Which soviet naval officer prevent WW3?
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The Soviet naval officer who is credited with preventing WW3 is Vasili Arkhipov. In October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Arkhipov was the commander of a Soviet submarine armed with nuclear-tipped torpedoes. When the submarine lost contact with Moscow and its crew believed that a nuclear war might have started, the captain and the political officer on board decided to launch the torpedoes at a nearby US aircraft carrier. However, Arkhipov, who was second-in-command and had the authority to veto the decision, argued that they should wait and try to establish contact with Moscow before making any moves. His argument prevailed, and the submarine surfaced and returned to the Soviet Union without launching any nuclear weapons. This decision is widely regarded as having prevented a nuclear war and potentially saved millions of lives.
If Vasili Arkhipov launched the torpedoes, what could have happened?
If Vasili Arkhipov had approved the launch of the torpedoes during the Cuban Missile Crisis, it could have resulted in a full-fledged nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The US aircraft carrier that the Soviet submarine was targeting was part of a naval blockade around Cuba, which was one of the triggers of the crisis. Had the submarine fired the nuclear-tipped torpedoes, it would have likely resulted in a response from the US Navy, and the situation would have escalated quickly into a nuclear exchange between the two superpowers. This would have had catastrophic consequences for both nations, and the world as a whole, as it could have led to the complete annihilation of life on Earth.
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