vasili arkhipov interview vasili arkhipov interview

Vasili Arkhipov was a Soviet naval officer who, upon making a split second decision, prevented the Cuban Missile Crisis from escalating into a nuclear war. While the action was designed to encourage the Soviet submarines to surface, the crew of B-59 had been incommunicado and so were unaware of the intention. Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov (Russian ) IPA vsilj lksandrvt arxipf (30 January 1926 19 August 1998) was a Soviet Navy officer credited with casting the single vote that prevented a Soviet nuclear strike (and, presumably, allout nuclear war) during . Mobil: +49 (0) 177-3132744. Had Vasili Arkhipov not been there to prevent the torpedo launch, historians agree that nuclear war would likely have begun. B-59 hadnt received that message as they were too deep to pick up radio signals. It felt like you were sitting in a metal barrel, which somebody is constantly blasting with a sledgehammer.. Somehow keeping a level head in the midst of chaos, Arkhipov reportedly managed to convince Savitsky that the Americans were not actually attacking them and that they were only firing depth charges in order to get the Soviets attention and merely draw them to the surface. His heroic moment during the Cuban Missile Crisis didnt become public knowledge until 2002. President John F. Kennedy had ordered what he called a quarantine of Cuba, stationing a flotilla of naval ships off the coast of the island to prevent Soviet ships from carrying weapons to Cuba and demanding that the USSR remove the missiles. Very difficult. Homo sapiens have existed on the planet for about 300,000 years, or more than 109 million days. Reader support helps us keep our explainers free for all. In 1962, Soviet submarine officer Vasili Arkhipov refused to launch a nuclear torpedo, averting a potential WWIII. For his courage, Arkhipov was the first person to be given the Future of Life award by the Cambridge-based existential risk nonprofit the Future of Life Institute (FLI), in 2017. Were gonna blast them now!, Savitsky reportedly said. In his lecture my father spoke about the submarine escort deployments in connection with operation Kama. That was 1945 and my father was deputy commander of Military Brigade 1. In reaction to the bombardment of the U.S. Navy, two of the three officers in command of the Soviet B-59 submarine decided to launch a nuclear torpedo. That gave him strength! His wife, Olga, is in no doubt about his crucial role, The man who prevented a nuclear war, I am proud of my husband always., Sign up to our newsletter and follow us on social media. In 2002, Thomas S. Blanton, then director of the U.S. National Security Archive, credited Arkhipov as "the man who saved the world". Speaking to Tegmark, Arkhipovs daughter Elena Andriukova said the family were grateful for the prize, and its recognition of Arkhipovs actions. Fifty years ago, Arkhipov, a senior officer on the Soviet B-59 submarine, refused permission to launch its nuclear torpedo. My mother always protected him with her love. On that day, Arkhipov was serving aboard the nuclear-armed Soviet submarine B-59 in international waters near Cuba. My father was deputy commander under the command of Nikolai Zateyev. A midshipman stood there with my fathers uniform jacket a warm leather military jacket that was lined with fur. Arkhipov continued his naval service, reaching the rank of vice admiral in 1981. We will die, but we will sink them all we will not become the shame of the fleet.. 2 /5. But the third officer, captain Vasily Arkhipov, who was in charge of the whole flotilla, convinced his colleagues that launching a nuclear torpedo was too dangerous a decision to make. A senior officer of a Soviet submarine who averted the outbreak of nuclear conflict during the cold war is to be honoured with a new prize, 55 years to the day after his heroic actions averted global catastrophe. Vasili Arkhipov was a Soviet naval officer who, upon making a split second decision, prevented the Cuban Missile Crisis from escalating into a nuclear war. Arkhipov, with the power of veto . To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. It was posthumous Arkhipov died in 1998, before the news of his actions was widely known. So this guy is the only reason why all of us are still alive today Because of the heightened tension between the U.S. and its allies, and the Soviet Union and its allies, someone had had the wisdom and foresight to install Vasili as the leader of the fleet of the four Soviet subs on the mission. Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the Nobel peace prize-winning organisation, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said Arkhipovs actions were a reminder of how the world had teetered on the brink of disaster. Vasili Arkhipov, who family will receive the posthumous award on his behalf. It is clear that he is very unhappy about journalist Alexander Mozgovoy's revelation (based on Vadim Orlov's account) of the near-use of the nuclear torpedo, which he sees as part of the plot to . In 2002, during a conference dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis, intelligence officer Vadim Orlov revealed details of those events, including how close the world came to a nuclear holocaust and Arkhipovs role in preventing it. But the main thing was that the crew avoided a full-scale clash. If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material. If the nuclear torpedo had been fired, Kennedy would have had little . (The B-59 was one of four Foxtrot submarines sent by the USSR to the area around Cuba.) Although they were able to save themselves from a nuclear meltdown, the entire crew, including Arkhipov, were irradiated. You can also contribute via, By submitting your email, you agree to our, 60 years ago today, this man stopped the Cuban missile crisis from going nuclear, This story is part of a group of stories called, Sign up for the Something went wrong. On 27 October 1962, Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov was on board the Soviet submarine B-59 near Cuba when the US forces began dropping non-lethal depth charges. This was not an attack - these were non-lethal signaling depth charges, intended to prompt the Soviet sub to surface and identify itself. That included its captain, Valentin Savitsky, who according to a report from the US National Security Archive, exclaimed: Were gonna blast them now! But at the peak of the crisis, one Soviet naval officer managed to keep a cool head and avert nuclear devastation. The Soviets and their fellow communist allies in Cuba had secretly reached a deal to place those missiles on the island in July. The escalation of military tensions and conflicts in which people are killed also unsettles me. The two superpowers were never closer to nuclear war than they were during those 13 days. Consequently, nuclear technology should be used solely for peaceful purposes namely purposes that benefit mankind! But the midshipman said nothing, only suggesting that Vasili Arkhipov would not be coming home today. Educated in the Pacific Higher Naval School of the Soviet Union, he would serve in the closing month of World War II aboard a minesweeper during the Soviet campaign against the Empire of Japan. He always thought that he did what he had to do and never considered his actions as heroism. Those on board did not know whether war had broken out or not. It was then that former Soviet officer Vadim Orlov, who was on the B-59 with Arkhipov, revealed what had happened on that fateful day 40 years before when one man most likely saved the world. Both Arkhipov and Zateyev were 72 at the time of their deaths. He transferred to the Caspian Higher Naval School and graduated in 1947. This period made a strong impression on him and it made a significant contribution to the development of his personality, the formation of his character and his feeling of responsibility towards the lives of other people. Moderate. Pronunciation of Vasili Arkhipov with 1 audio pronunciations. To receive the latest in style, watches, cars and luxury news, plus receive great offers from the worlds greatest brands every Friday. Commander Nikolai Shumkov commanded the K-19s maiden voyage, and his task was to test a torpedo fitted with a nuclear warhead. Who? The Cuban missile crisis was over. The only true freedom any of us have is in our t - May 11, 2021. She recalls walking in on Vasily burning a bundle of their love letters inside their house, claiming that keeping the letters would mean "bad luck". V asili Arkhipov was one of three commanders of a B-59 Soviet . The situation then became even hotter. It was then they learned that no shooting war had broken out between the US and Soviet forces, but by arguing against the launching of the nuclear-tipped torpedo, Arkhipov in effect had averted the start of a nuclear war between the two superpowers. It was aired 23 October 2012 on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis.[27]. During the Cuban Missile Crisis a false alarm of nuclear war almost made a Soviet nuclear submarine near the U.S launch it's nukes. What nobody knew was that 700 feet underwater, four Soviet submarines were lurking nearby. The George Washington University In der Rubrik Sieben Fragen an stellen wir zudem regelmig interessanten Persnlichkeiten sieben Fragen zu den Themen Friedensschaffung und Friedenserhaltung, Sicherheitspolitik sowie Konfliktprvention. Vasili Arkhipov (1960's). With no orders or news from Moscow for a week, under tremendous strain and in the appalling conditions, Captain Savitsky suddenly cracked and announced that he was going to use the Special Weapon. The reactor's coolant system failed, and a . He knew what he was doing. Oops. In the words of John F. Kennedy administration staffer Arthur Schlesinger, It was the most dangerous moment in human history.. Thinking that President John F. Kennedy was a weak man, he smuggled nuclear missiles into his ally Castros Cuba. Chapter Five Vasili Arkhipov: The Man Who Prevented World War Three By Ron Ridenour . Alex Murdaugh stands guilty of killing his wife and son. Vasili was born to a poor, peasant family near the Russian capital, Moscow on 30th January 1926. Circa Oct. 28-29, 1962. Knowledge is power or so they say. Wikimedia CommonsOne of the American spy plane images photographs missile sites in Cuba that helped instigate the crisis. Savitsky was one of the Soviet commanders above Vasili in the Soviet Navy,and who ordered the launch of the missile to the Americas during the Cuban Missile Crisis. No one knew that he had been commissioned, not even my mother. [10], Although Arkhipov was only second-in-command of the B-59, he was the Commodore of the entire submarine flotilla, which included the B-4, the B-36 and the B-130. Aptly, the U.S. National Security Archive has dubbed Arkhipov a man who " saved the world.". Arkhipov, K-19's deputy captain was among the few who remained calm, maintained order and helped to organize a proper evacuation. The subs captain, Valentin Savitsky, tried to contact Moscow, but there was no line open. Such an attack likely would have caused a major global thermonuclear response, destroying large parts of the Northern Hemisphere.[1]. a report from the US National Security Archive, Nobel peace prize-winning organisation, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, all states must urgently join the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. And we should celebrate those, like Vasili Arkhipov, who in moments of existential decision, choose life rather than extinction. During exercises in the North Atlantic, the K-19 suffered a major leak in its reactor coolant system. Vasili Arkhipov, a senior officer on a Soviet submarine, refused to launch a nuclear torpedo in October 1962 perhaps preventing WWIII The three officers who were authorized to launch this torpedo, which included Arkhipov, the captain, and the vessels political officer, Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, quickly reviewed their options. Fifty-nine years ago, a senior Russian submarine officer, Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov, refused to fire a nuclear torpedo at an American aircraft carrier and likely prevented a third world war and nuclear destruction. Conditions inside the submarines were terrible. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. EZ2 RESULT Today, Sunday, February 19, 2023. Broicherdorfstrae 53 Many others became ill including my father. We thought, Thats it, the end, crew member Vadim Orlov recalled to National Geographic in 2016. [9], Unlike other Soviet submarines armed with the "Special Weapon", where only the captain and the political officer were required to authorize a nuclear launch, the authorization of all three officers on board the B-59 were needed instead; this was due to Arkhipov's position as Commodore of the flotilla. Now its all about Trump. The lesson from this is that a guy called Vasili Arkhipov saved the world, Thomas Blanton, director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University, told the Boston Globe in 2002, following a conference in which the details of the situation were explored. 'We thought - that's it - the end.' Vasili Arkhipov became a Rear-Admiral and died in 1998. Vasily Arkhipov, an officer who prevented nuclear confrontation during Cuban missile crisis. Peta Stamper. His political officer agreed, and both reached for their keys. As for Arkhipov, after those two dangerous episodes in the early 1960s, he continued to serve in the Soviet Navy, eventually being promoted to rear admiral and becoming head of the Kirov Naval Academy. So much money has already been spent on armaments. To the most powerful leaders in the world I want to say: Stop the nuclear arms race! Vasili saw his first military action as a minesweeper in the Pacific Theater at the tail end of World War II. Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov (Russian: , IPA: [vsilj lksandrvt arxipf], 30 January 1926 - 19 August 1998) was a Soviet Navy officer. Two of the vessels senior officers including the captain, Valentin Savitsky wanted to launch the missile. They include difficulty of securing accurate intelligence, and the unpredictability of events. It seems that Arkhipov talked Savitsky down from his decision and was rewarded for his actions, back in his homeland. This required the men to work in high radiation levels for extended periods. B-59 surfaced, demanding the American ships to stop their provocations. In this same interview, Olga alludes to her husband's possible superstitious beliefs as well . All rights reserved. Only after his return did my father tell my mother where he had been, but without giving any details. Trapped in a diesel-powered submarine thousands of miles from home, buffeted by exploding depth charges and threatened with suffocation and death, Arkhipov kept his head. Please consider making a one-time contribution to Vox today. Vasili Aleksandrovit Arhipov (ven. ) (30. tammikuuta 1926 Moskovan alue - 19. elokuuta 1998 Moskovan alue) oli venlinen Neuvostoliiton laivaston sukellusveneupseeri, arvoltaan vara-amiraali.Arhipov osallistui nuoresta istn huolimatta toiseen maailmansotaan ja palveli muun muassa K-19-sukellusveneell. Easy. On that day, Arkhipov was serving aboard the nuclear-armed Soviet submarine B-59 in international waters near Cuba. Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov (30 January 1926 - 19 August 1998) was a Soviet military officer. When detected, Americans were horrified to find that their key cities could be taken out in a Soviet first-strike attack. February 19, 2023. The captain and the political officer were in favor of firing. Thats just scratching the surface. Elena Andriukova: To those people who consider my father a coward I want to say: You havent experienced what he had to go through. "[14][15], Immediately upon return to Russia, many crew members were faced with disgrace from their superiors. "[18], In 2002, retired commander Vadim Pavlovich Orlov, a participant in the events, held a press conference revealing the submarines were armed with nuclear torpedoes and that Arkhipov was the reason those weapons had not been fired. Two of the subs senior officers wanted to launch the nuclear torpedo. : Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov, : , 1926130 - 1998819 . According to Orlov, Captain Savitsky was ready to strike, and so was the zampolit (political officer). In a situation as complex and pressured as the Cuban missile crisis, when both sides were operating with limited information, a ticking clock, and tens of thousands of nuclear warheads (most, it should be noted, possessed by the US), no single act was truly definitive for war or peace. Arkhipov was promoted to vice admiral in 1981 and retired in the mid-1980s. We will notdisgrace our navy!. Such an attack likely would have caused a major global thermonuclear response. Vasili Arkhipov is arguably the most important person in modern history, thanks to whom October 27, 2017 isn't the 55th anniversary of WWIII. SWERTRES RESULT Today, Sunday, February 19, 2023. Soviet naval officer Vasili Arkhipov (1926-1998) was second in command of the Soviet nuclear submarine B-59 during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. . He showed the same level of composure off the coast of Cuba a year later. Arkhipov backed Captain Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev, who feared that the crew would mutiny out of sheer desperation, by helping him dump most of the ships small arms arsenal overboard in order to avert the possibility that this potential mutiny would be an armed one. That is war. And in war, the commander certainly was authorized to use his weapons. Sven Lilienstrm, founder of the Faces of Peace initiative, spoke to the daughter of the man whose tragic past is still largely unknown 21 years after his death about the person behind the uniform, the role of the mother and the desire for peace. Born in 1926, Arkhipov saw action as a minesweeper during the Soviet-Japanese war in August 1945. Vasili Arkhipov, who prevented escalation of the cold war by refusing to launch a nuclear torpedo against US forces, is to be awarded new Future of Life prize. He was invited to speak at the scientific-practical conference 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: The Strategic Military Operation Anadyr. But after learning his story, youd be hard-pressed to say he didnt in fact save the world. Vasili Aleksandrovich Arkhipov was a Soviet Navy officer credited with preventing a nuclear strike and potentially all-out nuclear war and the total destruction of the world during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when he refused to launch a nuclear torpedo from submarine B-59 as flotilla chief of staff, going the against the orders of submarine captain Valentin Grigorievitch . Robert McNamara acknowledged, after a reevaluation of the circumstances and the risks of confrontation during those fateful days that the United States and the U.S.S.R. were closer [to nuclear war] than we knew at the time.. Whatever reasons the Soviets and Cubans had, the Americans now needed to deal with this tremendous perceived threat to their national security. Suite 701, Gelman Library I am a corporate slave for over 2 years now doing digital marketing for Australian-based clients. Unknown to the world, Russian officer Vasili Arkhipov single-handedly averted nuclear war at the height of the Cuban missile crisis The world only found out about Arkhipov's heroics 50 years later . Vasili Arkhipov was born on January 30th, 1926 to a poor, peasant family near Moscow in the town of Staraya Kupavna. Born in 1926, Arkhipov saw action as a minesweeper during the Soviet-Japanese war in August 1945. In 1962, during the Cold War, the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev did something very risky. Arkhipov refused to sanction the launch of the weapon and calmed the captain down. In his account, the captain, Savitsky, was blinded and shocked by the bright lights and sounds of explosions and could not even understand what was happening as he came up on the conning tower. As I already mentioned at the beginning, my father was also able to demonstrate precisely these character traits during the accident aboard the K-19 submarine during the Polar Circle exercise. [2] The radiation to which Arkhipov had been exposed in 1961 may have contributed to his kidney cancer, like many others who served with him in the K-19 accident.[16]. Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov (30 January 1926 - 19 August 1998) was a Soviet Navy officer credited with preventing a Soviet nuclear strike (and, presumably, all-out nuclear war) during the Cuban Missile Crisis. You can spend some hours googling them, and get all the details of their stories which I shall narrate in short. As the U.S. Navy pursued Soviet submarines armed with nuclear torpedoes off the coast of Cuba, only the composure of Captain Vasily Arkhipov saved the world. In 1961, Arkhipov served on K-19, a nuclear submarine infamous among Soviet officers for its breakdowns and accidents it even had the nickname, Hiroshima. In July 1961, K-19 was conducting exercises in the North Atlantic when its reactor broke down, losing coolant. The timing of the award, Fihn added, is apt. [2] After a few days of conducting exercises off the south-east coast of Greenland, the submarine developed an extreme leak in its reactor coolant system. Soviet Navy officer Vasili Arkhipov, 1955. Elena Andriukova: My father never talked about what happened during his military deployments. Namun, perwira bernama Vasili Arkhipov . sovyetler birlii ile amerika arasnda 1962 ylnda yaanan fze krizinde, dnyann muhtemel nkleer savaa girme ihtimalini bir rus deniz subaynn engelledii ortaya kt. Historians posted . From what little they knew of what was happening above the surface, it seemed possible that nuclear war had already broken out. Telefon: +49 (0) 2131-5978299 Copyright 2012-2023 The Gentleman's Journal. But unknown to Washington, the officers aboard B-59 were out of contact with their superiors and had every reason to believe that their American counterparts were trying to sink them. During the Cuban Missile Crisis 58 years ago the world was facing nuclear war. [26] Leon Ockenden portrayed Arkhipov in Season 12 Episode 1 of Secrets of the Dead, titled "The Man Who Saved the World". [11] It surfaced amid the US warships pursuing it and made contact with a US destroyer. Thomas Blanton, former director of the National Security Archive, said, 'This guy called Vasili Arkhipov saved the world.''. On Oct. 27, disaster was near: the Soviets, who had a base on the island, shot down an American U-2 spy plane, killing the pilot. He retired in the mid-1980s and died in 1999. His captain Valentin Savitsky was unaware that they were non-lethal . The officers had to decide whether to fight back or not. Whether my life has changed since then? The lessons remain of fundamental importance. Vasili Arkhipov l mt s quan Hi qun Lin X, ngi c coi l c quyt nh mang tnh sng cn khi cu nhn loi khi mt cuc chin tranh ht nhn - iu m nhn loi lun lo s trong sut thi gian din ra Chin tranh Lnh. Moreover, I was still small at the time and I practically never saw my father. However, in one interview Orlov gave Arkhipov a great deal of credit for talking Savitsky down. Had it been launched, the fate of the world would have been very different: the attack would probably have started a nuclear war which would have caused global devastation, with unimaginable numbers of civilian deaths. A BIOGRAPHY OF THE MAN WHO STOPPED WORLD WAR III. words of John F. Kennedy administration staffer Arthur Schlesinger, Stanislav Petrov, another Cold War hero who saved the world from nuclear annihilation. So yes, I do worry just like practically all of the other inhabitants of our planet! Arkhipov's actions probably prevented an open nuclear war, the consequences of which would have included the deaths . THE STORY OF AN IMPORTANT INCIDENT IN HUMAN HISTORY. He already had most of the formative moments of his personal development behind him. In 2006, former President of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, nominated the whole crew of K-19 for the Nobel Peace Prize for preventing a nuclear disaster. The Soviets wanted to shore up their nuclear strike capabilities against the U.S. (which had recently placed missiles in Turkey, bordering the Soviet Union, as well as Italy) and the Cubans wanted to prevent the Americans from attempting another invasion of the island like the unsuccessful one theyd launched in April 1961. To the most powerful leaders in the world I want to say: Stop the nuclear arms race! By Oct. 28, the Americans had agreed to remove their missiles from Turkey and the Soviets had agreed to remove their missiles from Cuba. Loved it, even more, when I won a flagship phone from Huawei last May. At the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis on 27 October 1962, the US Navy detected a Soviet submarine near the blockaded island of Cuba. Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox. After retirement he quietly lived with his family in the Moscow Region. (5 votes) Very easy. Details of "B-59 incident" seeped out like myths: a sailor's letter home, an interview, a reunion, a document declassification, a poke and a prod. This film explores the dramatic and little-known events that unfolded inside a nuclear-armed Soviet submarine during the Cuban Missile Crisis. [5][6], By then, there had been no contact from Moscow for a number of days, and although the B-59's crew had been picking up U.S. civilian radio broadcasts earlier on, the submarine was too deep to monitor any radio traffic, as it was busy trying to hide from its American pursuers. They then dove deep to conceal their presence after being spotted by the . My father was the conscience of our homeland. She was his lifelong guardian angel! My father, Vasili Arkhipov, was Chief of Staff of the 69th Submarine Brigade of the Northern Fleet when, in October 1962, he was commissioned by the Navy High Command to undertake a top secret mission. But, unknown to the US forces, they had a special weapon in their arsenal: a ten kilotonne nuclear torpedo. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all. As such, he shared all of his knowledge and experience with people irrespective of their nationality and origin. Schreiben Sie uns hier sicher und mit automatischer Ende-zu-Ende-Verschlsselung. It is fitting to begin three years after Mr. Arkhipov's death. They set out on October 1, 1962, and returned at the beginning of December 1962. Savitsky had his men ready the onboard missile, as strong as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, planning to aim it at one of the 11 U.S. ships in the blockade. To close I would like to add a few words: The history of the Russian State demonstrates the peaceful nature of our people. Washington, D.C., 20037, Phone: 202/994-7000 He died an unsung hero and even to this day the fateful decision he took on October 27, 1962, is relatively unacknowledged and not widely known. Arkhipov argued against launching the torpedo stating they should await orders from Moscow. On 27 October 1962, Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov was on board the Soviet submarine B-59 near Cuba when the US forces began dropping non-lethal depth charges. Six decades ago, the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the very brink of nuclear holocaust. The K-19 was then towed home. CPAC used to be a barometer. [9] Arkhipov eventually persuaded Savitsky to surface and await orders from Moscow. Difficult. He was educated in the Pacific Higher Naval School and participated in the SovietJapanese War in August 1945, serving aboard a minesweeper. Off the coast of Cuba, 11 American destroyers and an aircraft carrier had surrounded one of the submarines, B-59. You can become a Princes Trust Riser by donating just 20 per month to the scheme. We should not destroy this life. This incident saw several crew members, along with Arkhipov, exposed to radiation. newsletter, Hailey Bieber, Selena Gomez, and the Easter egg-ification of the Hollywood feud, The Supreme Court signals that a terrifying attack on voting rights will vanish for now, Brad Pitt was the only winner of the Aniston-Jolie tabloid battle. We thought thats it the end., Vasili Arkhipov became a Rear-Admiral and died in 1998. Anderson was the first and only casualty of the crisis, an event that could have led to war had President Kennedy not concluded that the order to fire had not been given by Soviet Premier Nikolai Khrushchev. Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov (Russian: , IPA:[vsilj lksandrvt arxipf], 30 January 1926 19 August 1998) was a Soviet Naval officer who prevented a Soviet nuclear torpedo launch during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was an era when the two greatest world powers, the US and Soviet Union, were at the brink of war over the presence of Soviet . In 1961, he became deputy commander of the new Hotel-class missile submarine K-19. They eventually came up with a secondary coolant system and were able to prevent a reactor meltdown. He did his part for the future so that everyone can live on our planet.. Arkhipov was known to be a shy and humble man. In this same interview, Olga alluded to her husband's possible superstitious beliefs as well. 35+ YEARS OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACTION, The Underwater Cuban Missile Crisis at 60, FOIA Advisory Committee Oversight Reports.