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 - and thanks to him, the world was saved from being scarred badly.
His story is finally being told - the BBC is airing a documentary on it.
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 - and thanks to him, the world was saved from being scarred badly.
His story is finally being told - the BBC is airing a documentary on it.
In October 1962, the world held its breath. On the edge of the Caribbean Sea, just a few miles from the Florida coast, the two great superpowers were at a stand-off. Surrounded by twelve US destroyers, which were depth-charging his submarine to drive it to the surface, Captain Vitali Grigorievitch Savitsky panicked. Unable to contact Moscow and fearing war had begun, he ordered the launch of his submarine’s nuclear torpedoes. As the two sides inched perilously close to nuclear war—far closer than we ever knew before–just one man stood between Captain Savitsky’s order and mutually assured destruction.
Set over four hours on October 27, 1962, the tensest moments of the Cuban Missile Crisis, this program tells the powerful but forgotten story of Vasili Arkhipov and Soviet submarine B-59. With most of the action set in a claustrophobic submarine running out of air, “The Man Who Saved the World” combines tense drama with eyewitness accounts and expert testimony about some of the most critical events in the Cold War.
A Bedlam Production for THIRTEEN in association with WNET
Director: Eamon Fitzpatrick
Executive Producer, Bedlam: Simon Breen
Executive Producer, Thirteen: Steve Burns
Executive in Charge, WNET: Stephen Segaller
Director: Eamon Fitzpatrick
Executive Producer, Bedlam: Simon Breen
Executive Producer, Thirteen: Steve Burns
Executive in Charge, WNET: Stephen Segaller
Copyright 2012 Bedlam Production Ltd.
Watch The Man Who Saved the World: Full Episode on PBS. See more from Secrets of the Dead.
Post a Comment