This is the story of how one man saved the entire world. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a very tense time when the United States and the Soviet Union (Russia) were ready to fight, possibly with nuclear weapons.
The U.S. Navy found a Soviet submarine, called B-59, deep underwater near Cuba.
To force the submarine to come to the surface, the U.S. Navy ships dropped small bombs called depth charges. These were meant as a warning, not to destroy the sub.
Inside the Submarine
The sailors inside the Soviet submarine heard the explosions. They were cut off from communication with Moscow and didn’t know if a full-scale war had started above them.
The submarine was equipped with a nuclear torpedo. The commander of the sub thought they might be under attack and wanted to launch it.
To fire the nuclear torpedo, three high-ranking officers on the submarine had to agree:
- The Captain (Savitsky) – Yes
- The Political Officer (Maslennikov) – Yes
- The Second-in-Command (Vasily Arkhipov) – No
The Hero’s Vote
Vasily Arkhipov, the Second-in-Command, was the only one who disagreed. He was an officer with a higher rank than the Captain and argued strongly that they should not fire the nuclear weapon.
After a heated argument, Arkhipov convinced the Captain to follow standard procedures instead: surface the submarine and wait for orders from Moscow.
Because Arkhipov refused to agree, the nuclear torpedo was not launched.
Why It Was So Dangerous
If that submarine had launched a nuclear torpedo, it would have killed thousands and likely led the U.S. to fire its own nuclear weapons back at the Soviet Union.
This could have quickly started World War III and a full nuclear exchange between the two superpowers, which would have put an end to most life on Earth.
The entire future of humanity came down to the single vote of Vasily Arkhipov.
We only learned the full details of how close we came to disaster about 40 years later, when the story was declassified (made public).
You know how sometimes a huge, world-changing decision comes down to one person? Well, the time when all of us—every human on Earth—would continue to exist literally came down to one guy’s vote.
The Map Story
It happened back in 1962, and get this: we didn’t even realise how close we were to disaster until 40 years later. People call it the most dangerous moment in human history, and we were totally clueless while it was happening!
On October 27th 1962, 11 days into the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US Navy discovered a Soviet submarine, B-59, deep underwater near Cuba. To scare it up, the U.S. dropped warning bombs called depth charges.
The crew inside the sub thought World War III had started, and the next step was to fire their own nuclear weapon.
To fire the weapon, all three top officers had to agree. The B-59 had three commanders on board: Captain Savitsky, Political Officer Ivan Maslennikov, and Chief of Staff Vasily Arkhipov. The Captain and the Political Officer voted yes. Just one more YES could have triggered a nuclear exchange capable of annihilating the entire Northern Hemisphere.
The final decision rested with Vasily Arkhipov. Arkhipov said no. He convinced the crew to surface—revealing their position to the US Navy—rather than launch a torpedo that would have started World War III.
He saved the world, but when they returned to Moscow, the crew was received in shame for surrendering and not being aggressive. Arkhipov lived until 1998. Four years after he died, a fellow crew member finally revealed what happened that day. Humanity was saved because one man — Arkhipov — said no.
In 2017, he was posthumously given the Future of Life Award, an honour reserved for people who risked their own safety to protect the future of life on Earth.
