fossil_digger Report This Comment Date: November 10, 2012 02:56AM
50 years ago, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, second-in-command
Vasilli Arkhipov of the Soviet submarine B-59 refused to agree with his
Captain's order to launch nuclear torpedos against US warships and setting off
what might well have been a terminal superpower nuclear war.
The US had been dropping depth charges near the submarine in an attempt to force
it to surface, unaware it was
carrying nuclear arms. The Soviet officers, who had lost radio contact with
Moscow, concluded that World War 3 had begun, and 2 of the officers agreed to
'blast the warships out of the water'. Arkhipov refused to agree - unanimous
consent of 3 officers was required