Vasily Arkhipov: Difference between revisions
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On October 27, 1962, during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], a group of eleven [[United States Navy]] [[destroyers]] and the [[aircraft carrier]] [[USS Randolph (CV-15)|USS ''Randolph'']] trapped the nuclear-armed [[Soviet]] {{sclass2|Foxtrot|submarine|1}} [[Soviet submarine B-59|''B-59'']] near [[Cuba]] and started dropping practice [[depth charge]]s, explosives intended to force the submarine to come to the surface for identification. The captain of the submarine, [[Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky]], believing that a war might already have started, wanted to launch a nuclear-tipped torpedo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB75/subchron.htm |title=Chronology of Submarine Contact During the Cuban Missile Crisis |publisher=National Security Archive of the [[George Washington University]] |accessdate=15 November 2010}}</ref> |
On October 27, 1962, during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], a group of eleven [[United States Navy]] [[destroyers]] and the [[aircraft carrier]] [[USS Randolph (CV-15)|USS ''Randolph'']] trapped the nuclear-armed [[Soviet]] {{sclass2|Foxtrot|submarine|1}} [[Soviet submarine B-59|''B-59'']] near [[Cuba]] and started dropping practice [[depth charge]]s, explosives intended to force the submarine to come to the surface for identification. The captain of the submarine, [[Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky]], believing that a war might already have started, wanted to launch a nuclear-tipped torpedo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB75/subchron.htm |title=Chronology of Submarine Contact During the Cuban Missile Crisis |publisher=National Security Archive of the [[George Washington University]] |accessdate=15 November 2010}}</ref> |
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Three officers on board the submarine – Savitsky, the [[Political officer (military)|political officer]] [[Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov]], and the second-in-command Arkhipov – were authorized to launch the torpedo if agreeing unanimously in favor of doing so. An argument broke out among the three, in which only Arkhipov was against the launch,<ref name="isbn0-8050-7688-3">{{Cite book|author=[[Noam Chomsky]] |title=Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance |publisher=Henry Holt |location=New York |year=2004 |isbn=0-8050-7688-3 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Xx3ptbzQ8L4C&pg=PA74 |pages=74 |accessdate=}}</ref> eventually persuading Savitsky to surface the submarine and await orders from [[Moscow]]. The [[nuclear warfare]] which presumably would have ensued was thus averted.<ref>{{cite interview |last=Blanton |first=Thomas S. |interviewer=washingtonpost.com |cointerviewers=Forum users |title=The Cuban Missile Crisis: 40 Years Later |url=http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/zforum/02/sp_world_blanton101602.htm |date=16 October 2002 |year=2002 |month=October |accessdate=15 November 2010}}</ref> Although Arkhipov was only second-in-command of submarine B-59, he was actually Commander of the flotilla of submarines including B-4, B-36, and B-130 and of equal rank to Captain Savitsky. Washington's message that practice depth charges were being used to signal the submarines to surface never reached B-59, and Moscow claims they have no record of receiving it either. The B-59 was also too deep to spy on US Navy radio traffic, so those on board could not know if war had broken out. |
Three officers on board the submarine – Savitsky, the [[Political officer (military)|political officer]] [[Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov]], and the second-in-command Arkhipov – were authorized to launch the torpedo if agreeing unanimously in favor of doing so. An argument broke out among the three, in which only Arkhipov was against the launch,<ref name="isbn0-8050-7688-3">{{Cite book|author=[[Noam Chomsky]] |title=Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance |publisher=Henry Holt |location=New York |year=2004 |isbn=0-8050-7688-3 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Xx3ptbzQ8L4C&pg=PA74 |pages=74 |accessdate=}}</ref> eventually persuading Savitsky to surface the submarine and await orders from [[Moscow]]. The [[nuclear warfare]] which presumably would have ensued was thus averted.<ref>{{cite interview |last=Blanton |first=Thomas S. |interviewer=washingtonpost.com |cointerviewers=Forum users |title=The Cuban Missile Crisis: 40 Years Later |url=http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/zforum/02/sp_world_blanton101602.htm |date=16 October 2002 |year=2002 |month=October |accessdate=15 November 2010}}</ref> Although Arkhipov was only second-in-command of submarine B-59, he was actually Commander of the flotilla of submarines including B-4, B-36, and B-130 and of equal rank to Captain Savitsky. Washington's message that practice depth charges were being used to signal the submarines to surface never reached B-59, and Moscow claims they have no record of receiving it either. The B-59 was also too deep to spy on US Navy radio traffic, so those on board could not know if war had broken out. |
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===Aftermath=== |
===Aftermath=== |
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Revision as of 23:59, 1 August 2012
Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | Василий Александрович Архипов |
| Born | 30 January 1926 Staraya Kupavna, Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union |
| Died | 1999 (aged 72–73) Zheleznodorozhny, Moscow Oblast |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union |
| Service/ |  Soviet Navy |
| Years of service | 1945–1980s |
| Rank | Vice admiral |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | |
Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov (Russian: Василий Александрович Архипов) (30 January 1926 – 1999) was a Soviet naval officer. During the Cuban Missile Crisis he prevented the launch of a nuclear torpedo and therefore a possible nuclear war. His story is to this day unknown to the wider public, although some believe that, as Thomas Blanton (then director of the National Security Archive) expressed it in 2002, "a guy called Vasili Arkhipov saved the world."[1]
Early life
Arkhipov was born in a peasant family near Moscow.[2] He was educated in the Pacific Higher Naval School and participated in the Soviet war against Japan in August 1945 serving aboard a minesweeper. He transferred to the Caspian Higher Naval School and graduated in 1947.[2] He served in the submarine service aboard boats in the Black Sea, Northern and Baltic Fleets.[2]
K19 accident
In July 1961 Arkhipov was appointed deputy commander or executive officer of the new Hotel-class ballistic missile submarine K-19.[2] He backed Captain Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev during the potential mutiny and received a dose of radiation after the accident.[citation needed] This incident is depicted in the American film K-19: The Widowmaker.
Cuban Missile Crisis
On October 27, 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a group of eleven United States Navy destroyers and the aircraft carrier USS Randolph trapped the nuclear-armed Soviet Foxtrot-class submarine B-59 near Cuba and started dropping practice depth charges, explosives intended to force the submarine to come to the surface for identification. The captain of the submarine, Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky, believing that a war might already have started, wanted to launch a nuclear-tipped torpedo.[4]
Three officers on board the submarine – Savitsky, the political officer Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, and the second-in-command Arkhipov – were authorized to launch the torpedo if agreeing unanimously in favor of doing so. An argument broke out among the three, in which only Arkhipov was against the launch,[5] eventually persuading Savitsky to surface the submarine and await orders from Moscow. The nuclear warfare which presumably would have ensued was thus averted.[6] Although Arkhipov was only second-in-command of submarine B-59, he was actually Commander of the flotilla of submarines including B-4, B-36, and B-130 and of equal rank to Captain Savitsky. Washington's message that practice depth charges were being used to signal the submarines to surface never reached B-59, and Moscow claims they have no record of receiving it either. The B-59 was also too deep to spy on US Navy radio traffic, so those on board could not know if war had broken out.
Aftermath
When discussing the Cuban missile crisis in 2002, Robert McNamara stated that we came "very close" to nuclear war, "closer than we knew at the time."[7]
In Aleksandr Mozgovoy's 2002 book, Kubinskaya Samba Kvarteta Fokstrotov (Cuban Samba of the Foxtrot Quartet), retired Commander Vadim Pavlovich Orlov, a participant in the events, presents them less dramatically, saying the captain lost his temper, but eventually calmed down.[8]
Later life
After the Cuban Crisis Arkhipov continued in Soviet Navy service, commanding submarines and later submarine squadrons. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1975 and became head of the Kirov Naval Academy. He was promoted to vice admiral in 1981 and retired in the mid 1980s.[2] He subsequently settled in Zheleznodorozhny, Moscow Oblast where he died in 1999.[2]
See also
- Stanislav Petrov, a Russian duty officer at a missile warning station who averted a possible nuclear war in 1983.
- K-19: The Widowmaker, a 2002 film depicting the nuclear reactor accident aboard the Soviet submarine K-19.
- Crimson Tide, a 1995 film depicting a fictional stand-off between officers aboard a submarine relating to the launch of a nuclear salvo, for which Arkhipov's actions during the Cuban missile crisis served as partial inspiration.
References
- ^ Marion Lloyd (October 13, 2002). "Soviets Close to Using A-Bomb in 1962 Crisis, Forum is Told". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
- ^ a b c d e f Roberts, Priscilla Mary (2012). "Arkhipov, Vasili Alexandrovich". Cuban Missile Crisis: The Essential Reference Guide. Abc-Clio Inc. pp. 13–14. ISBN 9781610690652. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
- ^ Burr and, William; Blanton, Thomas S., eds. (31 October 2002). "The submarines of October- U.S. and Soviet Naval Encounters During the Cuban Missile Crisis". National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book. No. 75. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012.
{{cite journal}}:|volume=has extra text (help); Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Chronology of Submarine Contact During the Cuban Missile Crisis". National Security Archive of the George Washington University. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
- ^ Noam Chomsky (2004). Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance. New York: Henry Holt. p. 74. ISBN 0-8050-7688-3.
- ^ Blanton, Thomas S. (16 October 2002). "The Cuban Missile Crisis: 40 Years Later" (Interview). Interviewed by washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
{{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter|cointerviewers=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "'I don't think anybody thought much about whether Agent Orange was against the rules of war'". guardian.co.uk. May 19, 2002. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
- ^ Isachsnkov, Vladimir (June 21, 2002). "Russian Book Looks at Missile Crisis". johnson. Retrieved 2008-05-03.