of the crew.{{sfn|New York Times 28 October 1987}} Lenin wrote that the ''Potemkin'' uprising had had a huge importance in terms of being the first attempt at creating the nucleus of a revolutionary army, especially since a part of the Imperial armed forces had sided with the revolution. Lenin called ''Potemkin'' an "undefeated territory of the revolution." The Potemkin uprising had a significant influence on the revolutionizing process in the Russian army and fleet in 1917.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} == See also == {{Portal|Battleships}} * [[Russian cruiser Aurora]] * [[Wilhelmshaven mutiny]] * [[Sailors' mutiny]] * Eisentstein's 1925 film: ''[[The Battleship Potemkin]]'' == External links == {{Commons category|Battleship Potemkin}} Aimed at model builders Monument in Odessa, explanation of the mutiny Monument in Odessa, explanation of the mutiny A First Hand News Article on the Mutiny {{WWIRussianShips}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2010}} {{coord missing|Black Sea}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Potemkin}}