According to Orlov, Captain Savitsky was ready to strike, and so was the zampolit (political officer). My father, Vasili Arkhipov, was Chief of Staff of the 69th Submarine Brigade of the Northern Fleet when, in October 1962, he was commissioned by the Navy High Command to undertake a top secret mission. And the most dangerous day in human history may well have been one of our last. Those who are free from their shifts, are sitting immobile, staring at one spot. He could have died there. President John F. Kennedy ordered the U.S. Navy to blockade Cuba, and Nikita Khrushchev reacted by sending four diesel-powered Foxtrot submarines, each equipped with a nuclear torpedo, to Cubas waters. Hes going to sea! was all he added. - in Amazing Humans. The submarine surfaced and, satisfied that all-out war had not actually been taking place above, turned around and went on its way. That was 1945 and my father was deputy commander of Military Brigade 1. Soviet Naval officer Vasili Arkhipov, 34, was one of the three commanders aboard the B-59 submarine near Cuba on Oct. 27. Two of the vessels senior officers including the captain, Valentin Savitsky wanted to launch the missile. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. My father, Vasili Arkhipov, was Chief of Staff of the 69th Submarine Brigade of the Northern Fleet when, in October 1962, he was commissioned by the Navy High Command to undertake a top secret mission. The most dangerous of all those days the day when our species likely came closer than any other to wiping itself off the face of the Earth came 60 years ago today, on October 27, 1962. Vasili Aleksandrovit Arhipov (ven. ) (30. tammikuuta 1926 Moskovan alue - 19. elokuuta 1998 Moskovan alue) oli venlinen Neuvostoliiton laivaston sukellusveneupseeri, arvoltaan vara-amiraali.Arhipov osallistui nuoresta istn huolimatta toiseen maailmansotaan ja palveli muun muassa K-19-sukellusveneell. The 139-man-strong crew among whom was my father prevented an ecological catastrophe of unimaginable magnitude and saved the world from nuclear disaster. Had Vasili Arkhipov not been there to prevent the torpedo launch, historians agree that nuclear war would likely have begun. Aptly, the U.S. National Security Archive has dubbed Arkhipov a man who " saved the world.". Arkhipov was a Soviet submarine officer. The Cuban missile crisis was over. Soviet Naval officer Vasili Arkhipov, 34, was one of the three commanders aboard the B-59 submarine near Cuba on Oct. 27. He knew what he was doing. War was just a step away. With no orders or news from Moscow for a week, under tremendous strain and in the appalling conditions, Captain Savitsky suddenly cracked and announced that he was going to use the Special Weapon. So nothing further was said at home about his deployment. The officers had to decide whether to fight back or not. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1975, and became head of the Kirov Naval Academy. While the action was designed to . February 18, 2023. It is clear that he is very unhappy about journalist Alexander Mozgovoy's revelation (based on Vadim Orlov's account) of the near-use of the nuclear torpedo, which he sees as part of the plot to . You can become a Princes Trust Riser by donating just 20 per month to the scheme. No nuclear weapon has been used in war since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Two of the subs senior officers wanted to launch the nuclear torpedo. The second captain, Ivan Maslennikov, approved the strike. He was heading to Cuba onboard the submarine B-59, leading the flotilla of four USSR submarines, when US destroyers started dropping depth charge to force it . Nikolai Zateyev, the commander of the submarine K-19 at the time of its onboard nuclear accident, died on 28 August 1998. His political officer agreed, and both reached for their keys. The three officers who were authorized to launch this torpedo, which included Arkhipov, the captain, and the vessels political officer, Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, quickly reviewed their options. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. In a situation as complex and pressured as the Cuban missile crisis, when both sides were operating with limited information, a ticking clock, and tens of thousands of nuclear warheads (most, it should be noted, possessed by the US), no single act was truly definitive for war or peace. The Soviets wanted to shore up their nuclear strike capabilities against the U.S. (which had recently placed missiles in Turkey, bordering the Soviet Union, as well as Italy) and the Cubans wanted to prevent the Americans from attempting another invasion of the island like the unsuccessful one theyd launched in April 1961. [2] The radiation to which Arkhipov had been exposed in 1961 may have contributed to his kidney cancer, like many others who served with him in the K-19 accident.[16]. Very difficult. Six decades ago, the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the very brink of nuclear holocaust. Copyright 2012-2023 The Gentleman's Journal. On that day, Arkhipov was serving aboard the nuclear-armed Soviet submarine B-59 in international waters near Cuba. For world peace! And the person who likely did more than anyone else to prevent that dangerous day from becoming an existential catastrophe was a quiet Soviet naval officer named Vasili Arkhipov. Vasili Aleksandrovich Arkhipov was a Soviet Navy officer credited with preventing a nuclear strike and potentially all-out nuclear war and the total destruction of the world during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when he refused to launch a nuclear torpedo from submarine B-59 as flotilla chief of staff, going the against the orders of submarine captain Valentin Grigorievitch . As flotilla Commodore as well as executive officer of the diesel powered submarine B-59, Arkhipov refused to authorize the captain and the political officer's use of nuclear torpedoes against the United States Navy, a decision which required the agreement of all three officers. It was fall and it was cold. The story of Vasili Arkhipov was shown on BBC's documentary "Vasili Arkhipov: the Man who Saved the World." . ARKHIPOV chronicles the journey of B-59, the vessel at the center of the opera, and the events leading up to the fulcrum of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Easy. VASILI ARKHIPOV: THE GUY WHO SAVED THE WORLD. This required the men to work in high radiation levels for extended periods. You must understand that everything was top secret. Kennedy responded by imposing a quarantine zone, and a terrified world waited to see if the Soviet freighters carrying new missiles would turn back. To the most powerful leaders in the world I want to say: Stop the nuclear arms race! Two years later he graduated from the Caspian Higher Naval School, serving in the Black Sea and . Elena Andriukova: To those people who consider my father a coward I want to say: You havent experienced what he had to go through. From the very beginning, the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 threatened world-scale disaster. The torpedo was never fired. B-4 Captain Ryurik Ketov's recollection during a 2001 Russian television interview was: "The only person who talked to us about those weapons was Vice-Admiral Rassokha. [29], In 2002, Thomas S. Blanton, the director of the U.S. National Security Archive, said that Arkhipov "saved the world". In accordance with our guiding principle Sign for Peace and Security! we want to take a stand on the issue of protecting and strengthening peace, security and stability. In this same interview, Olga alludes to her husband's possible superstitious beliefs as well . And the subsequent similar actions (there were 12 overflights altogether) were not as worrisome any longer. Dr Jonathan Colman, an expert on the Cuban missile crisis at the University of Central Lancashire, agreed that the award was fitting. On 27 October 1962, Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov was on board the Soviet submarine B-59 near Cuba when the US forces began dropping non-lethal depth charges. a report from the US National Security Archive. For his courage, Arkhipov was the first person to be given the Future of Life award by the Cambridge-based existential risk nonprofit the Future of Life Institute (FLI), in 2017. Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov (Russian: ) IPA: [vsilj lksandrvt arxipf] (30 January 1926 - 19 August 1998) was a Soviet Navy officer credited with casting the single vote that prevented a Soviet nuclear strike (and presumably all out nuclear war) during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It seems that Arkhipov talked Savitsky down from his decision and was rewarded for his actions, back in his homeland. But the third officer, captain Vasily Arkhipov, who was in charge of the whole flotilla, convinced his colleagues that launching a nuclear torpedo was too dangerous a decision to make. [11] It surfaced amid the US warships pursuing it and made contact with a US destroyer. [19], Robert McNamara, US Secretary of Defense at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, stated in 2002 that "We came very, very close [to nuclear war], closer than we knew at the time. Those on board did not know whether war had broken out or not. : Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov, : , 1926130 - 1998819 . - May 11, 2021. Anderson was the first and only casualty of the crisis, an event that could have led to war had President Kennedy not concluded that the order to fire had not been given by Soviet Premier Nikolai Khrushchev. To receive the latest in style, watches, cars and luxury news, plus receive great offers from the worlds greatest brands every Friday. Something went wrong. B-59 surfaced, demanding the American ships to stop their provocations. Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov (Russian: , IPA:[vsilj lksandrvt arxipf], 30 January 1926 19 August 1998) was a Soviet Naval officer who prevented a Soviet nuclear torpedo launch during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He is known for casting the single vote that prevented a Soviet nuclear strike (and, presumably, all-out nuclear war) during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Vasily Arkhipov facts. Here is the story and biography of the Soviet Naval Officer who saved the world from nuclear war during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crises between the US and the Soviet Union. This incident, it can be safely assumed, had a profound effect on Arkhipov. Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the Nobel peace prize-winning organisation, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said Arkhipovs actions were a reminder of how the world had teetered on the brink of disaster. [2] After a few days of conducting exercises off the south-east coast of Greenland, the submarine developed an extreme leak in its reactor coolant system. By Oct. 28, the Americans had agreed to remove their missiles from Turkey and the Soviets had agreed to remove their missiles from Cuba. Will you support Voxs explanatory journalism? It felt like you were sitting in a metal barrel, which somebody is constantly blasting with a sledgehammer.. So yes, I do worry just like practically all of the other inhabitants of our planet! This presentation is the only known public statement by Vasily Arkhipov about the events on submarine B-59 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Between October 16 and October 28, 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis saw the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a potentially cataclysmic standoff. It is with this in mind, Gentlemen, that we introduce you to our new contributor, Donough OBrien, who will be imparting his wisdom on obscure and unknown Gentlemen from throughout history withextractsfrom his book Who? The most remarkable people youve never heard of. Over the course of two years, 15 more sailors died from the after-effects. In this same interview, Olga alluded to her husband's possible superstitious beliefs as well. The detonation of this weapon formed a huge plume of radioactive water from its detonation force of some 4.8 kilotonnes. This website uses cookies. He acted like a man who knew what kind of disasters can come from radiation, she said. He lay in a Navy hospital in Leningrad, having survived the events unhurt. During World War two he served on a minesweeper fighting against the Japanese in the Pacific and after attending the Caspian Higher Naval School from . Only after his return did my father tell my mother where he had been, but without giving any details. [24][25] Similarly, Denzel Washington's character in Crimson Tide (1995) is an officer who refused to affirm the launch orders of a submarine captain. 75, October 31 Vasili was born to a poor, peasant family near the Russian capital, Moscow on 30th January 1926. [28] Offered by the Future of Life Institute, this award recognizes exceptional measures, often performed despite personal risk and without obvious reward, to safeguard the collective future of humanity. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. That close call sobered both leaders, leading them to open back-channel negotiations that eventually led to a withdrawal of Soviet missiles in Cuba, a later pullback of US missiles in Turkey in response, and the end of the closest the world has yet come to total nuclear war. Online. It was the height of the Cuban missile crisis, which began earlier that month when a US U-2 spy plane spotted evidence of newly built installations on Cuba, where it turned out that Soviet military advisers were helping to build sites capable of launching nuclear missiles at the US, less than 100 miles away. Please consider making a one-time contribution to Vox today. Temperature in the sections is above 50 [122F].. Vasily Sergeyevich Arkhipov (Russian: ; 29 December [O.S. According to a report from the US National Security Archive, Savitsky exclaimed: Were gonna blast them now! In the Seven questions to category we furthermore put seven questions on the issues of peace-building and peace-keeping, security policy and conflict prevention to interesting personalities.