The Man who Saved the World

Photo courtesy of BBC Broadcasting. Copyright 2012.

“A guy called Vasili Arkhipov saved the world.” –  Thomas Blanton in 2002 (then director of the National Security Archive)

Last month, October 27, 1962 marked the 50th anniversary of an event too important in world history for it to get lost amid the Halloween and other “trivial” holiday-related notifications. I therefore chose to wait until they were over to pay due honor to this truly great and heroic gentleman who is sadly almost unknown outside his mother country: Vasili Arkhipov.

At the nail-biting height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, second-in-command Vasili Arkhipov of the Soviet submarine B-59 adamantly refused to follow his commanding officers’ order to launch nuclear torpedoes against USA warships which had been dropping depth charges near his submarine in a attempt to force it to surface.

Soviet submarine B-59, forced to the surface by U.S. Naval forces in the Caribbean near Cuba. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia. Copyright 2012.

What the USA military intelligence agency failed to make those warships aware of was that Arkhipov’s Soviet submarine was armed with nuclear torpedoes that – had those torpedoes been launched – might well have resulted in a terminal superpower nuclear war!

The Soviet officers, having lost radio contact with Moscow, wrongly concluded that World War 3 had begun. At that point, two of the officers agreed to “blast the warships out of the water.” It was then that Arkhipov made his heroic decision to refuse to agree. Thankfully, according to Russian military law, the unanimous consent of three officers was required to activate that decision.

Thanks solely to the bravery and genuine humanitarian concerns of Vasili Arkhipov we are all here today to talk about this pivotal event in 20th Century history, and thanks to the BBC’s documentary ‘Vasili Arkhipov: the Man who Saved the World’ his full story is finally told for all the world to hear!

Gravesite of Vasili Arkhipov in Russia. Photo courtesy of Find a Grave. Copyright 2012.

Grave Marker of Vasili Arkhipov. Photo courtesy of Find a Grave. Copyright 2012.

Photo and info courtesy of Wikipedia: Native name Василий Александрович Архипов
Born 30 January 1926
Staraya Kupavna, Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union
Died 19 August 1998 (aged 72)
Zheleznodorozhny, Moscow Oblast
Allegiance Soviet Union
Service/branch Soviet Navy
Years of service 1945–1980s
Rank Vice admiral
Battles/wars
World War II
Cuban Missile Crisis
Awards
Order of the Red Banner
Order of the Red Star

I will keep you abreast of news regarding it’s air date/time in the USA. When it is aired, all I ask is that wherever you are please join me in raising a glass of vodka in salute to Vasili Arkhipov: THE MAN WHO SAVED THE WORLD!