The Brave Decision Of This Russian Officer Prevented Nuclear Armageddon And Saved Millions Of Lives

10. Humble Beginnings

The situation onboard the Soviet B-59 submarine is reaching critical levels. The temperature reached to over 100 °F while the American destroyers are dropping depth charges that constantly rocked the vessel. Fearing that World War III has broken out, the captain prepares to fire a nuclear missile. It is at this critical moment that one Soviet naval officer takes action that changed the course of history.

The brave commander was Vasili Arkhipov, born into a poor family in a small town near Moscow in January 1926. Arkhipov finished naval training at Pacific Higher Naval School before serving in the Soviet-Japanese War of 1945. He consequently spent the next 15 years serving on multiple submarines in the Black Sea, Northern and Baltic fleets.