Vasili Arkhipov – World Hero

LinkedIn ^ | Sep 26, 2015 | Erico Matias Tavares

[amorphous]

You may have never heard of Vasili Arkhipov. And yet life as we know it on this planet could have ended if it were not for his crucial intervention during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Born in 1926, Arkhipov saw action as a minesweeper during the Soviet-Japanese war in August 1945. Two years later he graduated from the Caspian Higher Naval School, serving in the Black Sea and Baltic submarine fleets – just in time for the start of the Cold War, which would stay with him for the rest of his service.

During the 1950s the Soviets became very concerned about the US’ lead in submarines. They eventually rushed the development and construction of the K-19, the first of two new Hotel-class ballistic missile submarines. However, things did not go smoothly. Eleven people died due to accidents and fires during the construction phase. To top everything off, the champagne bottle used in the inauguration ceremony failed to break.

[amorphous]

"We should never let their stories be forgotten."

Agree.

[Excellence]

K19 became a movie on Netflix.

[doug from upland]

Thanks for sharing that.

[Ozark Tom]

A bit of fortune for the Cuban people... they avoided a <2 minute time-on-target strategic strike.

[amorphous]

And for a Marine friend of mine who waited out the crisis in a foxhole at Guantanamo. :-)

[amorphous]

My pleasure

[amorphous]

I liked the movie. It took a lot of courage to go into that reactor room knowing the horrible/painful death waiting for those who did.

[Patton@Bastogne]

pretty good movie ... highly recommended ...