The Man Who Saved the World

If I walked up to a hundred different people and asked them to identify Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov, I'd probably get a hundred different quizzical looks followed by a hundred different versions of "I dunno." And if I'm being honest, my reaction to the same question would have been identical until a week ago. Mr. Arkhipov's story seems to have been largely lost to history. That's too bad.  Truth is, were it not for the bold actions of this anonymous Russian, there's a very good chance that none of us would be here today.

Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov was born, best we can tell, on January 30, 1926.  He grew up in a time filled with more political and social unrest than most of us could imagine. The Bolshevik party had overthrown the royal family nine years earlier, and the newly formed Soviet Union was fast becoming a world power. Tensions were simmering with Japan in the east and Germany in the west. Arkhipov, like many Russian youths, aspired to fight for his country and enrolled in naval school.  He served in the war against Japan as a minesweeper and moved up through the ranks, reaching the rank of deputy commander (second-in-command) of a rather infamous Soviet sub, the Hotel class K-19 (Google if you're curious).  After the K-19 incident, Arkhipov was transferred to the Foxtrot class submarine B-59 (also nuclear equipped).

Allow me to set the stage at this point:  The year is now 1962.  The Cold War is at its frigid height, and relations between the United States and the Soviet Union are at all-time lows. Cuba's government has recently been overthrown by a Communist regime, and the Russians have outfitted the island with nuclear missiles capable of striking any place in North America.  America's failure in the recent Bay of Pigs invasion has emboldened the Russians even further.  Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev has no respect for John F. Kennedy, considering him to be, in his own words, "too young, intellectual, not prepared well for decision making in crisis situations ... too intelligent and too weak."  Operations have already commenced on both sides in preparation for war. Two American U-2 recon planes have been shot down over Cuba and Siberia, and American and Russian fighters have engaged in various skirmishes. To make a long situation short, both countries are armed to the teeth with enough nuclear power to resurrect the Stone Age, and both have itchy trigger fingers.

Amidst all this, on October 17, 1962, eleven American destroyers and an aircraft carrier corner the previously mentioned Soviet submarine B-59 off the coast of Cuba.  The American ships, unaware of the nature of the B-59's cargo, surrounded her and began dropping practice depth charges in an attempt to make her surface.   Unfortunately, the crew of the B-59 didn't know this.  They only knew that explosions were going off all around them.  Temperatures on board the B-59 rose to above 120 degrees, alarms sounded, and panic ensued.  Captain Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky assumed that war had begun and gave the order to prepare return fire - with nuclear-tipped weapons.

Now, despite what Cold War propagandists from this country might have you believe, the Russians were actually capable of reason and restraint.  Since firing a nuclear missile was kind of a big deal, doing so required the unanimous approval of the three highest ranking officials onboard the sub.  And so, a meeting was held. As we know, Captain Savitsky was ready to fire. The political officer, Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, gave his approval as well.  All that was needed was the approval of the deputy commander - Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov. Arkhipov's actions in this situation are so unbelievable, so incredible, that one would be hard-pressed to attribute them to anything other than the hand of God himself. Vasili Arkhipov, the third-in-command, defied his superiors and refused to approve the launch of nuclear weapons. He pointed out to his superiors that the conditions for nuclear strike, a rupture of the sub's hull, had not yet occurred . Instead, he insisted that they surface the sub and wait for further orders from Moscow.  After a lengthy argument, Arkhipov was able to calm his superiors and the sub surfaced without attacking.

Stop for a moment and consider the magnitude of Arkhipov's actions.  This man single-handedly prevented a full-scale nuclear war.  Had Arkhipov agreed with his superiors and authorized the launch, the United States would have retaliated with a far greater return strike.  The Soviets would have then responded with more nuclear force, and tens of millions of Americans and Russians would have needlessly died.  Anything that survived the initial explosions would have probably died off due to radiation.  Yet, in the face of incredible adversity and stress, Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov kept a level head.  He literally saved the world. Thankfully, the United States and Russia quickly realized the potential disaster that had been averted and acted accordingly. The Russians removed their nukes from Cuba (ending the Cuban Missile Crisis), and the United States took down nuclear missles they had stationed in Turkey (we weren't innocent either).  

The intensity and drama of the Cold War era is long gone now.   Russia and the United States are on much better terms, and nuclear weaponry is down considerably from its height in the 60s and 70s.  We survived the Cold War unscathed.  Politicians, presidents, and premiers deserve some of the credit.  But perhaps the most credit of all is due to a man who defied fear, his superiors, and his peers and kept his cool under pressure.  Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov stood between us and nuclear war. I'm glad he didn't move.