58 years ago

[ehsnils]

58 years ago, in mid-October 1962, the world came as close as it ever got to full out nuclear war.

 

The Soviet Union was installing ballistic missiles in Cuba that could strike most of the eastern USA in minutes. The USA insisted they be removed.

 

Ships of both sides confronted each other in the Caribbean. An American U-2 surveillance plane was shot down.

 

American bombers prepared for strikes on Cuba and the USSR; Marines prepared an invasion.

 

Much of the US military leadership thought fighting was the only way out, even if it led to all out war with the Soviets.

 

The crisis finally ended when JFK secretly offered to remove US Jupiter missiles from Turkey if the USSR would remove their missiles from Cuba. Khrushchev agreed, both sides stood down, and the missiles were removed.

 

And the world wasn't incinerated.

 

But there's a part of the history that isn't well known.

 

At the height of what became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, US Navy ships dropped small depth charges on a submerged Soviet diesel-electric submarine B-59, trying to force it to surface.

 

B-59 had torpedoes aboard with nuclear warheads. Such a torpedo could sink any ship afloat just by exploding nearby; in fact it could wipe out a small task force if the ships were close enough.

 

The submarine was far below the surface, running low on air and battery power. Firing a nuclear torpedo required the three senior officers to agree. They couldn't ask Moscow for permission because their radio didn't work underwater - in fact, they had no idea whether war had already broken out.

 

Two of the senior officers wanted to fire the nuclear torpedo and wipe out the US Navy vessels. But one officer would not agree, despite the other two arguing that they had to use the "special weapon", even if doing so would probably start an all out nuclear war between the USA and USSR. In the end, that officer, Vasily Arkhipov, prevented the use of the nuclear torpedo.

 

The submarine surfaced and that confrontation at sea ended. His name is all but unknown. Yet those who analyzed the Cuban Missile Crisis say he saved the world.

 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Arkhipov_(vice_admiral)

Edited October 17, 2020 by ehsnils

[boxkita]

interesting. can't link to the correct link.

 

nice writeup. Where'd you find it?

[whitexc]

Certainly some interesting info there. Thanks for posting.

 

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

[ehsnils]

interesting. can't link to the correct link.

 

nice writeup. Where'd you find it?

Found it on another forum I visit. Maybe the link works now, seems like this forum has the dumbs when interpreting some pasted links.

[nevets27]

Yeah, definitely an interesting read. Thanks for posting.

[JmP6889928]

Another unknown hero of which there are many. So many of them did so much and never received any recognition. Thank God for those people willing to do the right thing in the face of adversity.

 

Thanks for that information Nils.

[MaasaiWarrior]

Interesting read there, even more on the wiki page.

 

So many of us probably wouldn't be here if he thought/acted differently in that situation.