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The ship involved was an anti-submarine frigate of the ''Burevestnik''-class, known to [[NATO]] as a ''Krivak''-1; the vessel's name was ''Storozhevoy'', after a Russian word meaning "vigilant".  The ship's ''zampolit'' (political officer) was Captain 3rd-rank Valery Mikhailovich Sablin, who according to family members was a committed [[communist]] who believed in the ideals set by [[Lenin]] in the [[revolution of 1917]].  Contrary to the popular report of an intentional defection, it was later revealed that Sablin's plan was to seize the ship, sail it to the Gulf of Finland and then on to [[Leningrad]], where he would use the ship's radio to broadcast to the people the corruption and hypocrisy of the Soviet system under [[Leonid I. Brezhnev]], and to cause the people to rise up and restore Leninist values.

The ship involved was an anti-submarine frigate of the ''Burevestnik''-class, known to [[NATO]] as a ''Krivak''-1; the vessel's name was ''Storozhevoy'', after a Russian word meaning "vigilant".  The ship's ''zampolit'' (political officer) was Captain 3rd-rank Valery Mikhailovich Sablin, who according to family members was a committed [[communist]] who believed in the ideals set by [[Lenin]] in the [[revolution of 1917]].  Contrary to the popular report of an intentional defection, it was later revealed that Sablin's plan was to seize the ship, sail it to the Gulf of Finland and then on to [[Leningrad]], where he would use the ship's radio to broadcast to the people the corruption and hypocrisy of the Soviet system under [[Leonid I. Brezhnev]], and to cause the people to rise up and restore Leninist values.

On the night of November 7, 1975 ''Storozhevoy'' was inport at Riga, Latvia S.S.R. and most of the crew was ashore.  Sablin and a few conspirators took control of the ship, locking remaining crewmen in one of the spaces onboard; ''Storozhevoy'' then cast off and cleared the channel for the Baltic.  One of the crewman managed to escape and swim to shore to sound the alarm; by then the ship was an hour out.   

On the night of November 7, 1975 ''Storozhevoy'' was in port at Riga, Latvia S.S.R. and most of the crew was ashore.  Sablin and a few conspirators took control of the ship, locking remaining crewmen in one of the spaces onboard; ''Storozhevoy'' then cast off and cleared the channel for the Baltic.  One of the crewman managed to escape and swim to shore to sound the alarm; by then the ship was an hour out.   

The course needed for the ship to sail to Leningrad from Riga involved a western heading toward the Swedish island of Gotland, then a northwesterly course toward Stockholm before adjusting course to the east.  Aware of Sablin's true intentions, the Soviets did not want the world to know of a possible uprising; they intentionally leaked to the world of a defection, and the course of the ship toward Sweden merely reinforced the ruse.

The course needed for the ship to sail to Leningrad from Riga involved a western heading toward the Swedish island of Gotland, then a northwesterly course toward Stockholm before adjusting course to the east.  Aware of Sablin's true intentions, the Soviets did not want the world to know of a possible uprising; they intentionally leaked to the world of a defection, and the course of the ship toward Sweden merely reinforced the ruse.

''Storozhevoy'' was repaired and returned to service; after a change of crew she would be sent to ports all over Europe for the next several years, in effect a statement that the mutiny did not succeed.  She would end her service in the Pacific Fleet, before being sold to India for scrap in 2004.

''Storozhevoy'' was repaired and returned to service; after a change of crew she would be sent to ports all over Europe for the next several years, in effect a statement that the mutiny did not succeed.  She would end her service in the Pacific Fleet, before being sold to India for scrap in 2004.

Papers on the incident were filed in the United States Naval Institute in the early 1980's, which would in turn be discovered by a new author, [[Tom Clancy]], who, like many at the time, concluded that Sablin had made a futile run for freedom.  The unprecidented and audacious taking of a major warship to facilitate his defection led Clancy to base his first novel, ''The Hunt For Red October'', on the incident.

Papers on the incident were filed in the United States Naval Institute in the early 1980's, which would in turn be discovered by a new author, [[Tom Clancy]], who, like many at the time, concluded that Sablin had made a futile run for freedom.  The unprecedented and audacious taking of a major warship to facilitate his defection led Clancy to base his first novel, ''The Hunt For Red October'', on the incident.

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