Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: TwinBoom on November 02, 2012, 05:33:24 PM
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50 years ago , at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, second-in-command Vasilli Arkhipov of the Soviet submarine B-59 refused to agree with his Captain's order to launch nuclear torpedos against US warships and setting off what might well have been a terminal superpower nuclear war.
The US had been dropping depth charges near the submarine in an attempt to force it to surface, unaware it was carrying nuclear arms. The Soviet officers, who had lost radio contact with Moscow, concluded that World War 3 had begun, and 2 of the officers agreed to 'blast the warships out of the water'. Arkhipov refused to agree - unanimous consent of 3 officers was required - and thanks to him, we are here to talk about it.
His story is finally being told - the BBC is airing a documentary on it.
Raise a glass to Vasilli Arkhipov - the Man Who Saved the World.
(http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/5384/vasili.jpg)
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:salute
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Nobody could blame him had he gone the other way. After all, the U.S. warships were attacking with depth charges.
To me it sounds like he was mutinous and guilty of conduct unbecoming of an officer.
What a way to stumble into the history books huh?
:salute
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Nobody could blame him had he gone the other way. After all, the U.S. warships were attacking with depth charges.
To me it sounds like he was mutinous and guilty of conduct unbecoming of an officer.
What a way to stumble into the history books huh?
:salute
:huh
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- unanimous consent of 3 officers was required -
(http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/5384/vasili.jpg)
This means he had a choice, and made it. Thats not mutiny.
NOT
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This means he had a choice, and made it. Thats not mutiny.
NOT
Good point.
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Although he was the second in command of the Sub B59, he was also the commander of the Submarine Flotilla and held equal rank with the captain of B59.
There was no mutinous action there.
RTR
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Nobody could blame him had he gone the other way. After all, the U.S. warships were attacking with depth charges.
To me it sounds like he was mutinous and guilty of conduct unbecoming of an officer.
What a way to stumble into the history books huh?
:salute
The US was not attacking with depth charges. The US ships were dropping practice depth charges in order to signal the submarine to surface after trying to send radio messages but the US didn't know the submarine had lost communications.
In any event, I think we all owe a very large debt of gratitude towards Vasilli Arkhipov. It was also the event that forced Khrushchev to realize that he had potentially lost control of his forces and help end the Cuban Missile Crisis.
ack-ack
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:salute
Sucks he didn't get the recognition he deserved when he was still alive.
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I never knew this :salute :salute :salute
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The US ships were dropping practice depth charges in order to signal the submarine to surface
In the middle of World War 3, there isn't such a thing as "practice depth charges".
I understand the gravity of the situation.
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Interesting stuff. I never heard about that. Has the documentary already aired or is it something that is upcoming?
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Never heard this story before.
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The US was not attacking with depth charges. The US ships were dropping practice depth charges in order to signal the submarine to surface after trying to send radio messages but the US didn't know the submarine had lost communications.
ack-ack
Were the depth charges set to explode in morse code?
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It sounds very similiar to that sub movie with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman - I forget the name of it.
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It sounds very similiar to that sub movie with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman - I forget the name of it.
Crimson Tide.
Hopefully there were a lot less power plays and guns being brandished on the B-59 than on Crimson Tide's USS Alabama.
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Fascinating piece of History. Good Find. :aok
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Great post...I had no idea. This is the theme of that movie with Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington, Crimson Tide? I wonder how many other "little" moments during the Cold War we are not aware of. I am just learning about a near war in 1983.
Boo
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Awesome story.
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I'm going to raise several glasses (and a couple of bottles) if that's alright with you?
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The US destroyers were not only dropping practice depth charges, but they were also dropping grenades off the side. They were having a merry old time since they knew the diesel sub had to come up some time for air.
What they didn 't know was the B59 had one nuke torpedo on board.
The Russians knew they were not under actual attack, but being forced to surface, (or in their view surrender Russia's honor). However the psychological state on the sub had deteriorated badly, due to stress, lack of food and water (one cup a day per man), and of course lack of air. The CO levels on the sub were very bad too, and the temperature was over 100 degrees. That Arkhipov was able to keep his wits in that environment was impressive.
Arkipov was also on board K19, so that his experience with the dangers of radiation (the only one on B59 who did), were very real in his mind. It is said that the radiation exposure he received on K19 directly lead to his death.
Another gentleman to note in this regard is Stanislav Petrov.
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:salute
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Been a long time since I saw it but the 1965 movie "The Bedford Incident" is pretty good drama of things getting out of hand.
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This incident, along with a similar one that occurred on another Soviet nuclear-armed sub during the Cuban missile crisis, is described in detail in the book Red November, by Reed. It also describes a lot of other very interesting cold-war encounters.
It's a great book.