EDITORIAL NOTE: What do I think of Haditha? I will post extended remarks by tomorrow on the subject.
I was having a "discussion" (shock there) with a co-worker about future ship manning levels and some of the "interesting" plans some people have for feeding Sailors on long deployments (think microwave food for 180 days).Never underestimate the importance of good chow on a ship. Forget scurvy, weevils, and the days where EVERYTHING is served via an ice cream scoop - I say, "remember the Battleship Potemkin!"
The uprising was sparked by the second in command of the battleship (ahhhh, an Old Navy XO), who allegedly threatened reprisals against a number of the crew for their refusal to eat rotten meat. 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 off the mutiny remain uncertain and have been overshadowed by the version presented in the famous Sergei Eisenstein film "The Battleship Potemkin". Certainly discipline in the Tsarist navy was harsh and morale low following defeats in the Russo-Japanese War.
The mutineers killed a number of the officers, including Captain Evgeny Golikov, his second in command Ippolit Giliarovsky and the medical officer who had certified the meat as fit to eat. The surviving officers were placed under arrest.
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