One Man who Saved the World from Nuclear War

[pgrass101]

Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov

On October 27, 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a group of eleven United States Navy destroyers and the aircraft carrier USS Randolph

located the diesel-powered nuclear-armed Soviet Foxtrot-class submarine B-59 near Cuba. Despite being in international waters the
Americans started dropping practice depth charges, explosives intended to force the submarine to come to the surface for identification. There had been no contact from Moscow for a number of days and, although the submarine's crew had earlier been picking up U.S. civilian radio broadcasts, once B-59 began attempting to hide from its U.S. Navy pursuers, it was too deep to monitor any radio traffic, so those on board did not know whether war had broken out. The captain of the submarine, Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky, believing that a war might already have started, wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo.


Three officers on board the submarine – Savitsky, the political officer Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, and the second-in-command Arkhipov – were authorized to launch the torpedo if agreeing unanimously in favor of doing so. An argument broke out among the three, in which only Arkhipov was against the launch. Although Arkhipov was only second-in-command of submarine B-59, he was actually Commander of the flotilla of submarines including B-4, B-36, and B-130, and of equal rank to Captain Savitsky. According to author Edward Wilson, the reputation Arkhipov gained from his courageous conduct in the previous year's K19 incident also helped him prevail in the debate. Arkhipov eventually persuaded Savitsky to surface the submarine and await orders from Moscow. This presumably averted the nuclear warfare which could possibly have ensued had the torpedo been fired. The submarine's batteries had run very low and the air-conditioning had failed, so it was forced to surface amidst its U.S. pursuers and head home. Washington's message that practice depth charges were being used to signal the submarines to surface never reached B-59, and Moscow claims it has no record of receiving it either.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Maverickx50]

Wanted to write something profound about this story. I recall hearing it in the past at some point; but alas: The fact is the story stands on its own and it a good example of how good people from any place on this world can make a difference that affects us all.

[HotGuns]

My Dad was the command Signalman on one of those Destroyers. He received message from the carrier to open fire if fired upon and their guns swung to target a nearby Russian crusier. Within a minute the Russian Crusier's guns swung around to engage them. He said there he was on the signal bridge watching it all, with the hair standing up on the back of his neck being pretty sure that he wasnt going to live through the day.

There were some tense moments there.

[suntzu]

Here is the PBS special on the this gentleman:
The Man Who Saved the World - Watch the Full Episode | Secrets of the Dead | PBS

When I was going for my masters I did a paper on the Cuban Missle Crisis, specifically the pros and cons of the ExCom

[pgrass101]

It is scary to realize just how close we came to nuclear war during that Crisis

[BigJon10125]

I show the students I teach segments of the movie "Thirteen Days" for not a lot of action it gets INTENSE! I could not imagine what living in that world would feel like. I also show the old duck and cover videos with the turtle and monkey with a firecracker. Hilarious, but very telling about how confidence vs reality can go a long way to calm the sheep.

Seems quite applicable today...

[Snub44]

...I was 13...I remember the fear at night, having been told by my parents what was going on and that we might be in a nuclear war...which few of us then comprehended...was very glad when it was over...

...that said, I'm sure relieved that this wasn't a thread about algore...

[ppkheat]

I was a kid during the Cuban Missile Crisis and I knew what was going on by listening to what the adults were saying to each other. Living near BAFB we definitely had concerns of being a target. I can't recall it now, but we somehow knew what the flight time of a missle from Cuba to our area would be.

My Dad had a plan to evacuate us quickly, I had a plan that I had a paperbag of toys to bring with me.

Scary days back then, though today's world is scarier.

[redbeardsong]

My father-in-law worked in the boiler room on one of the destroyers circling Cuba during the missile crisis. A couple of years ago my wife and I took a cruise with her parents in the Carribbean. As we passed along the coast of Cuba, he said to me, "yep, I've been here before."

[OldVet]

Most people believe the Japanese fired the first shots in our involvement in WWII, but our navy actually sank a Japanese mini-sub over an hour before the first bombs fell on Pearl Harbor.

[Bardo]

"With great power comes great responsibility."

I think there's a lesson to be learned here for a lot of DC readers. There's a lot of chest beating that goes on here about when people will shoot. Here's a guy who maintained a cool head and averted disaster.

[dukalmighty]

I wouldn't want to be the guy doing the laundry the next day,he probably never seen that many skid marks since Burrito night

[ccw9mm]

Here is the PBS special on the this gentleman:
The Man Who Saved the World - Watch the Full Episode | Secrets of the Dead | PBS

Here is the same video on Youtube: The Man Who Saved The World.

[goldshellback]

Here is the PBS special on the this gentleman:
The Man Who Saved the World - Watch the Full Episode | Secrets of the Dead | PBS

When I was going for my masters I did a paper on the Cuban Missle Crisis, specifically the pros and cons of the ExCom

I just finished watching the whole program..... just amazing. I have never herd this story. Good thread!

As a retired submariner, I can fully appreicate exactly what went on and the feelings on both sides.