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[ 0 => '| death_place = [[Zheleznodorozhny, Moscow Oblast]], [[Russia]]', 1 => '| nickname = ', 2 => '| birth_name = ', 3 => '| allegiance = {{flag|USSR}}', 4 => '| branch = {{navy|USSR}}', 5 => '| serviceyears = 1945–1980s', 6 => '| rank = [[File:RAF N F7VicAdm since 2010par.svg|24px]] [[Vice Admiral]]', 7 => '| commands = ', 8 => '| awards = {{unbulleted list|[[Order of the Red Banner]]|[[Order of the Red Star]]|Future of Life Award}}', 9 => '| unit = ', 10 => '| battles = {{unbulleted list|[[World War II]]|[[Cuban Missile Crisis]]}}', 11 => '| spouse = Olga Arkhipova', 12 => '}}', 13 => ''''Vasili Aleksandrovich Arkhipov''' ({{lang-rus|Василий Александрович Архипов|p=vɐˈsʲilʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ arˈxʲipəf}}, 30 January 1926 – 19 August 1998) was a [[Soviet Navy]] officer credited with preventing a Soviet nuclear strike (and, potentially, all-out nuclear war) during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. Such an attack likely would have caused a major global thermonuclear response.<ref>[[Noam Chomsky]], in his book ''Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Xx3ptbzQ8L4C&pg=PA74#v=onepage&q&f=false] cited we were "one word away from nuclear war" and "a devastating response would be a near certainty", and also noted that President [[Dwight Eisenhower]] stated "a major war would destroy the northern hemisphere"(Chomsky, pp. 74)</ref> ', 14 => '', 15 => 'As [[flotilla]] chief of staff and second-in-command of the diesel powered submarine {{ship|Soviet submarine|B-59||2}}, Arkhipov refused to authorize the captain's use of [[nuclear torpedo]]es against the [[United States Navy]], a decision requiring the agreement of all three senior officers aboard. ', 16 => '', 17 => 'In 2002, Thomas Blanton, who was then director of the U.S. [[National Security Archive]], said that Arkhipov "saved the world".<ref name="Globe">{{Cite news|last=Lloyd|first=Marion|date=13 October 2002|title=Soviets Close to Using A-Bomb in 1962 Crisis, Forum is Told|pages=A20|journal=[[The Boston Globe]]|url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cold-war/sovietsbomb.htm|access-date=7 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710213948/https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cold-war/sovietsbomb.htm|archive-date=10 July 2021}}</ref>', 18 => '', 19 => '==Early life==', 20 => 'Arkhipov was born into a 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 Academy|Caspian Higher Naval School]] and graduated in 1947.<ref name="roberts">{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Priscilla Mary|title=Cuban Missile Crisis: The Essential Reference Guide|publisher=Abc-Clio Inc|year=2012|isbn=9781610690652|pages=13–14|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P-VNltHyq0sC&pg=PA13}}</ref>', 21 => '', 22 => '==Early career==', 23 => 'After graduating in 1947, Arkhipov served in the submarine service aboard boats in the [[Black Sea]], Northern and Baltic Fleets.<ref name=roberts/>', 24 => '', 25 => '===''K-19'' accident===', 26 => '{{main|Soviet submarine K-19}}', 27 => 'In July 1961, Arkhipov was appointed deputy commander and therefore [[executive officer]] of the new {{sclass2|Hotel|submarine|0}} [[Soviet submarine K-19|ballistic missile submarine ''K-19'']].<ref name=roberts/> After a few days of conducting exercises off the south-east coast of Greenland, the submarine developed an extreme leak in its [[Nuclear reactor coolant|reactor coolant]] system. This leak led to failure of the cooling system. Radio communications were also affected, and the crew was unable to make contact with Moscow. With no backup systems, Captain [[Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev|Nikolai Zateyev]] ordered the seven members of the engineer crew to come up with a solution to avoid [[nuclear meltdown]]. This required the men to work in high radiation levels for extended periods. They eventually came up with a secondary coolant system and were able to prevent a reactor meltdown. Although they were able to save themselves from a nuclear meltdown, the entire crew, including Arkhipov, were irradiated. All members of the engineer crew and their divisional officer died within a month due to the [[Acute radiation syndrome|high levels of radiation]] they were exposed to. Over the course of two years, 15 more sailors died from the after-effects.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Vasili Arkhipov: Cold War Russian hero -- Sott.net|url = http://www.sott.net/article/302748-VASILI-Arhipov-cold-war-Russian-hero|website = SOTT.net|access-date =9 November 2015|language = en-US}}</ref>', 28 => '', 29 => '=={{anchor|Cuban Missile Crisis}} Involvement in Cuban Missile Crisis==', 30 => '{{main|Cuban Missile Crisis}}', 31 => '[[File:Soviet b-59 submarine.jpg|thumb|Soviet submarine ''B-59'', in the Caribbean near Cuba.<ref>{{cite book|title=The submarines of October: U.S. and Soviet Naval Encounters During the Cuban Missile Crisis|series=[[National Security Archive]] Electronic Briefing Book|issue=75|editor1-first=William|editor1-last=Burr |editor2-first=Thomas S.|editor2-last=Blanton|date=31 October 2002|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB75#IV|archive-date=11 May 2012|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/67Zh0rqhC?url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB75#IV|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all |access-date=21 November 2008}}</ref>]]', 32 => 'On 27 October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a group of 11 [[United States Navy]] [[destroyers]] and the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Randolph|CV-15|6}} located the diesel-powered, nuclear-armed {{sclass2|Foxtrot|submarine|1}} {{ship|Soviet submarine|B-59||2}} near [[Cuba]]. (The B-59 was one of four Foxtrot submarines sent by the USSR to the area around Cuba.) Despite being in [[international waters]], the United States Navy started dropping [[Depth_charge#Signaling|signaling depth charges]], explosives intended to force the submarine to come to the surface for identification. There had been no contact from Moscow for a number of days and, although the submarine's crew had earlier been picking up U.S. civilian radio broadcasts, once ''B-59'' began attempting to hide from its U.S. Navy pursuers, it was too deep to monitor any radio traffic. Those on board did not know whether war had broken out or not.<ref>Michael Dobbs, ''One Minute to Midnight'', Vintage, Random House, 2009. Includes photograph of ''B-59'' surfacing.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB75/subchron.htm |title=Chronology of Submarine Contact During the Cuban Missile Crisis |publisher=National Security Archive of the [[George Washington University]] |access-date=15 November 2010}}</ref> The captain of the submarine, Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky, decided that a war might already have started and wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo.<ref name="thankyou">{{Cite news|author=Wilson|first=Edward|author-link=Edward Wilson (novelist)|date=27 October 2012|title=Thank you Vasili Arkhipov, the man who stopped nuclear war|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/27/vasili-arkhipov-stopped-nuclear-war|access-date=31 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702044712/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/27/vasili-arkhipov-stopped-nuclear-war|archive-date=2 July 2021}}</ref>', 33 => '', 34 => 'Unlike the other submarines in the flotilla, three officers on board ''B-59'' had to agree unanimously to authorize a nuclear launch: Captain Savitsky, the [[Political officer (military)|political officer]] Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, and the [[chief of staff]] of the flotilla (and executive officer of B-59) Arkhipov. Typically, Soviet submarines armed with the "[[Nuclear_torpedo#T-5|Special Weapon]]" only required the captain to get authorization from the political officer to launch a nuclear torpedo, but due to Arkhipov's position as chief of staff, ''B-59''{{'}}s captain also was required to gain his approval. An argument broke out, with only Arkhipov against the launch.<ref name="isbn0-8050-7688-3">{{Cite book|author=Chomsky|first=Noam|title=[[Hegemony or Survival|Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance]]|publisher=Henry Holt|year=2004|isbn=0-8050-7688-3|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/hegemonyorsurviv00chom_0/page/74 74]|author-link=Noam Chomsky}}</ref>', 35 => '', 36 => 'Even though Arkhipov was second-in-command of the submarine ''B-59'', he was in fact chief of staff of the submarine flotilla, including ''B-4'', ''B-36'' and ''B-130''.<ref name= "report">{{Cite web|url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB399/docs/Report%20of%20the%20submarine%20mission.pdf|title=About participation of submarines "B-4," "B-36," "B-59," "B-130" of the 69th submarine brigade of the Northern Fleet in the Operation "Anadyr" during the period of October-December, 1962/CARIBBEAN CRISIS/|website=[[National Security Archive]]|access-date=26 October 2019}}</ref> According to author [[Edward Wilson (novelist)|Edward Wilson]], the reputation Arkhipov had gained from his courageous conduct in the previous year's ''K-19'' incident also helped him prevail.<ref name = "thankyou"/> Arkhipov eventually persuaded Savitsky to surface and await orders from Moscow. This may have effectively averted a [[nuclear war]] which probably would have ensued if the nuclear weapon had been fired.<ref>{{cite interview |last=Blanton |first=Thomas S. |interviewer=''[[The Washington Post]]'' |interviewer2=Forum users|title=The Cuban Missile Crisis: 40 Years Later |url=http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/zforum/02/sp_world_blanton101602.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830221337/http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/zforum/02/sp_world_blanton101602.htm |archive-date=2008-08-30 |date=16 October 2002 |url-status=dead |access-date=15 November 2010}}</ref> The submarine's batteries had run very low and the air conditioning had failed, causing extreme heat and high levels of carbon dioxide inside the submarine.<ref name="report"/> They were forced to surface amid the American pursuers and to return to the Soviet Union as a result.<ref name=roberts/>', 37 => '', 38 => '===Aftermath===', 39 => 'Immediately upon return to Russia, many crew members were faced with disgrace from their superiors. One admiral told them "It would have been better if [[The captain goes down with the ship|you'd gone down with your ship]]." Olga, Arkhipov's wife, even said "he didn't like talking about it, he felt they hadn't appreciated what they had gone through."<ref name="The Man Who Saved the World">{{cite episode|url=http://video.pbs.org/video/2295274962|series=Secrets of the Dead|title=The Man Who Saved the World|publisher=PBS|date=24 October 2012}}</ref> Each captain was required to present a report of events during the mission to Marshal [[Andrei Grechko]], who substituted for the ill [[Minister of Defence (Soviet Union)|Soviet defense minister]]. Grechko was infuriated with the crew's failure to follow the strict orders of secrecy after finding out they had been discovered by the Americans. One officer even noted Grechko's reaction, stating that he "upon learning that it was the diesel submarines that went to Cuba, removed his glasses and hit them against the table in fury, breaking them into small pieces and abruptly leaving the room after that."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Savranskaya|first1=Svetlana|title=New Sources on the Role of Soviet Submarines in the Cuban Missile Crisis|journal=Journal of Strategic Studies|date=24 January 2007|volume=28|issue=2|page=248|url=http://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/legacy/files/CMC50/SavranskayaJSSNewsourcesonroleofSovietsubmarinesinCMC.pdf|access-date=21 February 2017|doi=10.1080/01402390500088312|s2cid=154967351}}</ref>', 40 => '', 41 => 'In 2002, retired Commander Vadim Pavlovich Orlov, a participant in the events, held a press conference revealing the submarines were armed with nuclear torpedoes and that Arkhipov was the reason those devices had not been fired. Orlov presented the events less dramatically, saying that Captain Savitsky lost his temper, but eventually calmed down.<ref name="Russian">{{cite web|date=21 June 2002|url = http://65.120.76.252/russia/johnson/6320-12.cfm|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110530221205/http://65.120.76.252/russia/johnson/6320-12.cfm|archive-date = 2011-05-30|title = Russian Book Looks at Missile Crisis|website=Johnson's Russia List| access-date =21 June 2019| first=Vladimir |last=Isachsnkov }}</ref>', 42 => '', 43 => '[[Robert McNamara]], U.S. Secretary of Defense at the time of the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], stated in 2002 that "We came very close" to nuclear war, "closer than we knew at the time."<ref>{{cite web|last=Leonard|first=Mark|last2=Blackhurst|first2=Rob|date=19 May 2002|title='I don't think anybody thought much about whether Agent Orange was against the rules of war'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/19/theobserver|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314175542/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/19/theobserver|archive-date=14 March 2021|access-date=22 June 2012|work=[[The Observer]]}}</ref> [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.]], an advisor for the [[John F. Kennedy]] administration and a historian, continued this thought by stating "This was not only the most dangerous moment of the [[Cold War]]. It was the most dangerous moment in human history."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lloyd|first1=Marion|date=13 October 2002|title=Soviets Close to Using A-Bomb in 1962 Crisis, Forum is Told|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cold-war/sovietsbomb.htm|access-date=21 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710213948/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cold-war/sovietsbomb.htm|archive-date=10 July 2021}}</ref>', 44 => '', 45 => '==Later life and death==', 46 => '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 [[Azerbaijan Higher Naval Academy|Kirov Naval Academy]]. Arkhipov was promoted to [[vice admiral]] in 1981 and retired in the mid-1980s.', 47 => '', 48 => 'He subsequently settled in Kupavna (which was incorporated into [[Zheleznodorozhny, Moscow Oblast]], in 2004), where he died on 19 August 1998.<ref name=roberts/> The radiation to which Arkhipov had been exposed in 1961 may have contributed to his kidney cancer, like many others who served with him in the ''K-19'' accident.<ref name="The Man Who Saved the World"/>', 49 => '', 50 => '[[Nikolai Vladimirovich 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.', 51 => '', 52 => '==Personal life==', 53 => '', 54 => '=== Family ===', 55 => 'Arkhipov was married to Olga Arkhipova until his death in 1998. They had a daughter named Yelena.', 56 => '', 57 => '=== Character ===', 58 => 'Arkhipov was known to be a shy and humble man. In a 2012 [[PBS]] documentary titled ''The Man Who Saved the World'',<ref>{{cite web | title = The Man Who Saved the World | website = pbs.org |date = 2012| url = https://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/the-man-who-saved-the-world-about-this-episode/871/ | access-date = 27 October 2019}}</ref> 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 alludes to her husband's possible superstitious beliefs as well. She recalls walking in on Vasili burning a bundle of their love letters inside their house, claiming that keeping the letters would mean "bad luck".<ref>{{Citation|last=Codi von Richthofen|title=Missile Crisis: The Man Who Saved the World|date=2015-02-21|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr_WkfOMx4c |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/qr_WkfOMx4c |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|access-date=26 February 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>', 59 => '', 60 => '==Awards and honors==', 61 => '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.<ref name="guardian_davis">{{cite web|last1=Davis|first1=Nicola|date=27 October 2017|title=Soviet submarine officer who averted nuclear war honoured with prize|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/27/vasili-arkhipov-soviet-submarine-captain-who-averted-nuclear-war-awarded-future-of-life-prize|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719102239/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/27/vasili-arkhipov-soviet-submarine-captain-who-averted-nuclear-war-awarded-future-of-life-prize|archive-date=19 July 2021|access-date=7 November 2017|website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> 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.<ref name="FLI_award_info">{{cite web|last1=Davey|first1=Tucker|title=55 Years After Preventing Nuclear Attack, Arkhipov Honored With Inaugural Future of Life Award|url=https://futureoflife.org/2017/10/27/55-years-preventing-nuclear-attack-arkhipov-honored-inaugural-future-life-award/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516005650/https://futureoflife.org/2017/10/27/55-years-preventing-nuclear-attack-arkhipov-honored-inaugural-future-life-award/|archive-date=16 May 2021|access-date=7 November 2017|website=[[Future of Life Institute]]}}</ref>', 62 => '', 63 => '==See also==', 64 => '* [[Stanislav Petrov]], a Russian duty officer at a missile warning station who averted a possible nuclear war in 1983', 65 => '* [[National Security Archive]], Thomas Blanton, Director, has undertaken substantial research on Arkhipov's involvement during the Cuban Missile Crisis', 66 => '* [[List of nuclear close calls]]', 67 => '', 68 => '==References==', 69 => '{{Reflist|30em}}', 70 => '', 71 => '==External links==', 72 => '', 73 => '* [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/the-man-who-saved-the-world-watch-the-full-episode/905/ PBS special on the crisis: ''The Man Who Saved the World'']', 74 => '', 75 => '{{Authority control}}', 76 => '', 77 => '{{DEFAULTSORT:Arkhipov, Vasili Alexandrovich}}', 78 => '[[Category:1926 births]]', 79 => '[[Category:1998 deaths]]', 80 => '[[Category:People from Orekhovo-Zuyevsky District]]', 81 => '[[Category:Communist Party of the Soviet Union members]]', 82 => '[[Category:Recipients of the Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR"]]', 83 => '[[Category:Recipients of the Medal of Zhukov]]', 84 => '[[Category:Recipients of the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class]]', 85 => '[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner]]', 86 => '[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Star]]', 87 => '[[Category:Cold War military history of the Soviet Union]]', 88 => '[[Category:Cuban Missile Crisis]]', 89 => '[[Category:People of the Cold War]]', 90 => '[[Category:Soviet admirals]]', 91 => '[[Category:Soviet military personnel of World War II]]', 92 => '[[Category:Soviet submarine commanders]]' ]