The narrow staircase that separates the world from nuclear horror… |
Russia President Vladimir Putin brandishes a “nuclear baton” and threatens to use weapons of mass destruction on the world if Russia’s “territorial integrity is threatened”. At the same time, he arbitrarily changes the borders, the territory of foreign states Russia declares the territory. For the second time in history, Kremlin politicians are pushing humanity to the dangerous line where inevitable processes can begin. In these difficult times, George Washington University (USA) National The Security Archive reminds us of the first such dangerous incident. This is a story from 60 years ago that shows how close humanity came to disaster when politicians reached the limit of insanity.
60 years ago – on October 1, 1962, four Foxtrot-class diesel submarines of the USSR, each carrying one nuclear warhead, left their base in Kola Bay. They headed for the Caribbean as part of a plan to massively deploy Soviet forces in Cuba. It should be noted that the departure of Soviet troops to the Caribbean caused the famous Cuban Missile Crisis.
The incident occurred when the captain of the submarine B-59, Valentin Savitsky, was close to using a nuclear torpedo. At that time, the Americans did not suspect it. October 27 was the most dangerous day of the crisis. Since then, this episode has sparked public debate about the dangers of nuclear weapons and led to many sensational claims.
Second-rank captain, submarine brigade headquarters, participating in this operation chief The only memoir of Vasili Arkhipov is published for the first time. He was aboard the B-59 at the critical moment. Although not in command of the boat, as a higher-ranking figure, the captain helped Savitsky avoid the potentially disastrous decision to launch a nuclear strike. Arkhipov on October 14, 1997 in Moscow During his speech at a closed conference dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis, he shared his memories of the incident.
Arkhipov’s speech to the captain of the B-59 on the night of October 27 USAtherefore confirms reports that it is facing an emergency situation where it may use nuclear torpedoes against anti-submarine warfare forces. Arkhipov was the only witness to the events and Savitsky’s reaction at the remote control.
The 1997 conference was attended by the commanders of three more submarines of the 69th brigade – Ryurik Ketov, Nikolai Shumkov and Aleksey Dubivko. B-59 commander Savitsky had already passed away at that time. Arkhipov’s speech begins with a response to a 1995 Komsomolskaya Pravda article by journalist Aleksandr Mozgovoi that a B-59 captain nearly used a nuclear-tipped torpedo. This article by Mozgovoi was written based on an interview with Vadim Orlov, the head of the radio reconnaissance group at B-59. Information about the incident was kept secret until the journalist’s article. Arkhipov’s talk about this article, on the one hand, confirmed the details of the incident, and on the other hand, the word “nuclear” was never mentioned in it, except for one case where he referred to the title of Mozgovoi’s article.
According to Arkhipov’s report, when the submarine surfaced on the night of October 27 to recharge its batteries, Commander Savitsky, who went up to the control tower with it, was shocked by the unexpected movements of American ships and anti-submarine aircraft (Arkhipov said that the planes were only from the control tower of the submarine). 20– flew at a height of 30 meters, used powerful searchlights, fired automatic cannons (more than 300 rounds), struck with depth charges, destroyers approached the submarine at a dangerously close distance, directed the guns at the submarine and demanded through loudspeakers that the boats stop their engines did). Arkhipov said that the commander of the B-52, thinking that he was under attack, could have ordered an emergency descent to the bottom of the water and the use of nuclear weapons.
Orlov and Ketov, and then Anatoly Leonenko (commander of torpedo section No. 3 on the B-59) and Viktor Mikhailov (head of the submarine’s combat navigation group) did not witness what happened at that moment in the control tower. But they confirmed that Savitsky really ordered the submarine to go to the bottom of the water and prepare to launch a nuclear torpedo.
Later – Ketov on July 12, 2012 National In an interview with Svetlana Savranskaya, an employee of the Security Archive, Savitsky said that they were indeed attacked and USAHe said that he thought the war had started. Faced with the unexpected aggressive actions of the US military, the captain panicked and demanded to go down to the bottom of the water immediately and prepare the No. 1 torpedo with a nuclear warhead for launch. However, he could not quickly descend the narrow staircase of the control tower. Because the staircase was blocked by the signal officer and his tools. Arkhipov, who was in the tower, saw that the Americans were actually warning, not attacking. He calmed down the commander of the submarine. Savitsky’s order was not communicated to the officer responsible for launching the torpedo. Instead, the Soviet submarine signaled the Americans and demanded the cessation of provocative actions. The situation calmed down, and the next day, the B-59, with fully charged batteries, went deep into the water and then evaded pursuit.