Vasily Arkhipov was born on the 30th of January, 1926, just outside of Moscow. After attending a couple of naval schools and serving in the Soviet-Japanese war in 1945, he graduated two years later in 1947. Quickly becoming a member of the Soviet navy, joining submarine crews in the Black and Baltic seas, he would not see much action or drama until over a decade later

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While Vasily did encounter a potentially fatal accident in 1961, that is not what I am here to showcase. In late 1962, the Cuban missile crisis occured. The USA was frightened by Soviet missiles being shipped to Cuba that had the potential to hit major cities on the mainland. Despite this largely being a response to American missiles positioned (mostly) in Turkey, the US was not happy about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once this Cuban missile crisis began, the US stated that it would forcefully search any Soviet vessel heading into Cuba, and sink any that did not comply.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, in October of 1962, Vasily was the chief of staff for a Soviet flotilla of submarines in the Caribbean. After detecting, and also being detected by, an American destroyer group, they proceeded with a dive as an evasive maneuver. This had put them too deep to have any effective radio communications, cutting them off from any word from Moscow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The American destroyer fleet began to release depth charges in an attempt to have the submarine surface and identify itself. However, this had caused the captain to assume that total war had broken out and they should respond by firing a torpedo with a nuclear warhead. Uniquely, this submarine with three senior officers had to unanimously endorse the launch of such an attack, with the political advisor agreeing with the captain's choice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vasily, the chief of staff and the third senior officer, disagreed. He refused to authorize the nuclear torpedo launch and suggested that they surface to make light of the whole situation, instead of being rash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vasily Arkhipov is a hero, credited with single handedly averting the closest we ever came to all out nuclear war. His level headed demeanor and refusal to bend in such a high stakes scenario is commendable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading! I hope to cover other figures in history that made a big impact! If you want to check out some free crypto apps/sites I use and support me then check out the links below! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~jday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free BTC hourly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free BCH hourly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free LTC hourly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free XNO hourly