The record
The defining act
On October 27, 1962, Soviet submarine B-59 was being pursued by American forces using signaling depth charges. Cut off from communications and unsure whether war had begun, its captain considered using a nuclear torpedo. Accounts of the incident credit Arkhipov with refusing the consent needed to launch.
What was at stake
A nuclear detonation against the American fleet during the Cuban Missile Crisis could have triggered a much wider exchange. Inside B-59, batteries were failing, temperatures were extreme, and the crew could not determine the intentions of the forces above.
What followed
B-59 surfaced and returned to the Soviet Union without firing. The nuclear dimension of the encounter remained little known for decades, and Arkhipov did not publicly emphasize his own role.
Why Pax Terra remembers them
His restraint turned one man's vote into a shield for civilization.