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1. Fash-E :windmill_of_friendship: (fash-e@poa.st)'s status on Monday, 26-Feb-2024 07:52:50 JST Fash-E :windmill_of_friendship:

   in reply to
   Bonus post for Unity Day of White History Month; Vasily Arkhipov, the man who saved the world.
   
   Born a peasant near Moscow in 1926, Vasily Arkhipov began his life in absolute poverty. Conscripted into the Soviet navy during WWII, Vasily served as a mine sweeper in the Soviet-Japanese War. During which time 75% of all Soviet ships sank were minesweepers. Having survived WWII, Vasily began serving aboard experimental nuclear-submarines during the Cold War.
   
   In July of 1961, the nuclear submarine Vasily was serving aboard, designated K-19, began having a meltdown in its nuclear reactor. In order to repair the reactors coolant systems, Vasily along with the engineering crew, exposed themselves to extreme levels of radiation. Due to the exposure, every member of the engineer crew died within one month and 15 more crew members died over the next two years but Vasily survived. As a result of his fearless sacrifice, Vasily’s reputation skyrocketed, earning him the rank of Flotilla Commander.
   
   On October 27th 1962, Vasily was serving as Flotilla Commander aboard a Nuclear Submarine in international waters near the coast of Cuba, when a group of eleven US Navy destroyers and an aircraft carrier detected his vessel and began pursuit. Attempting to force the submarine to surface for identification, the Americans began dropping depth charges.
   
   Tensions between these Nuclear superpowers were at an all time high. Far from radio contact, the Captain onboard the Soviet submarine, who the Flotilla Commander is 2nd-in-command to, interpreted this as an attempt to sink their vessel and assumed war had been declared between the US and USSR. Some historians attribute his clouded judgement to the very low levels of oxygen present in submarine cabins.
   
   The Captain ordered a Nuclear torpedo launch on the American aircraft carrier. 3 keys were needed for launch, the three men were Captain Savitsky, Political Officer Maslennikov, and Flotilla Commander Arkhipov. An argument broke out between the three of them, with only Arkhipov against the launch. It is said that 2 of the keys were in. Vasily had no idea whether war had been declared but regardless refused, demanding they surface and possibly face imprisonment.
   
   Ultimately it was Vasily's reputation earned aboard the K-19 which won him the argument. They surfaced, were interrogated and released. Upon return home they faced court-marshal for failing to maintain the secrecy of their mission. In 1998, aged 72, Vasily Arkhipov died of cancer. Few knew in his lifetime of the gravity of his choices but it is very likely that this one man's will prevented a global nuclear war.