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In 1962 a Soviet submarine near Cuba, out of radio contact and under depth charges, prepared to fire a nuclear torpedo. Three officers had to agree. One, Vasili Arkhipov, said no.

Vasili Arkhipov, 27 October 1962

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The idea in context

Submarine B-59 had been submerged for days in stifling heat, its batteries failing, when American ships began dropping practice charges to force it up. The crew could not know the war had not already started. The captain and political officer agreed to launch; Arkhipov, second in command of the flotilla, held out and talked them into surfacing instead. The West did not learn his name until 2002. He was not decorated for it, and the day is now sometimes called the closest the world came to nuclear war.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

1962'de Küba yakınında, telsiz bağlantısı kesilmiş ve derinlik bombası altındaki bir Sovyet denizaltısı nükleer torpido ateşlemeye hazırlandı. Üç subayın hemfikir olması gerekiyordu. Biri, Vasili Arkhipov, hayır dedi.

Vasili Arkhipov, 27 Ekim 1962

B-59 denizaltısı, bataryaları tükenirken günlerdir boğucu sıcakta dalgıç hâldeydi; Amerikan gemileri onu yüzeye çıkarmak için tatbikat bombaları atmaya başladı. Mürettebat savaşın çoktan başlamış olup olmadığını bilemezdi. Kaptan ve siyasi subay fırlatmada anlaştı; filonun ikinci komutanı olan Arkhipov direndi ve onları bunun yerine yüzeye çıkmaya ikna etti. Batı adını 2002'ye dek öğrenmedi. Bunun için madalya almadı ve o gün bugün kimi zaman dünyanın nükleer savaşa en çok yaklaştığı an olarak anılıyor.

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Background reading: Vasily ArkhipovAttribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.

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In 1962 a Soviet submarine near Cuba, out of radio contact and under depth charges, prepared to fire a nuclear torpedo. Three officers had to agree. One, Vasili Arkhipov, said no.

The idea in context

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

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