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In October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, US warships dropped signal charges to force the Soviet submarine B-59 to the surface. Cut off from Moscow, its captain considered using the nuclear torpedo on board. Vasili Arkhipov, the submarine brigade's chief of staff, helped calm him, and the order to fire never reached the torpedo crew.

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B-59 was one of four Soviet diesel submarines sent towards Cuba, each carrying one torpedo with a nuclear warhead. On 27 October it had been submerged for days: its batteries were running low, its air conditioning had failed and the heat inside was stifling. The US Navy used small practice depth charges as a signal to surface, but the submarine's crew had not been told about this procedure. According to a crew member's later account, captain Valentin Savitsky feared that war had begun and ordered the nuclear torpedo made ready, then calmed down after talking with Arkhipov and the political officer, and brought the submarine up. Historians still debate how close he came to firing, and whether several officers had to agree.

Türkçe oku
Ekim 1962'de, Küba Füze Krizi sırasında ABD savaş gemileri, Sovyet denizaltısı B-59'u yüzeye çıkarmak için işaret bombaları attı. Moskova'yla bağlantısı kesilen kaptan, gemideki nükleer torpidoyu kullanmayı düşündü. Denizaltı tugayının kurmay başkanı Vasili Arhipov onu yatıştırmaya yardım etti; ateş emri torpido ekibine hiç ulaşmadı.

B-59, Küba'ya doğru gönderilen dört Sovyet dizel denizaltısından biriydi ve her birinde nükleer başlıklı bir torpido vardı. 27 Ekim'de günlerdir su altındaydı: Bataryaları tükenmek üzereydi, klima çalışmıyordu ve içerisi dayanılmaz derecede sıcaktı. ABD Donanması yüzeye çıkma işareti olarak küçük tatbikat derinlik bombaları kullanıyordu, ancak denizaltı mürettebatına bu yöntem bildirilmemişti. Mürettebattan birinin sonradan anlattığına göre kaptan Valentin Savitski savaşın başladığından korktu ve nükleer torpidonun hazırlanmasını emretti; Arhipov ve siyasi subayla konuştuktan sonra ise sakinleşti ve denizaltıyı yüzeye çıkardı. Kaptanın ateş etmeye ne kadar yaklaştığı ve birkaç subayın onayının gerekip gerekmediği, tarihçiler arasında hâlâ tartışılıyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Vasily Arkhipov
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