The award also aims to foster a dialogue about the growing existential risks that humanity faces, and the people that work to mitigate them. Arkhipov was one of the officers on board. Orlov recalled. We will die, but we will sink them all — we will not disgrace our Navy!
The combination of depth charges, extreme heat, stress, and isolation from the outside world almost lit the fuse of full-scale nuclear war. The decision to launch a nuclear weapon had to be authorized by three officers on board, and one of them, Vasili Arkhipov, said no. Amidst the panic, the year old Arkhipov remained calm and tried to talk Captain Savitsky down. He eventually convinced Savitsky that these depth charges were signals for the Soviet submarine to surface, and the sub surfaced safely and headed north, back to the Soviet Union.
It is sobering that very few have heard of Arkhipov, although his decision was perhaps the most valuable individual contribution to human survival in modern history.
The Cold War never became a hot war, in large part thanks to Arkhipov, but the threat of nuclear war remains high. And as the risk of nuclear war is on the rise right now, all states must urgently join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to prevent such catastrophe. Everybody with power and influence should act within their competence for world peace. To read more about the Future of Life Award, visit out award page.
We are confident that there are many unsung heroes out there, who have done incredible work to ensure a beneficial future of life on Earth. We need your help to ensure they get the recognition and honor they deserve. The program combines dramatizations — set in a claustrophobic submarine running out of air — with eyewitness accounts and expert testimony to reveal the terrifying events happening beneath the waves. Four Soviet submarines were sent on a mission known only to a handful of Communist party officials.
Their destination was a mystery to be revealed once they were at sea. Under their orders, each submarine was to travel 7, miles from a top secret naval base in the Arctic Circle across the Atlantic to be permanently stationed in Mariel, Cuba, where they would serve as the vanguard of a Soviet force a mere 90 miles from mainland America. The commanders of each submarine had permission to act without direct orders from Moscow if they believed they were under threat. The torpedo could be fired only if the submarine captain and political officer were in agreement.
Each had one half of a key which, when joined, unlocked the firing mechanism. For the first time in life a commander of a submarine had a nuclear weapon and had the authority to fire the missile at his command. However, aboard the B, three men—not two—needed to be in agreement. As commander of the entire submarine fleet, Arkhipov had the power to veto firing the missile and was one of the only men who knew about the mission in advance.
Visit video. The captain felt doomed. We will die, but we will sink them all—we will not become the shame of the fleet. Had Savitsky launched his torpedo, had he vaporized a U. He was 34 at the time. Good looking, with a full head of hair and something like a spit curl dangling over his forehead. What he said to Savitsky we will never know, not exactly. The exact details are controversial. On his sub, Savitsky gave the order and got one supporting vote, but Arkhipov balked.
The official Soviet debriefs are still secret, but a Russian reporter, Alexander Mozgovoi , an American writer , and eyewitness testimony from intelligence officer Orlov suggest that Arkhipov told the captain that the ship was not in danger.
It was being asked to surface. Dropping depth charges left then right, noisy but always off target—those are signals, Arkhipov argued. Identify yourselves. Come up and talk. We intend no harm. Orlov, who had lived in America, heard from American radio stations that Russia had secretly brought missiles to the island, that Cuba had shot down a U.
Navy to surround the island and let no one pass through. When Americans had spotted the sub, Savitsky had ordered it to drop deeper into the ocean, to get out of sight—but that had cut them off. For all they knew, the war had already begun.
We do know that the nuclear weapons the Russians carried each ship had just one, with a special guard who stayed with it, day and night were to be used only if Russia itself had been attacked. Or if attack was imminent. Savitsky felt he had the right to fire first.
She and Ryurik Ketov, the gold-toothed captain of a nearby Russian sub, both heard the story directly from Vasili. Both believe him and say so in this PBS documentary. Some scenes are dramatized, but listen to what they say As the drama unfolded, Kennedy worried that the Russians would mistake depth charges for an attack. When his defense secretary said the U. His hand went up to his face [and] he closed his fist. The Russian command, for its part, had no idea how tough it was inside those subs.
Anatoly Andreev, a crew member on a different, nearby sub, kept a journal, a continuing letter to his wife, that described what it was like :. The debate between the captain and Arkhipov took place in an old, diesel-powered submarine designed for Arctic travel but stuck in a climate that was close to unendurable. And yet, Arkhipov kept his cool.
0コメント