The man who saved the world: The Soviet submariner who single-handedly averted WWIII at height of the Cuban Missile Crisis By LEON WATSON PUBLISHED: 13:34, 25 September 2012 | UPDATED: 22:05, 25 September 2012 He was the man who saved the world by single-handedly averting World War Three with one decision 50 years ago - yet he died humiliated, outcast and an unknown. But now, his story has come to light. A documentary shown tonight told how for 13 days during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the world held its breath as the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. stood on the brink of nuclear war. At the height of the Cold War, when paranoia on both sides meant the slightest provocation could spark nuclear war, four submarines secretly set sail from Russia to communist Cuba. Only a handful of the submariners on board knew that their ships carried nuclear weapons, each with the strength of the bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945. Vasili Arkhipov, aboard the sub B59, was one of them. As his craft neared Cuba, U.S. helicopters, aeroplanes and battleships were scouring the ocean for Russian subs. In a game of high stakes cat and mouse it wasn't long before the Russians were spotted. Arkhipov's sub was forced to make an emergency dive. As the submariners tried to stay hidden from their US hunters, conditions in the sub deteriorated. For a week they stayed underwater, in sweltering 60C heat, rationed to just one glass of water a day. Above them, the U.S. navy were 'hunting by exhaustion' - trying to force the Soviet sub to come to the surface to recharge its batteries. They had no idea that on board the submarines were weapons capable of destroying the entire American fleet. Gary Slaughter, a signalman on board the USS Cony battleship, said: 'We knew they were probably having trouble breathing. It was hot as hell in there, they were miserable. 'They were cramped together and they had been under great stress for a long time. Basically what we were trying to do was apply passive torture. Frankly I don't think we felt any sympathy for them at all. They were the enemy.' The Americans decided to ratchet up the pressure, and dropped warning grenades into the sea. Inside the sub, the Soviet submariners thought they were under attack. Valentin Savitsky, the captain of B59, was convinced the nuclear war had already started. He demanded that the submariners launch their torpedo to save some of Russia's pride. The programme on Channel 5 revealed how in any normal circumstances Savitsky's orders would have been followed, and World War Three would have been unleashed. But Savitsky hadn't counted on Arkhipov. As commander of the fleet, Arkhipov had the last veto. And although his men were against him, he insisted that they must not fire - and instead surrender. Ryurik Ketov, commander of Sub B-4, said: âVasili Arkhipov was a submariner and a close friend of mine. He was a family friend. He stood out for being cool-headed. He was in control.â It was a humiliating move - but one that saved the world. The Soviet submariners were forced to return to their native Russia, where they were given the opposite of a hero's welcome. Historian Thomas Blanton told the Sun: 'What heroism, what duty, they fulfilled to go halfway across the world and come back, and survive. 'But in fact, one of the Russian admirals told the submariners; "It would have been better if you'd gone down with your ship." Extraordinary.' It took years before the story of what really happened on the B59 sub was discovered. It was after, Arkipov had died in 1998 from radiation poisoning. But to his widow Olga, he was always a hero. She said: ''He knew that it was madness to fire the nuclear torpedo. In Cuba, in honour of the 40th anniversary of the crisis, people gathered. âThey said that the person who prevented a nuclear war was the Russian submariner Vasili Arkhipov. I was proud and I am proud of my husband always.â <img src='http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/09/25/article-2208342-1532E0B7000005DC-373_634x423.jpg'> Proud: Arkopov's widow Olga said: 'I was proud and I am proud of my husband, always.' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...eight-Cuban-Missile-Crisis.html#ixzz27WJW7aFQ Interesting...
Sometimes heroes are born from their actions. Other times they are born for their restraint and cool thinking at a time of great tribulation. If this story is true, Vasili Arkhipov is not just a Soviet hero, he is a hero of the entire world.
I'm pretty sure it's true, seems I've heard some of it before. There was another similar instance in the 80's I believe when a low ranking Russian officer ignored orders to launch ICBM's against us. He suspected their warning system was malfunctioning, he was right.