Neil
20-Sep-2017, 10:20 AM
So it's just been reported Stanislav Petrov died earlier this year - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41314948
It can be argued this guy is the reason we're still all here. At the height of the cold war in September 1983, he received computer readouts suggesting several US missiles had been launched. He ignored protocol to report this up the chain, and instead sat on the information.
It turned out Russian satellites and got confused over the reflection of sunlight off clouds! If he'd reported the information like he was suppose to... it's entirely possible we wouldn't be here!
In a similar note we also have Vasili Arkhipov to similarly thank for probably saving us for nuclear destruction during the Cuban Missile Crisis! - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_Arkhipov
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. The captain of the submarine, Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky, decided that a war might already have started and wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo.
Unlike the other subs in the flotilla, three officers on board the B-59 had to agree unanimously to authorize a nuclear launch: Captain Savitsky, the political officer Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, and the second-in-command Arkhipov. Typically, Russian submarines armed with the "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 flotilla commander, the B-59's captain also was required to gain Arkhipov's approval. An argument broke out, with only Arkhipov against the launch.
This effectively averted the nuclear warfare which probably would have ensued if the nuclear weapon had been fired.
I wonder how many other times we've "been lucky!"
It can be argued this guy is the reason we're still all here. At the height of the cold war in September 1983, he received computer readouts suggesting several US missiles had been launched. He ignored protocol to report this up the chain, and instead sat on the information.
It turned out Russian satellites and got confused over the reflection of sunlight off clouds! If he'd reported the information like he was suppose to... it's entirely possible we wouldn't be here!
In a similar note we also have Vasili Arkhipov to similarly thank for probably saving us for nuclear destruction during the Cuban Missile Crisis! - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_Arkhipov
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. The captain of the submarine, Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky, decided that a war might already have started and wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo.
Unlike the other subs in the flotilla, three officers on board the B-59 had to agree unanimously to authorize a nuclear launch: Captain Savitsky, the political officer Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, and the second-in-command Arkhipov. Typically, Russian submarines armed with the "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 flotilla commander, the B-59's captain also was required to gain Arkhipov's approval. An argument broke out, with only Arkhipov against the launch.
This effectively averted the nuclear warfare which probably would have ensued if the nuclear weapon had been fired.
I wonder how many other times we've "been lucky!"