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The Soviet Navy Officer that Prevented Nuclear War | Vasily Arkhipov

Consider supporting HoH: ►Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HouseofHistory ►Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/HouseofHistory On the 27th of October 1962, the B-59 submarine was trapped under an American fleet and, in their perception, was under attack by depth charges exploding around them. The submarine had embarked on a mission from the Soviet Union nearly four weeks earlier, in order to guard Soviet weapon transports to Cuba. Onboard were 70 crewmen. The three most senior officers were Captain Valentin Savitsky, the political officer Semonovich Maslennikov and the 2nd Lieutenant Vasily Arkhipov. The B-59 was a submarine that initially was built for Arctic expeditions and was driven by diesel. It was now stuck underwater near Cuba, in a climate that it wasn’t built for. According to letters from the crew of the submarine, the inside would often reach temperatures over 50 degrees with poorly filtered oxygen and mounting pressure from the depths. All in all, Soviet submarines didn’t have the ideal circumstances to make rational decisions in. There also was a US fleet guarding Cuba, consisting of the USS Randolph and 11 destroyers. They received orders, when they detected unidentified submarines, to use depth charges to force submarines to the surface. Now, President John F. Kennedy worried about this practice because the subs could mistake the depth charges for an actual attack. According to Robert Kennedy, the president’s brother, the depth charges were ‘the greatest source of worry for the president.’ And, well, funnily enough, President Kennedy wasn’t too wrong to worry about the practice. When the US fleet realised there was an unidentified submarine, they launched the depth charges to try and force it to surface. My Twitter:https://twitter.com/Oscar_HoH My videos tend to get arbitrarily demonetized. That is why I decided to open up a Patreon where people can support the channel. If you decide to pledge as little as 1$/month you will gain access to a monthly series exclusive to my Patrons! Chapters: 0:00 Introduction Watch my documentary series: ►History of Prussia playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLazn7eofVtjJjSlui3iOOz0P3KI7-v3o5 ►End of Empire - Downfall of the Qing Dynasty playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLazn7eofVtjLnVJY6NyQX8JlVApf40DLs ►World War 2 playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLazn7eofVtjLYTXde713nRftdAPj7YW_a ►Hitler's Spies playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLazn7eofVtjJGQ4c1q7mQhTh5vM54_17o The content of this video covers events, people or concepts via a lecture-style presentation that is educational and historical in nature. Every video is original content by House of History. The events relating to conflict in this video are portrayed in their historical context without either value judgment or an ideological message attached to it. There is no intent to shock, upset or disgust. The goal of my channel is to make interesting lecture-style videos, no more, no less. Thank you for taking the time to check out House of History, I hope you will find the films informative, interesting and enjoyable! If you have any feedback, questions or criticism feel free to leave a comment. Your opinion truly aids me in improving the content of the channel! If you have a question, feel free to leave a comment and I will either write a reply, answer your question in a Q&A video, or make an entire video about it! Sources: http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cold-war/sovietsbomb.htm Savranskaya, Svetlana V. New Sources on the Role of Soviet Submarines in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Journal of Strategic Studies 28.2 (2005): 233-259.doi:10.1080/01402390500088312 Photos, paintings and imagery: Public Domain, Wikicommons #HouseofHistory #History