Vasily Arkhipov
Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov (Russian: Василий Александрович Архипов, IPA: [vɐˈsʲilʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ arˈxʲipəf], 30 January 1926 – 19 August 1998) was a Soviet Naval officer who is known for preventing a Soviet nuclear torpedo launch during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The course of events that would have followed such a launch cannot be known, but various speculations have been advanced, up to and including global thermonuclear war.
For the Soviet general twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, see Vasily Arkhipov (general).
Vasily Arkhipov
Василий Архипов
Василий Архипов
30 January 1926
Zvorkovo, Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
19 August 1998 (aged 72)
Zheleznodorozhny, Moscow Oblast, Russia
1945–1988
Olga Arkhipova
As flotilla chief of staff as well as executive officer of the diesel powered submarine B-59, Arkhipov refused to authorize the captain and the political officer to use nuclear torpedoes against the United States Navy, a decision that required the agreement of all three officers. In 2002, Thomas S. Blanton, then director of the U.S. National Security Archive, credited Arkhipov as "the man who saved the world".
Early life[edit]
Arkhipov was born into a Russian peasant family in the town of Staraya Kupavna, near Moscow. He was educated in the Pacific Higher Naval School and participated in the Soviet–Japanese War in August 1945, serving aboard a minesweeper. He transferred to the Azerbaijan Higher Naval School and graduated in 1947.[1]
Later life and death[edit]
Arkhipov continued in Soviet Navy service, commanding submarines and later submarine squadrons. He was promoted to rear admiral in 1975, and became head of the Kirov Naval Academy. Arkhipov was promoted to vice admiral in 1981 and retired in 1988.
He settled in Kupavna (which was incorporated into Zheleznodorozhny, Moscow Oblast, in 2004), where he died on 19 August 1998.[1] The radiation to which Arkhipov had been exposed in 1961 may have contributed to his kidney cancer, as it did on the illnesses of many others who served with him in the K-19 accident.[17]
Nikolai Zateyev, the commander of the submarine K-19 at the time of its onboard nuclear accident, died on 28 August 1998. Both Arkhipov and Zateyev were 72 at the time of their deaths.
Personal life[edit]
Arkhipov was married to Olga Arkhipova until his death in 1998. They had a daughter named Yelena.
Arkhipov was known to be a shy and humble man. In a 2012, PBS documentary entitled The Man Who Saved the World,[23] his wife described him as intelligent, polite, and very calm. Much of what is known about his personality comes from her. According to her, he enjoyed searching for newspapers during their vacations and tried to stay up-to-date with the modern world as much as possible. In this same interview, Olga alluded to her husband's possible superstitious beliefs as well. She recalls walking in on Vasily burning a bundle of their love letters inside their house and that he claimed that keeping the letters would mean "bad luck".[24]
In popular culture[edit]
Leon Ockenden portrayed Arkhipov in Season 12 Episode 1 of Secrets of the Dead, entitled "The Man Who Saved the World". It was aired 23 October 2012 on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis.[25]
The 2021 novel Red Traitor by Owen Matthews includes Arkhipov as a major viewpoint character, and is dedicated to him.
The character of Captain Mikhail Polenin, portrayed by Liam Neeson, in the 2002 film K-19: The Widowmaker was closely based on Arkhipov's tenure on Soviet submarine K-19.[26][27]
The musical group Converge dedicated a composition called "Arkhipov Calm" to Arkhipov in 2017.
Denzel Washington's character in Crimson Tide (1995) is an officer who refused to affirm the launch orders of a submarine captain.[28]
Awards and honors[edit]
In recognition of his actions onboard B-59, Arkhipov received the first "Future of Life Award", which was presented posthumously to his family in 2017.[29] Offered by the Future of Life Institute, this award recognizes exceptional measures, often performed despite personal risk and without obvious reward, to safeguard the collective future of humanity.[30]
In 2002, Thomas S. Blanton, the director of the U.S. National Security Archive, said that Arkhipov "saved the world".[31]