In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted, which could have ended in a nuclear war. Those days are remembered by veteran divers who found themselves in the epicenter of the global conflict.
Hedgehog in American Pants
In 1961, the United States deployed 15 nuclear-armed missiles in Turkey. They could fly to Moscow in 10 minutes. In this case, our missiles would take 30-35 minutes to reach the United States. To restore the balance, Nikita Khrushchev decided to deploy Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba. "Put a hedgehog in the pants of the Americans," he put it.
The secret transfer of troops to Cuba was called Anadyr. To confuse the Americans, military equipment was transported along with sheepskin coats, sheepskin coats and … skis.
On October 1, 1962, at 4 am, four diesel submarines B-4, B-36, B-59 and B-130 left the Kola Bay. It was assumed that they will become part of the fifth Soviet Navy, based in Cuba.
Each boat had 22 torpedoes, one of which had a nuclear warhead. For the first time in the history of the USSR, atomic weapons were on board submarines. Even their commanders were at a loss.
Soviet nuclear torpedo.
Promotional video:
- The question arose: why do we need nuclear torpedoes at all? We have never used atomic weapons, never tested them. We didn’t know in what cases it should be used,”says the former commander of the B-4 submarine, retired captain of the 1st rank Rurik Ketov. - The Chief of Staff of the Fleet, Admiral Rassokho, explained: "Special weapons should be used if you are bombed and you get a hole in the hull and by special order from Moscow." For the first and last time in the history of our fleet, a ship commander had the right to independently use atomic weapons!
Rurik Ketov.
On October 4, 1962, the United States discovered Soviet medium-range missiles in Cuba. At that time, about 25,000 of our servicemen, torpedo boats and aircraft had already arrived on the "island of freedom".
“John F. Kennedy was offered to destroy our missiles with pinpoint strikes,” says the former navigator of the B-36 submarine, retired Rear Admiral Vladlen Naumov. - The advisers told the president that the United States will most likely win in the proposed war, but a quarter of the country's industry will be destroyed, and about 30 million Americans will die. Kennedy decided that he did not need such a victory.
Vladlen Naumov.
The United States declared a quarantine zone around Cuba, where no ships were allowed.
“Khrushchev responded by saying that if the Americans stopped Soviet ships and searched them, he would order our submarines to sink enemy warships,” says the former commander of the OSNAZ group of the B-36 submarine, retired captain of the 1st rank Radomir Anikin. - So the Americans realized that there are Soviet submarines in the Cuban region.
Three aircraft carriers (on board each with 50 aircraft and helicopters) and 180 escort ships went in search of them. The world was waiting with fear for the start of a nuclear war … The Americans who lived on the coast packed their things and in panic went deep into the United States. And only four Soviet submarines making their transition did not know about these events: during regular radio communications, Moscow did not report what passions flared up around Cuba.
E. Soloviev, G. Shchetkin. 1962 poster.
“The whole sky was covered by planes,” says Radomir Anikin. “In a few days, I discovered about 200 of them. And we successfully hid from them almost all our way. Usually the boat is under water, and at the top you can see only an air intake - something like a small boat five meters long. It's hard to see her. We detected the flying plane with the help of radar, calculated when it would be at our point. After that they dived. When he flew past, they surfaced again.
But the Sargasso Sea was also patrolled by American ships. A diesel submarine has to surface regularly to recharge its battery. She could stay under water for a maximum of about 5 days. As soon as our boats surfaced, the Americans immediately appeared nearby. Without fully charging the battery, without ventilating the boat, the divers went back to the depths. This game of "cat and mouse" lasted for about a month.
The American fleet is escorting the surfaced submarine B-36.
Salvage alcohol
The situation was aggravated by the fact that our diesel boats did not have an air conditioning system. And in the Sargasso Sea at a depth of 200 meters, the water temperature is about 30 degrees!
7th compartment B-36. Kubrick of sailors.
- The coolest was the 1st compartment, where the torpedoes were located, - says Vladlen Naumov. - There the temperature rose to 40 degrees. You lie down on the torpedo, and it seems so cold! Some slept directly on them. It was 65–70 degrees in the electromotor and battery compartments. And this with the highest humidity, high content of carbon dioxide in the air and harmful fumes from fuel and oil. People kept watch for 20 minutes. Then they fainted.
The clothes were painful. Therefore, the submariners wore only shorts and slippers (it was impossible to walk on the deck of the compartments barefoot: the legs burned). Over the shoulder - a towel to wash off the sweat that poured down.
“It is impossible to take a regular shower on diesel submarines,” says Vladlen Naumov. - We could only wash ourselves with sea water. A special soap was invented for her. Maybe it is suitable for the northern seas, but in Sargasso it was smeared over the body with a white mass and was not really washed off. We scraped it off.
The soap didn't wash off in the shower, and they didn't go to the latrine for weeks.
Due to the constant heat and the inability to wash, prickly heat became a real disaster for the submariners. Moreover, it proceeded in a severe form. The whole body was covered with purulent acne. Some had swollen legs and became twice as thick as usual.
“There was a shortage of fresh water on the ship,” recalls Vladlen Naumov. - We were given one or two glasses of tea a day. One day I drank a mug of cold water in one gulp. And immediately felt my skin move. All over the body, under its thin, almost transparent layer, light small bubbles of water appeared. I ran a towel over them, and it got wet instantly. We haven't been to the toilet for a week. Everything came out through sweat. And it was hard to eat: my mouth was dry, nothing crawled. We moistened our mouth with wine, and then stuffed something into it …
Saved with alcohol. Every day, the head of the medical service delivered wipes soaked in 70-degree alcohol. They rubbed their skin, and it became easier.
“Of course, it was very difficult for us,” admits Radomir Anikin. - But no one whined. It may sound pompous, but we were supported by a sense of responsibility for our Motherland.
Lucky case
In such conditions, the submarine crews still found the strength to hide from the US fleet. Despite the fact that the batteries were practically discharged, almost all electrical appliances were turned off, and the galley did not work for several days. B-130 surfaced first on October 25. And two days later, B-59. She was met by the aircraft carrier Randolph and 11 destroyers and frigates.
“With B-59, the Americans behaved very impudently,” says Radomir Anikin. - They fired at it, dropped depth charges nearby, anti-submarine aircraft simulated combat approaches.
The world was several minutes away from a nuclear war.
“We raised our naval flag,” recalls the former commander of the steering group of the B-59 boat, Viktor Mikhailov.
- They signaled: “Stop provocative actions! The ship belongs to the USSR and is in neutral waters! Instead of answering, ground attack aircraft fired volleys along the course and along the sides of the boat. None of us understood whether the war had begun or not yet.
The commander of the B-59 Vitaly Savitsky wanted to give the order to launch torpedoes at the Americans. The world was saved by chance.
- The command for an urgent dive has already been given, - says Radomir Anikin. “Only the signalman, the chief of staff of the division, Vasily Arkhipov, and the commander remained at the top. The first to descend into the boat was a signalman with a searchlight. And it so happened that he got stuck in the hatch. The commander could not get inside. And just at that moment the Americans began to call the boat with a searchlight. The chief of staff saw this and shouted: “Commander, they are calling us, so it’s not a war! Cancel the order! If the signalman hadn't been stuck, I don't know what would have happened to the world … By the way, the American commander later thanked our submariners for not using nuclear weapons …
“My friend went by boat B-59,” says Radomir Anikin. - He recalled that after the ceasefire, the Americans turned on the music at full volume and began to dance. And with our boat B-36 they behaved very correctly. When we reached the surface, only one destroyer met us. A signal was sent from him: “What happened? Do you need help? We didn't answer.
Vasily Arkhipov managed to cancel the order for the start of a nuclear war.
We were not expected alive
The Americans did not wait for only one submarine to surface, the B-4. However, the rest did not remain under their noses for long. After charging the batteries, ventilating the compartments, they immediately went to the depth.
And on October 28, the USSR and the United States agreed: Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba, and the Americans from Turkey.
In December, four submarines arrived at the base in the Kola Bay. “And we didn’t expect you alive,” Vice Admiral Fyodor Sizov, head of the Northern Fleet's political department, said frankly.
Author: Katerina Kuznetsova