As nuclear rhetoric picks up in Russia, and the West prepares contingency plans in the event Putin detonates a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, I’m reminded of all the times our species has come close to nuclear annihilation.

Each story is harrowing in its own right, but few nuclear “near-misses” come close to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the events that took place beneath the waves in October of 1962.

Weeks before the American blockade of Cuba, four Soviet Foxtrot-class submarines left Russia en route to Cuba.

Each of the Soviet subs carried a nuclear warhead that was to be delivered to Castro in Cuba and set up at one of the many launch sites.

The captains of these vessels were given strict instructions from Moscow to go to Cuba and stop for nothing along the way.

A Soviet-built Cuban Foxtrot Class patrol submarine underway. Public Domain.

Also, they were told that if war broke out between the Soviet Union and the Americans, then they should use their nukes against U.S. targets via torpedo.

Per the Russian nuclear doctrine of the time, the sub captains were only to use their nukes if direct orders to do so were received from Moscow. But the sub captains were permitted on this occasion to use their best judgment if communication with Moscow was broken.

In addition, all commanding officers (the captain and political officers) on board each submarine had to agree that the nuke needed to be used.

The four Foxtrots has a pretty uneventful cruise across the Atlantic, but once they reached the emerald waters of the Caribbean, they encountered Kennedy’s U.S. Naval blockade.

One of the Foxtrots, B-59, was led by Captain Valentin Grigoryevich Savitsky, a political officer named Ivan Semyonovich Maslennikov, and commander of the deployed submarine detachment Vasily Arkhipov.

Arkhipov was previously the Executive Officer on board the K-19 when it suffered an extreme leak in its nuclear reactor coolant system.

Soviet Navy officer Vasili Arkhipov

Arkhipov calmly led the engineering crew through a rotating shift schedule that avoided a nuclear meltdown and saved the boat.

But he and the entire crew were irradiated, with many dying from the after-effects over the next two years.

Now, Arkhipov found himself in another high-stakes situation.

When the Foxtrots encountered the blockade, they were ordered by Moscow to dive, continue toward Cuba, and maintain radio silence.

For his part, JFK was warned by commanders in the blockade that some Russian submarines may try to sneak their way through.

Because of this, Kennedy gave the go-ahead to drop depth charges around the Foxtrots, but was explicit that they not be destroyed — the depth charges were to be warning shots only.

American destroyers USS Beale and USS Cony begin dropping non-lethal warning shots with the intent to get the submarines to surface.

As explosions rock the B-59, Captain Savitsky wonders if war has broken out topside.

To give himself more time, Savitsky dives the Foxtrot even deeper — this breaks radio communication completely with the surface.

Days pass as the B-59 lingers deep beneath the waves. Due to a broken air conditioning unit, temperatures on board the sub reach well over 100 degrees.

Crew members begin passing out from the heat. The Foxtrots were originally designed for Arctic cruises and the excessive heat begins to wear on the crew.

Then, a massive explosion shakes the sub, knocking many Russian sailors off their feet. A depth charge just detonated near B-59.

Even though the hull of the sub wasn’t breached, it’s at this moment that Captain Savitsky decides to fire his nuke to destroy the eleven U.S. destroyers and aircraft carrier directly above them.

Savitsky reasons that there have been so many depth charges dropped, that the U.S. and Soviet Union must be at war. Although he is too deep to confirm this with Moscow.

On the bridge, Savitsky orders his men to start preparing the nuke for launch.

Maslennikov, the sub’s political officer, agrees. But, Arkhipov, whose approval is all that stands between peace or nuclear war, says no.

Arkhipov tells his captain that he doesn’t think the Americans are attacking them directly.

The bridge goes silent. Men exchange nervous glances at one another.

Arkhipov wants to surface the sub and talk to the Americans. He tries to explain to Savitsky that these depth charges are too small to be anything other than a signal — a message that the Americans want them to surface.

He tells his captain that if the Americans really wanted to destroy them, they would have done it by now.

But Savitsky is a hardliner. He refuses to allow the Americans to capture his sub, and the nuclear secrets she carries.

Besides, the Americans need to pay for years of restricting the growth of the great communist crusade.

Savitsky tells his crew to continue arming the nuke.

Arkhipov yells “delay that order!” and reminds Savitsky that he needs Arkhipov’s approval to launch.

Unbeknownst to the Russians, the Americans just want to talk. But they cannot allow the submarine to continue to Cuba. Their weaker depth charges will soon be swapped out for live explosives if B-59 doesn’t respond soon.

Back onboard B-59, Savitsky and Maslennikov begin yelling at Arkhipov that they must fire their nuke, but Arkhipov responds that if they fire on the Americans it would lead to the end of civilization.

As Arkhipov makes his case, many of the crew remember the events on K-19 and how Arkhipov kept his cool under life-threatening conditions.

His calm demeanor and appeals to reason are winning over more and more of the B-59’s crew.

With the crew turning to Arkhipov’s side, it seems Savitsky begins to second-guess his decision to nuke the Americans.

Finally, Savitsky starts to understand the situation. The small, off-target warning shots have been going on for so long that if the Americans wanted to destroy them, they would have done so by now.

Captain Savitsky gives the order to disarm the nuke and surface the ship. The crew on the bridge let out an audible sigh of relief.

Soviet submarine B-59, after surfacing in the Caribbean near Cuba. U.S. National Archives, Still Pictures Branch, Record Group 428, Item 428-N-711200. Public domain.

Once surfaced, the officers of B-59 disembark and stand on the hull of the sub. An American destroyer sails up and begins explaining that they must honor the blockade until negotiations between their two countries are complete.

The destroyer then escorts B-59 back to the blockade line.

Vasily Arkhipov continued in Soviet Navy service, commanding submarines.

He was promoted to rear admiral in 1975 and became head of the Kirov Naval Academy. Arkhipov retired in the mid-1980s and passed away peacefully in 1998 at the age of 72.

My good friend Gary Slaughter, a 23-year-old US Navy Ensign at the time, was onboard the USS Cony during these events.

He told me that he was the only officer on Cony trained to communicate with the Russian Captain and once they surfaced, he studied the sullen face of Captain Vitali Savitsky at a distance of only 200 feet.

If you’re a fan of military history, check out Sea Stories: Memoir of a Naval Officer (1956–1967) by Gary Slaughter. This is not an affiliate link — just a friendly link.