The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-12-06
The Revolt of the French Black Sea Fleet

18th and 17th) on the Red Army
from armoured cruisers. A group Of
mutineers took possession of a
steamer armed withDa 81 nm gun and
tried to win over one armoured cruiser
after the other for united action. On
the next day, April 20th-Easter
Sunday-the crews of the men-of-war
France" and "Jean Bart" solemnly
hoisted the red flag on the mast Of
the bowsprit, at a. M, whilst they
sung the international"
There was great agitation on all
the ships. Meetings of sailors. In
the afternoon, at p. M, an imposing
demonstration of French sailors in
common with Russian workers en-
gagged in the general strike, took
place in the main streets of the town.
Enthusiasm beyond all description
prevailed. Just at that time, at $50
p. M, the Greek sailors and some
sailors of the Jean Bart" opened fire
on those taking part in the demon
stration in the Norskaja street, by
order of the Army Commander, Col
onel Trousson. A large number of
persons were killed and wounded;
among the dead were five workers
and young girl. Almost at the
same time, the red flag was hoisted
on the mainmast of France" The
effect was an extraordinary one. IN
precedented disorder prevailed every
where. The troops in the fortress
left, the sailors threw the ammuni-
tion-boxes and machine guns into the
Sea, singing the revolutionary song
Down with, war and with the tyr
ants"
! On the next day they demanded
that the squadron should depart be-
for April 28th. The warships left
the Black Sea one after the other in
order to return to France, "Jean
Bart" alone remained for another
month at the gates of Constantinople.
Revolutionary demonstrations of the
crew in the town were an almost
daily occurrence.
On April 23rd | was taken on
board the "Waldeck- Rousseau, which
was threatening Odessa, this town
being in the hands of the Soviets.
succeeded in getting into touch with
the crew. On April 9th, at II o'clock
i had been taken away from the
ship by surprise an hour ago in order
to be transported into a prison in
| Constantinople-the crew of the
, "Waldeck- RosSeau" mutinied and
hoisted the red flag. The torpedo
destroyer "Fauconneau" Joined in the
movement, an ultimatium was put to
the Admiral to the effect that they
wanted either to return to France
Immediately or to enter the port of
Odessa. The Admiral yielded.
At about the same time the crew
Of the fire-ship threw their command
or overheard.
Similar demonstrations and move
ments took place on all the warships
in the course Of the months Of April
to July. The last ship which mu-
tinted on July 30th in view of Odessa
was the "Touarez."
3. Towards insu"rection. In spite
, # strict censorship being exercised
by the government, the warships
which returned to France one after
he other brought detailed news Of
the Russian revolution and Of the
n'utinics. A new phase was then en-
tered upon. 1t was no longer a case
of revolts, attempts were made TO
bring about instruction. Almost
2verywhere, sailors committees were
formed spontaneously which worked
more or less secretly and were con-
Injected with revolutionary labour
groups. The first preparations for
instruction were made.
(To BE Continued)
Further installments of Upton Sin
clair's latest book "MOpev Writes !"