''Vekha'' was a military transport ship of the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

that briefly joined the ''Potemkin'' mutiny. It was commanded by a colonel, Baron P P Eikhen. On (the second day of the mutiny), ''Vekha'' approached

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

where the mutineers were burying their fallen leader

Grigory Vakulinchuk Grigory Nikitich Vakulenchuk (, , romanized: ''Hryhorii Mykytovych Vakulenchuk'', 1877– 14/27 June 1905) was a Ukrainian sailor in the Imperial Russian Navy. He was born in Velyki Korovyntsi (now in Zhytomyr Oblast). He served on the ...

. Eikhen was unaware of the mutiny so he obeyed a semaphore message telling him to come aboard. Fifteen armed sailors arrested him. He dropped his sabre and was locked up with the officers. The remaining two officers and the doctor were signaled to come aboard, and after their arrest ''Vekha'' was ordered to stay by the battleship. The revolutionaries then took it over easily. Its 60 sailors pleaded successfully for the officers' lives, and the officers were set ashore with the others in Odessa. ''Vekha'' abandoned the mutineers after the battleship did the same on the evening of .

References

* {{refend Ships of the Imperial Russian Navy Potemkin mutiny