“We’re under attack!” a sailor shouts from the bridge of a Soviet sub. The XO runs to the radar
station. The entire submarine is bathed in a red glow from the low-energy protocols
that have been put in place as the sub hides from American destroyers.
The whole vessel shakes as depth charges explode all around it. Captain Valentin Savitsky pauses
as a million thoughts race through his head. Sweat trickles down the side of
his face. “Arm the nuke,” Savitsky says. For a moment, everyone in the sub goes silent. This
decision will turn the Cold War hot and could result in the destruction of the entire world.
Weeks earlier, four Foxtrot class submarines left the USSR and headed for Cuba. The journey
was long, and the quarters were cramped. But this is nothing compared to what one of the crews will
face in the coming weeks. And it all started when Fidel Castro and Nikita Khrushchev came to
an agreement that resulted in the construction of nuclear missile delivery systems in Cuba.
Each of the four The Soviet subs carried a nuclear warhead that would be delivered to
Cuba to be set up at one of the newly constructed launch sites.
Before they left, the captains were given specific orders to head to Cuba and stop at nothing. They
were also told that if war broke out, they should use their nukes to destroy American targets. This
was only supposed to be done if direct orders were received from Soviet Command. But, the submarine
captains were also given permission to use their best judgment if communications went down, and
all three commanding officers aboard the vessel agreed that the nuclear weapon needed to be used.
As Savitsky’s sub, designated B-59, and the three other Soviet submarines crossed the Atlantic,
they enjoyed a relatively peaceful journey. But as they approached the warm,
turquoise waters of the Caribbean, they were greeted by a U.S. Naval blockade.
It was October 14, 1962, when an American U-2 spy plane flew over Cuba and took photos of a
Soviet SS-4 medium-range ballistic missile site being assembled. If nukes ever made it to Cuba,
the Communists would have nuclear missiles sitting only 90 miles off the coast of Florida. This would
mean that the Soviet Union would be able to hit targets all along the east coast of the
United States, which would be a huge blow to U.S. defenses and could shift the tide of the Cold War.
The United States and their allies already had nuclear missiles just
outside the borders of the USSR in countries in Western Europe and Turkey.
This obviously had Khrushchev and the rest of the leaders of the Soviet Union on edge.
Establishing nuclear launch sites in Cuba would even the playing field for them. President Kennedy
met with his advisors. He talked to military strategists. No matter what choice he made,
there would be dire consequences if something went wrong. And at this point, the consequences
would be sending the world into nuclear war and the annihilation of the human species.
Kennedy laid awake in bed, staring at the ceiling, grappling with the new information regarding the
missile sites in Cuba. He made his decision. Nuclear weapons could not reach Cuba. He ordered
a Naval blockade around the island. As Soviet ships approached, everyone held their breath.
The moment had come; either war would break out, or the Soviets would stand down.
The Soviet ships continued forward. They got closer and close to the blockade.
The U.S. destroyers and aircraft carriers armed their weapons and prepared for battle. The Soviet
fleet was so close that the American sailors could see enemy sailors running across the deck.
Then it happened.
The Soviet ships reversed their engines and came to a stop.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief. The U.S. forces were told to stand down and wait.
There would be no war today, but noone could predict what would happen in the days to come.
The commanders in the Caribbean messaged the White House and kept them updated on what was
transpiring just south of Florida. Kennedy and his advisors told the officers of the
blockade to hold the line and remain vigilant. Just because the Soviet ships stopped in front
of the blockade it didn’t mean that they weren’t trying to sneak submarines through the blockade.
When the Soviet fleet encountered the U.S. Naval ships, they informed Soviet command.
The Foxtrot subs that were carrying the nuclear warheads to Cuba were ordered to dive and maintain
radio silence. They could still hear radio broadcasts coming from the United States,
but they knew these communications couldn’t be trusted. Even if war broke out, the Americans
would likely try and trick the subs by making them think everything was okay to lull them
into a false sense of security. The commanders of each Foxtrot submarine gave the order to descend
into the depths of the Atlantic. They would continue towards Cuba but would not break the
surface again until they either had made it past the blockade or they believed the war had begun.
Now, sparks fly, and bolts burst off the walls of the Foxtrot submarine
that Valentin Savitsky commands. It is time to make a drastic decision. The Americans
are dropping depth charges all around his sub, putting the lives of his crew at risk.
It seems as if the Americans know that the B-59 is somewhere in the vicinity
but can’t quite pinpoint them. The sub has been hiding for days without any incident,
but something has now changed above the surface. Savitsky wonders if war has broken out. If it has,
he needs to breach the surface and fire his nuke at the closest American target. To give
himself and his crew more time, Savitsky orders the sub to dive even deeper. Now the Soviets are
so far underwater that they can’t even pick up radio signals generated directly above them.
The Americans have no idea that the sub is carrying a tactical nuke,
so if the B-59 does suffer a direct hit, things could go very bad very quickly.
If the sub ascends to the surface, it only needs a few moments before it can fire.
Savitsky makes up his mind. He and his crew have been stuck in the metal tube deep
underwater for days. The temperature is well above 100 degrees due to a broken air conditioning unit,
and crew members are constantly passing out from the intense heat and exhaustion.
The Foxtrot subs were made for cruising through the frigid waters of the arctic,
not the Caribbean. The carbon dioxide is building up within the submarine; the only way to alleviate
the heat and replenish oxygen levels is by surfacing. Savitsky is afraid that an American
ship will either capture or destroy them if he does this without being prepared to fire his nuke.
Then suddenly, the entire sub shakes violently. A depth charge has detonated just off the side
of the vessel. The crew is thrown off their feet. Fires break out around the submarine.
A crew member rises from the ground of the torpedo room, ears ringing, and grabs
a fire extinguisher. He desperately sprays the flames that are approaching the torpedo tubes.
Men scramble back to their stations. Although the depth charge was incredibly close,
the blast didn’t rupture the hull of the sub. It’s at this moment that Valentin
Savitsky decides he is going to fire his nuke. It will kill him and his crew, but it
also will take out the eleven U.S. destroyers and the aircraft carrier in the vicinity.
Savitsky can’t be sure that the Soviet Union and the United States are at war,
but the amount of depth charges being dropped indicates that whatever is happening on the
surface can’t be good. He is willing to take the risk of launching his nuke, even if it’s the spark
that ignites a nuclear war. Savitsky tells his officers what they are about to do. He still needs
the other two officers on board to agree with him before he can activate the warhead and fire it.
He turns to one of the senior officers and asks for his support. The man nods
his head in support. It appears that this is actually going to happen;
Savitsky orders his men to start preparing the nuke for launch.
Throughout the journey, an armed guard has been posted outside the hatch that leads to
where the nuclear warhead is located. The soldiers are there to ensure that no one on
board can make any rash decisions or arm the nuclear device without the proper authority.
However, right now, it seems that Savitsky will get the other officers to agree with
his plan to launch the nuke at the Americans. The guard remains vigilant but feels a deep
sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. He was put on board to protect the nuke,
but if the captain wants it bad enough, there is nothing he can do to stop him.
Captain Valentin Savitsky barks orders on the bridge of the submarine. He turns to the other
senior officer, whose name is Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov. He informs Arkhipov that he is going to
launch the nuke at the first U.S. ship they see upon surfacing. Arkhipov looks at him
without saying a word. Savitsky technically is not supposed to launch the nuke without his approval,
but the captain looks like he already made his mind up. And since he already has the support of
the other officer on the bridge, Arkhipov is the only thing that stands in his way.
Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov is 34 years old and has been serving in the Soviet Navy
for years. Is this how it all ends? he thinks. Arkhipov takes a deep breath and
thinks back to a time not too long ago when he was in another dire situation.
A year earlier, Vasili Arkhipov was aboard a Soviet submarine designated K-19. They were out
on a mission when warning sirens sounded across the sub. The sailors scrambled to their stations
as orders were shouted across the loudspeakers mounted on the walls. Arkhipov listened as the
captain informed the crew that the coolant system had failed and the nuclear reactor that powered
the sub was about to overheat and release huge amounts of radiation into the surrounding area.
This would not cause an explosion, but it would most certainly be deadly for the sub’s crew,
and it would cause them to be stuck in the middle of the ocean as radiation bombarded
their bodies. Arkhipov dashed through the sub's narrow corridors, dodging and jumping
over his fellow crewmates. He swung through the engine room doorway and began helping the
engineers jerry-rig a cooling system to lower the temperature of the core. Intense amounts
of radiation were dumped into the engine room and the surrounding areas, but Arkhipov didn’t stop.
If he stayed too long near the reactor, the radiation would surely kill him,
but if he didn’t help his crewmates, the overheated core would kill everyone on board.
They diverted coolant from other parts of the sub to the reactor and managed to get the temperature
down. The reactions within the core slowed down and eventually stabilized. Arkhipov and
the other crew members were declared heroes. But in the time since then, Arkhipov watched
as the men he helped repair the nuclear reactor with died one by one from radiation poisoning.
He knew that it was only a matter of time until the high dose of radiation would kill him as well,
but he would be damned if that influenced his decision in this moment that could lead to a
nuclear war. Arkhipov disagrees with Savitsky, but he wasn’t sure how to stop him. His captain
does not seem to be thinking rationally; it’s up to him to be the voice of reason.
“I don’t think the Americans are attacking us,” Arkhipov says to his captain. The entire bridge
goes quiet. Everyone turns to look at him. “Those depth charges aren’t normal. The explosions are
too small. Yes, they could damage the sub, but I don’t think that is the American’s intention.
They seem to be more of a signal that they know we’re down here and want us to come up.”
Savitsky glares at the officer who’s contradicting his orders. “Are you out
of your mind? The Americans are trying to kill us, and you want to talk to them?” He will not
be a disgrace to the Soviet Union by failing to carry out his duty and making sure the Americans
pay for everything they’ve done to stifle the growth and spread of the communist ideology.
“Continue prepping to launch the nuke!” Savitsky yells at the crew.
“Delay that order!” Arkhipov counters. He turns back towards Stavitsky. “Do I need to remind you,
sir, that you need my approval to launch the nuke?” Arkhipov asks calmly. “We are
not in danger; the Americans clearly know we’re here and just want to talk.
If they wanted us dead, we’d be dead already.” The crew watches tensely as
their captain and commanding officer stare at one another. There is about to be a war
within the submarine regardless of what is going on at the surface.
It’s a confusing time aboard B-59. The crew starts and stops their preparations
for the nuclear attack. Regardless of if they agree with their captain or their XO,
they need to follow orders. The problem is no one knows exactly what to do.
As this dilemma continues deep underwater, the American naval ships drop more depth
charges. These aren’t normal depth charges however, they are extremely low yield,
with about the power of a hand grenade. Unknown to the Soviets in B-59, Arkhipov is right; the U.S.
ships aren’t trying to destroy the submarine. They just want it to surface so that they can talk.
The sailors aboard the United States destroyer prepare another round of depth charges.
They are desperately trying to get the Soviet sub to come up so that they can enter talks.
They can’t allow the submarine to reach Cuba, so if it doesn’t come up, it must be stopped by
any means necessary. Unfortunately, neither the President of the United States nor the
naval officers of the ships in the Caribbean know there is a nuclear warhead aboard the submarine.
More and more depth charges are dropped into the choppy waters of the Caribbean Sea. Sailors
watch as water explodes up into the air after each bomb detonates. The Soviet sub is still on sonar,
which means they haven’t destroyed it yet, but it is still headed for Cuba,
and time is running out before a final decision needs to be made by the Americans.
Aboard the B-59, Vasili Arkhipov continues to keep his cool as the other two senior officers shout at
him. They are adamant that they need to surface and fire their nuke. But Arkhipov maintains that
the sub is not currently under attack. “We are not in danger, and if we fire on the Americans,
it will lead to the destruction of the world,” he states. The rest of the crew admires Arkhipov’s
level-headedness. He is winning over more and more of the men. This is not a mutiny but a discussion.
No one on board B-59 wants a nuclear war as they all have loved ones back in the Soviet Union,
but they also need to do their duty. If the war has already begun, the nuke should be launched.
But the case that Vasili Arkhipov makes is strong. The destroyer dropping the depth
charges seems only to be deploying them off the side of the submarine. This has been going
on for so long that it seems unlikely that the Americans are trying to destroy them.
With a whole fleet at the surface, the probability of sustaining a direct hit is insanely high.
It can no longer be denied that the Americans know that the B-59 is there,
so the small, off-target depth charges can only mean one thing:
come up and talk. Arkhipov's level-headedness and the points he brings up are starting to
resonate with the crew and the other officers. Captain Savitsky sits down in his chair and
puts his head in his hands, shaking it back and forth. “What do I do?” he says out loud.
Vasili Arkhipov places his hand on his captain’s shoulder. “We cannot fire our nuclear device
without knowing if war has broken out. We need to surface.” Savitsky sits in his chair for a moment,
breathing heavily. Everyone on the bridge holds their breath as they wait for their final orders.
Savitsky rises from his chair and scans the room. “Alright,
men, you heard what the XO said; disarm the nuke and prepare to ascend to the surface.”
A collective sigh of relief is heard on the bridge. Everyone gets back to their stations
and prepares for the sub to rise. Arkhipov smiles at his captain as he wipes sweat from his brow.
They don’t know exactly what will be waiting for them on the surface,
but he is almost positive it will not be war.
The sirens aborad the Soviet submarine scream as the ballast tanks fill with air.
B-59 begins its ascent towards the surface. The crew is put on high alert and armthemselves to
make sure they are prepared for anything. The nuclear device remains disarmed;
the guard outside the storage room checks his weapon. If the Americans do board the vessel,
they cannot be allowed to see what’s inside of the room he guards. The secrets of the Soviet
Union must be maintained, and he is willing to lay down his life to ensure that happens.
The Soviet submarine ascends higher and higher. They begin picking up radio signals once again.
There is no sign that the world is at war. The communication and radio
signals they are picking up seem normal. Suddenly the nose of the sub breaks the
surface. The vessel lands back in the water like a breaching whale.
It sits at the surface of the ocean as a U.S. destroyer slowly approaches it.
The American ship slows its engines and comes to a full stop only a few hundred feet away.
Within the sub, everyone is quiet as they watch their captain and Vasili Arkhipov walk towards
the hatch. They turn the locking wheel, and it unlatches with a clang. A sailor pushes
the heavy hatch open, flooding the submarine with fresh air. Steam rises out of the sub
as the hundred-degree air empties into the cool breeze of the Caribbean Sea.
The officers of B-59 exit the submarine and stand on its hull.
The American destroyer does not fire. The men on board watch them but do not have their weapons
raised. It appears that Arkhipov was right, and all they wanted to do was talk. The captain of
the destroyer picks up the radio mic and begins speaking. One of the crew members translates
the message into Russian. The Americans explain that they have a blockade around Cuba and that no
Soviet vessels can pass until the negotiations between the two countries are completed.
The captain aboard the destroyer also makes it clear that they do not intend to board the
Soviet vessel or inspect their cargo. The American ship was only instructed to escort the Soviet sub
back to the blockade line where everyone else is waiting. Savitsky turns to Arkhipov with a frown.
“You were right,” he says. “I almost started a war that could have ended the world.”
By keeping a level head and analyzing all available data,
Arkhipov was able to save the lives of millions from an inadvertent nuclear war. The United
States would not know for over 50 years that there was a nuclear device onboard the B-59.
If Vasili Arkhipov had not been aboard B-59, it’s very likely that the Cold War would have
turned hot, and World War III would have begun in October of 1962. With the absence of Arkhipov and
his critical thinking, captain Valentin Savitsky may have had a different officer who would have
gone along with his plan to nuke the Americans. The Soviet sub would have risen to the surface,
sighted the U.S. destroyer, and fired their nuke at it. In an instant, the destroyer, B-59, and
every other ship and living thing in the vicinity would have been vaporized in the nuclear blast.
Since Savitsky would not have had time to communicate with the Soviet Union before
making this rash decision, no one would have known what happened or who fired first. The
United States would think Khrushchev had ordered the attack and would immediately retaliate.
Khrushchev would have no idea that it was his sub who launched an unprovoked
nuke at the Americans. He would see the United States and their allies mobilizing along the
border and firing nukes at the Soviet Union. This would prompt him to launch his own nuclear
missiles at strategic locations across Europe, resulting in mutually assured destruction.
The world would be thrown into an all-out war where there would be no winners.
The entire surface of the planet would either be consumed in nuclear blasts or covered in
radiation. Nuclear winter would begin only a few months after the nukes stopped dropping
and would engulf the planet. It would be an extinction-level event for many species,
including humans. However, several years after the Soviet Union and
the United States wiped out most of humanity and life on Earth, the planet would recover.
After B-59 was escorted back to the blockade and negotiations continued between the USSR
and the United States, it was decided that the Soviet ships and submarines would return to the
Soviet Union. The Cuban Missile Crisis came to an end, but tensions remained high. It’s not
entirely clear what happened to Vasili Arkhipov when he returned home. Records indicate that he
was promoted, but other than that, little is known about the role he played in the following years.
Looking back on the Cold War, we can now say he was a hero who saved us all. Sadly,
his heroism would eventually cost him his life as the years went by. Many of the men who were aboard
the K-19 died from radiation sickness within two years of the accident. Vasili Arkhipov lived until
1998 before dying of kidney cancer. There is little doubt that the cancer was caused by the
radiation he was exposed to during his heroic act of repairing the reactor aboard the K-19.
Nuclear weapons and nuclear energy can be incredibly dangerous. This is why it
is so important that multiple people be involved in the decision-making process
when determining if nukes should be used. Without Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov,
you would most likely not be alive today to watch this video. He may be one of the most
important people in history that only a handful of people actually know about.
Now watch “Most Feared Soldier - The One-Man Army with 116 Kills.”
Or check out “Real Reason Why The Soviet Union Collapsed.”