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normallysuck t1_jd4v2v8 wrote

To my shame，as a resident of the country participating in the conflict，I haven't known about this person to this day. Rationality and calm are those qualities that I'd like to develop in myself even now，40 years after my birth.

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Benu5 t1_jd63cip wrote

There was no false alarm for nuclear war. They hadn't recieved any information in days due to being submerged.

The Captain and the Commisar wanted to use the tactical nuclear torpedo on a US ship dropping depth charges in an attempt to get the sub to surface. It is pure luck that Captain Arkhipov was also on board and thus required to also approve of the use of the tactical nuke. He argued that the depth charges were likely to be an attempt to get them to surface ans communicate with the US ships.

The initial confusion was that the US had changed their protocol as to how they would use depth charges to signal a demand to surface, something about the number and sequence of depth charges used had changed, leading the other Captain and Commisar to assume they were under attack. Arkhipov argued that it may be a demand to surface, and that they should do so to confirm what was actually happening. They surfaced, and the US ships told them to return to the USSR.

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Hip_Hop_Hippos t1_jd6hkar wrote

I could be remembering this wrong, but I think the confusion was about whether they were being depth charged at all.

I think the US Navy was using small concussive charges that wouldn’t actually do any damage to try and signal them to surface, and the Soviets worried they were being attacked with actual depth charges.

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dmitryredkin t1_jd7ac32 wrote

Regarding the "other captain": Arkhipov was a Chief of Staff of the Submarine Brigade, and thus wasn't in charge of the ship, but, being in a more senior position than the captain, managed to calm him down, while the latter was really ready to launch the torpedo.

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Affectionate_Reply78 t1_jd96ppn wrote

Didn’t know the part about the Russian officers wanting to use nukes. They would have gotten along well with US General LeMay who apparently wanted to escalate to nuclear weapons in this crisis as well.

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Norwegian27 t1_jd550pf wrote

My dad talked about his disillusionment during the Cuban missile crisis. I was in the planning stage I guess (born in 1963), and my dad wondered if bringing a child into the world was a good idea. Later when I was in college, during the Reagan years, I seriously didn’t think I necessarily had a future. Nuclear war seemed to loom. Think about it. On two occasions in history a lone Russian man has saved America.

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Foreverbanevading t1_jd5lbu2 wrote

Saved America? He saved the world. The entire world. All of history and — at least for the moment — the future. A nuclear strike on the USA would have ended with 20,000 weapons traded from either side and would have pulled in the rest of the NPT family. It would have left us in at best a pre-Columbian level of technology. Sticks. Rocks. Grass. Farming. Nothing would have been left and we’d have likely had to reinvent knowledge itself due to the loss of ~95% of the world’s population.

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rockrnger t1_jd5mfqy wrote

The russians had 5 icbms at that point.

Europe would have got invaded or at least berlin.

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Foreverbanevading t1_jd6fqyi wrote

What? During the Cuban Missile Crisis? The Soviets had a dozen MRBMs in Cuba alone, and plenty of sub-launched ICBMs. On top of that, the National intelligence Estimate from June 1961 indicated 50-100 ICBMs on land based launchers, which could be launched within minutes. There were hundred more capable of being moved to launchers as well. You’re just flat out wrong.

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rockrnger t1_jd8nj8j wrote

5 of the MRBMs in cuba were operational and the soviets didn’t have any operational slmbs.

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Foreverbanevading t1_jd8w8ka wrote

Nonsense. The USSR had sub-launched ballistic missiles by 1950. They put 40 MRBMs in Cuba in 1962 in response to U.S. placement of Jupiter missiles in Turkey, all of them nuclear capable and many on mobile launchers. Stop this nonsense.

I’m starting to think this is disingenuous.

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rockrnger t1_jd91u2w wrote

Yeah, they were installing 40 of them of which 5 were operational when they started removing them.

The soviets could build slbms but none of them were operational during crisis. I mean, which subs do you think were operating?

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beburba t1_jd60c9i wrote

Forgive my ignorance, who’s the other Russian that saved America during the Reagan years? What are you referring to?

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DeHavilland88 t1_jd6duzp wrote

They didn't say exclusively during that time period. Probably referring to Stanislav Petrov if I had to guess.

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born_on_mars_1957 t1_jd69cto wrote

That probably was Gorbachev… (“Mr Gorbachev, tear down that wall”!). Ronald Reagan

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sdnt_slave t1_jd7365r wrote

THIS is exactly why I don't believe there is a credible risk of Russia using a nuclear weapon. Even if its ordered there will be one person who refuses. History has shown that both times it could have happened it didn't.

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Norwegian27 t1_jdb5rtl wrote

I wouldn’t go that far. Putin is leading Russia now, and he has already proven himself to be aggressive and brutal.

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RackyRackerton t1_jd5oq7a wrote

Two Russian men “saved America” because they stopped other Russian men from launching a barrage of nukes at the US? Lmaoooo.

By that logic an American man saves every country in the world every day because we could be launching nukes all the time but choose not to.

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newblevelz t1_jd5uwe8 wrote

Sadly because you chose to save yourself by continuing to breathe we had to read this dumbass post.

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sakecat t1_jd4twmp wrote

Thank you comrade!

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FeralTribble t1_jd5tbi8 wrote

This guy saves the world one day and steals your girl the next

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TheBlack2007 t1_jd6zrph wrote

Normally, on Soviet subs the order to launch nuclear weapons needed two approvals: That of the Captain and the Political Officer. IIRC Arkhipov was fleet Commander though and used the "attacked" submarine (when they tried running the blockade of Cuba the US Navy started pestering them with training depth charged to make them surface - which underwater felt like real ones) as his flagship. So launching a nuclear Torpedo on that particular ship required three approvals as to not override the most senior officer on board.

Chilling. Absolutely chilling to think about it.

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Kavinsky12 t1_jd6l4hs wrote

What happened to him after? Did the soviets applaud him too?

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aquelviejitocochino t1_jd7llxo wrote

Look up the story on Stanislav Petrov. It was his turn to save the world (1983).

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3chordguitar t1_jd6014g wrote

That suave Soviet mf’er saved the world.

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Luingalls t1_jd5id0i wrote

This past made me breathe hard for some reason.

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akila219 t1_jd6n6b8 wrote

He could portray Superman, looks more like a Clark Kent in the picture

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jamirocky888 t1_jd6vtn1 wrote

Vasili Arkhipov is a steely eyed missile man.

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EternamD t1_jd7hsj9 wrote

1960s **

You may be thinking of the apostrophe in '60s

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Just__Ollie t1_jdbtkgg wrote

We get this picture like twice a week.

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metooeither t1_jd9oejq wrote

Dude that is weird.

Ever since an arrest warrant was issued for Putin, there has been a distinct uptick in 'aren't Russians bad ass heros?' posts.

Every fucking day. The bad ass staring down Himmler (if that's what he was actually doing. I doubt concentration camps let captured soldiers keep their jaunty lil military hats)

Knock it off, keep that shit on Twitter where it's welcome.

A commenter on the probably staged Himmler post pointed that out and yeah. Now I can't unsee this trend on Russian karma farming.

It's like when a kkkop does something egregious, and whadd'ya know! A different kkkop saved a dog from an icy lake! Or some shit.

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