Vasily Arkhipov

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Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov (Russian: Василий Александрович Архипов; 30 January 1926 – 19 August 1998), also transliterated as Vasili Arkhipov, was a vice admiral in the Soviet Navy who, during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, prevented nuclear war. At the time of the crisis, Arkhipov was chief of staff of a Soviet submarine flotilla and was aboard the submarine B-59 as executive officer. When U.S. destroyers dropped practice depth charges near the submarine, its captain and the political officer believed war had begun and prepared to launch a nuclear torpedo against United States Navy ships. Launch authorization required the agreement of all three senior officers. Arkhipov refused, and his decision prevented the use of nuclear weapons. In 2002, Thomas S. Blanton, director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University, said: Arkhipov was "the man who saved the world." Arkhipov became a rear admiral in 1975 and head of the Kirov Naval Academy. In 1981, he was promoted...

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