Sea Tales

History's most famous and infamous ocean stories, including the mutiny aboard HMS Bounty, the 1956 sinking of the passenger ship Andrea Doria and World War II's German U-boats. The series includes dramatic reenactments and interviews with historians.

Overview Seasons Similar

Created By
Status	Ended
Original Name	Sea Tales
First Air Date	September 4, 1997
Last Air Date	May 23, 1998
Seasons	1
Episodes	18
Episode Runtime	0min
Language	—
Original Language	English
Production Countries	—
Production Companies
Networks	A&E

S01E18

Revolt of the Potemkin

It all started with bad meat. When it was over, more than 5,000 had died and the pride of the Russian Black Sea Fleet lay beneath the waters, scuttled by her crew. REVOLT ON THE POTEMKIN is a detailed account of one of the strangest incidents in maritime history. When his crew refused to eat soup made with tainted meat, Commander Giliarovsky treated their actions as mutiny, and ordered that a number of randomly selected crewmen be shot! When the shooters failed to carry out his order, Giliarovsky killed one himself, and a real mutiny ensued. Formerly classified documents, accounts from men who were there and interviews with maritime historians chronicle the chaos that followed. Giliarovsky and several other officers were killed, and when the ship docked in Odessa, rioting sparked by the display of the dead crewman's martyr-body claimed more than 5,000 lives. Eventually, the mutineers took the Potemkin back out to sea, where they scuttled the mighty ship.

View Episodes