The True Story
The Hunt For Red October: The True Story
S1 • E6 Aug 16, 2012 45m
In November 1975, Soviet political officer Valery Sablin led a mutiny aboard the frigate *Storozhevoy*, an event that later inspired Tom Clancy's *The Hunt for Red October*. Unlike the fictional story, Sablin did not want to defect to the West. Instead, he hoped to spark a new communist revolution against the corruption of the Soviet elite. Outraged by officials enriching themselves while ordinary citizens lived in poverty, he imprisoned the captain and tried to persuade the ship's officers to support his plan to sail to Leningrad and inspire a nationwide uprising. The officers were divided: some joined him, while others, including Lt. Boris Gindin, believed the mission was doomed. Those who opposed the mutiny were locked away, setting in motion a dramatic crisis that nearly escalated into an international conflict.
