The Man Who Avoided World War III: The Story of Vasili Arkhipov and the Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was a defining moment in the Cold War, bringing the world closer to nuclear war than ever before. During the crisis, the Soviet Union had placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the United States, in response to US missiles in Turkey. The US responded with a naval quarantine of the island, and tensions between the two superpowers reached a boiling point.

One of the key moments in the crisis occurred on October 27, 1962, when a Soviet submarine, B-59, was confronted by a group of US Navy ships. The submarine was armed with a nuclear torpedo, and the captain, Valentin Savitsky, ordered that it be prepared for launch. However, the submarine was also carrying a political officer, Ivan Maslennikov, who insisted that the torpedo be launched as a “warning” to the US.

Enter Vasili Arkhipov, the submarine’s second-in-command. Arkhipov, who was aware of the dire consequences of a nuclear war, refused to give the order to launch the torpedo. His refusal to comply with the captain’s orders prevented the launch of the nuclear weapon and likely saved the world from a nuclear war.

The incident went largely unknown until decades later, when the declassification of Soviet documents and interviews with the surviving crew members revealed Arkhipov’s crucial role in preventing a nuclear catastrophe.

Despite his significant contribution to world peace, Vasili Arkhipov remains relatively unknown compared to other figures of the Cold War. Nevertheless, his actions on that fateful day in October 1962, demonstrate the importance of individual action in moments of crisis and the power of one person to make a difference.