Admiral Ushakov (Russian: Адмирал Ушаков) is a 1953 Soviet historical war film directed by Mikhail Romm and starring Ivan Pereverzev, Boris Livanov and Sergei Bondarchuk.
The film portrays the career of Fyodor Ushakov, regarded as one of the greatest naval commanders in history. As admiral of the Russian fleet under Catherine the Great and Paul I, he won every battle he participated in. A sequel, Attack from the Sea, was released the same year. The film is dedicated to the formation of the Russian fleet on the Black Sea.
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Plot
In 1780, Captain of the Imperial Navy Fyodor Ushakov asks the Commander-in-Chief Grigory Potemkin to oversee the construction of the Black Sea Fleet. This means giving up a career at the royal court in St. Petersburg. Three years later, Ushakov arrives at the Kherson shipyards with a contingent of sailors and craftsmen. An epidemic of plague rages among the workers. Tikhon Prokofiev, nicknamed the Ragged Ear, encourages the workers to flee the city and set fire to the shipyards, at the instigation of the English spy Orfano. With the help of his sailors, Ushakov stops the rebels and organizes a fire-fighting brigade to put out the fire. A strict quarantine regime is introduced and the plague is brought under control. Viktor Ermolaev, a mere boy, asks Ushakov to enlist in the Russian Navy. Ushakov refuses him, because the ships are not yet finished.