In 1984, American writer Tom Clancy published his famous work "Hunting "Red October"", which became a best seller and became a masterpiece in the history of military thriller novels. It was remade into a movie and released in 1990, with a global box office of 200 million US dollars.
The plot of the book is fictitious and inspired by real events during the Cold War. In the movie, the Soviet Union defected is the world's largest submarine "Typhoon-class nuclear submarine", the prototype is the Soviet "Vigilance" anti-submarine defection incident. But the ending is completely different from the movie, and the real event is extremely tragic.
In 1975, Valery Sablin was the deputy political captain of the large anti-submarine warship "Alert" of the Baltic Fleet. He believed that the corrupt bureaucracy of the Soviet government had derailed the country and determined to launch a "revolution" to seize warships and drive them to the high seas beyond Leningrad.
On November 6, the "Alert" went to Riga, the capital of the Republic of Latvia, for maintenance.
November 7th is the national anniversary of the October Revolution in the Soviet Union.
At 19:00 on November 8, Sablin reported to the captain of the Navy Lieutenant Colonel Portuline, falsely claiming that an abnormal situation had occurred on the ship. When he and the captain walked to the sound of the warship, he and his confidant Shain suddenly closed the hatch and imprisoned the captain in isolation.
At 23 o'clock, Sablin convened a meeting with all the officers and sailors on the ship, announcing that the captain was unwell and he took over the command of the warship. Afterwards, Sablin excitedly announced his plan to the participants. He claimed that there were serious violations in the Soviet Union and that extraordinary measures must be used to "awaken the people". He suggested that the "Alert" should be driven to the cradle of the October Revolution. ——Kronstadt, a fortress near Leningrad, and declared it an independent territory. Sabrin hopes to imitate the cruiser Aurora uprising that year, set off the second October Revolution in the Soviet Union, and restore a truly Leninist Soviet democratic regime.
Regarding this plan, the officers support and opponents are almost equally divided, and the sailors are mostly supportive. According to Sailor Shain's recollection, after Sabrin announced the plan, the officers and soldiers had actively discussed the plan, and the atmosphere was very warm. Regarding the objections, Sablin proposed to vote. After the vote, he ordered all the opponents to be imprisoned. In this way, Sablin successfully completed the "coup" on the "Alert".
At 23:30, Vrsov, an officer in charge of electrical engineering on the ship, wittily escaped the surveillance of the Sablin accomplices, sneaked into the icy waters, and swam to B-49 anchored in the port of Riga. He boarded the submarine and reported to the headquarters of the Riga base. At that time, many people didn't believe it, and some leaders even doubted whether he was drunk or had a mental problem.
After learning that Vrsov had run away, Sablin decided to drive the "Alert" to sea ahead of time. At 2:50 on November 9, the "Alert" sailed out of the Gulf of Riga under the command of Sablin and sailed along the Daugava River to the Baltic Sea at a speed of 30 knots. The leaders of the Riga base believed Vrsov's words when they saw the "Alert" set up its anchor without authorization.
Four hours later, the Soviet military authorities reported the situation to the Kremlin. The Soviet leader Brezhnev, who was awakened from his sleep, personally issued a warrant: "Sink it!" Set 20 degrees east longitude as the death line. If the "Alert" refuses to obey the order to return and dare to cross this line, all warships and fighters participating in the interception must do everything possible to sink it.
The Soviet 15th Aviation Group first received the order, and they dispatched 18 newest Yak-28, Tu-16 bombers and Su-24 attack aircraft groups to pursue and kill together. At 10:30, they began to drop bombs on the "Alert", but they accidentally exploded a civilian ship and a patrol ship undertaking a pursuit mission.
In the end, the "Alert" was hit by 230 kg bombs and 30 mm artillery shells dropped by the plane in the waters on the border between Sweden and the Soviet Union. At this time, 30 sailors who opposed the defect successfully rescued the trapped officer and captain Portulin. After a fierce battle between the two sides, Sablin was wounded by Potullin, and the defection was finally stopped. The change of the "Alert", Sablin only persisted for 9 hours.
The Soviet army announced that the incident was an exercise. The rebellion of the "Alert" also shocked the Soviet military. It accidentally bombed civilian ships and patrol ships, indicating that the entire naval and air force's combat readiness dispatch was completely in a state of chaos at that time.
The tragic ending of Sabrin
After the "Warning" was escorted back to Hong Kong, the KGB took over the investigation work. During the investigation, prosecution and trial of the case, KGB Chairman Andropov followed up the results at any time and reported to Brezhnev. In order to prevent the spread of the news, the KGB arrested all officers and soldiers on the "Alert" and asked them to keep the matter absolutely confidential. After that, the officers and sailors who supported Sablin were either fired or demoted. Some people returned to their hometowns. Has been under KGB surveillance. The officers and soldiers who opposed Sablin were also dealt with in a similar way.
Sabrin and 13 other active participants were sent to the famous Lefortovo Prison, which became the main KGB prison after the closure of the Lubyanka prison in the 1960s. No one who entered Lefortovo prison did not recruit, and the KGB quickly figured out the ins and outs of the matter.
In the court, any excuse is useless: the court believes that Sablin tried to defect to the West and committed treason, but Sablin refused to admit it. According to Soviet law, the maximum sentence for treason is 15 years imprisonment, but it says hello: Sablin must die. In the end, Sablin was sentenced to death, and Shain was sentenced to 8 years in prison. The other participants were acquitted, but they have lost their jobs since then, and the black file stays with them for a lifetime.
In 1939, Sablin was born in the home of a navy officer. After graduating from the military academy in 1960, he was assigned to the Soviet Northern Fleet. The following year, he wrote a letter to Khrushchev, to the effect that social inequality had destroyed the image of the Soviet Union, and he also talked about his views on the purity of the CPSU. As a result, Sablin was severely reprimanded by his superiors, and his career was also affected to a certain extent. In 1969, Sablin, who could have been promoted to commander of the destroyer, chose to study at the Lenin Military and Political Academy. Sablin plunged into the classic works of Marxism-Leninism. With the improvement of his theoretical level, Sablin's dissatisfaction with the status quo of the Soviet Union increased day by day. why? Because the theory in the book is different from the reality of the Soviet Union: the revolution is to eliminate inequality and class oppression, but you can look at it. Under the leadership of Brezhnev, the Soviet Union has rampant privileges, solidified classes, and is full of corruption and corruption. And lies. In 1973, Sablin graduated from the Lenin Military and Political Academy. Because of his outstanding grades, his name was engraved on the marble plaque of the top graduates of the college record.
After Sablin's death, the body was secretly disposed of, and no one knows where he was buried so far. Eight months later, his family members received the news, but apart from the name (the name engraved on the school's marble plaque was also eradicated), everything in Sablin was destroyed.
During Sabrin’s interrogation, the KGB allowed him to write the last letter to his son:
"Believe that history will judge events honestly, and you will never be embarrassed by what your father did. Never become the kind of person who can only criticize but not act. Such a person is a hypocrite-a weak and useless person. They have no ability to reconcile their beliefs and actions. My dear, I hope you have the courage. Believe in the beauty of life, maintain an optimistic attitude, knowing that the revolution is always invincible."
In 1990, on the 15th anniversary of the "Alert" incident, the surviving soldiers held a gathering to commemorate the incident. They agreed that: Sablin is a hero and deserves a medal.
"Alert" after the riot
The Soviet Type 1135 "Alert" large anti-submarine ship was built in 1973 and went to sea for the first time on June 4, 1974. It has a displacement of 3,200 tons, a length of 123 meters, a width of 14 meters, a draft of 4.5 meters, a speed of 32 knots, and a duration of 30 days. Weapons and equipment: 1 set of "Blizzard" anti-submarine missile system (4 launchers), 2 sets of "Wasp" air defense missile system (40 missiles), 2 АК-726 type 76 mm double-barreled self-propelled artillery, 4 long-range missile torpedoes (35-50 kilometers), 2 533 mm torpedo launchers (4 each), 2 sets of 12-tube РБУ-6000 projectiles (range 6 kilometers). Crew 190-200 people.
After the Sablin riots in 1975, all officers and soldiers were disbanded, and the large-scale anti-submarine ship was changed to a frigate. The name remained unchanged. It was transferred to the Pacific Fleet via the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans in early 1976 and became the Kamchatka Fleet. The flagship of the 173rd Large Anti-Submarine Ship Detachment, performed well. The "Alert" frigate participated in all sea training and live ammunition exercises of the Pacific Fleet. It has never missed a target in torpedoes, mines, or artillery fire. It has become one of the best warships of the Pacific Fleet. It was named the "Pacific Fleet" from 1977 to 1984. The best ship in the fleet, the best ship, and the best mine-laying ship, have been awarded 5 times by the commander-in-chief of the navy.
In July 1987, the "Alert" was repaired in Vladivostok, after which it continued to serve in Kamchatka with the same name. "Alert" was once the most glorious warship among Type 1135 ships, with a total voyage of 210,000 nautical miles. It participated in combat duty 7 times and participated in the rescue mission of the sunken submarine K-429 in Sarana Bay in 1983. . Officially retired on October 13, 2002.
The three major defection incidents of the Soviet army
The 1975 "Alert" incident, and Belenko drove a MiG-25 to defect to Japan in 1976, and Zuyev drove a MiG-29 to defect to Turkey in 198*9, and they were listed as the three major Soviet defections during the Cold War.
In 1982, Clint Eastwood's self-directed and self-acted movie "Firefox" is more bizarre than the story of "Hunting Red October". It tells the story of the United States sending a Vietnam War veteran pilot to secretly sneak into the Soviet Union and directly steal the Soviet Union. The latest MiG fighter developed by the military flew back to the United States.
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