US warships hunt Soviet submarines off Cuba

The United States deployed hundreds of warships to hunt four Soviet submarines off the coast of Cuba in 1962, nearly plunging the world into a devastating nuclear war.

Vasili Arkhipov (right), the Soviet naval officer who saved the world from nuclear disaster. Photo: Guardian

In 1962, in response to the Bay of Pigs incident and the US sending nuclear ballistic missiles to Italy and Türkiye, the Soviet Union secretly launched Operation Anadyr, sending fighter jets and ballistic missiles carrying R-12 and R-14 nuclear warheads to Cuba by sea.

A U-2 spy plane photographed a Soviet missile site in San Cristobal, Cuba, on October 14, 1962, triggering the most serious nuclear missile crisis in history. US President John F. Kennedy ordered the deployment of hundreds of warships, including four aircraft carriers, and many patrol planes to blockade the Cuban coast.

In response, the Soviet Union launched Operation Kama, deploying four Project 641 diesel submarines, numbered B-4, B-36, B-59 and B-130, of the 69th Submarine Brigade, to secretly find their way through the blockade of American warships to approach Cuba. These were all submarines equipped with nuclear torpedoes and their commanders had the right to launch a nuclear attack without asking for permission from senior leaders, according to National Interest.

In early October 1962, a squadron of four submarines set out from the Kola Peninsula, constantly trying to avoid NATO P-2 Neptune and Avro Shackleton anti-submarine aircraft operating in the North Atlantic.

Project 641 submarines are equipped with large batteries that allow them to stay submerged for 10 days. However, on the way to Cuba, they still have to surface periodically to recharge their batteries.

Living conditions on the submarine quickly deteriorated as it neared Cuba, as the cooling system was not designed for tropical waters. Temperatures inside the submarine sometimes reached 37-60 degrees Celsius, increasing the risk of toxic gases that threatened the lives of the crew. Lack of clean water caused dehydration and rash fever to become common among the crew.

On October 23, detecting signs of a Soviet submarine trying to approach Cuba, US Secretary of Defense McNamara ordered warships to use training depth charges (PDC) to hunt for the submarine.

The PDC bomb had a very small warhead, used to signal to Soviet submarines that they had been detected and forced to surface before the US warships used more powerful depth charges.

The destructive power of the PDC depth charge, although small, still damaged the radio antenna mast on the Soviet submarine, preventing the crew from communicating with the command post. Therefore, the officers on the submarine were unaware of the "Procedure for Identification and Request to Surface" that the US had informed the Soviet side.

Position of Soviet and American ships during the confrontation in October 1962. Photo: Washington Post.

Military expert Sebastien Roblin believes that the US Navy is completely unaware of the dangers of playing a "cat and mouse" game with Soviet submarines. In addition to 20 conventional torpedoes, each Project 641 submarine also carries a T-5 torpedo equipped with an RDS-9 nuclear warhead with a range of 10 km, capable of destroying many surrounding ships with shock waves. Detonating such a weapon off the coast of North America could start a chain reaction of nuclear retaliation, pushing the world to the brink of destruction.

Hunted by American warships, Captain Nikolai Shumkov of the B-130 submarine orders nuclear torpedoes loaded. However, the ship's political commissar opposes a nuclear attack, causing Shumkov to back down but still reserve the right to fire if the attack continues.

Finally, with its batteries running out, the B-130 was forced to surface in front of the destroyer USS Blandy on October 30. Discovered with engine failure, the captain of the B-130 was forced to call a rescue ship to tow it back to its home port in Murmansk.

Meanwhile, the nearby submarine B-36, commanded by Captain Alexei Dubivko, was pursued by the destroyer USS Charles P. Cecil at close range. After several days of hiding in the sea, the B-36 ran out of battery and was forced to surface on October 31, then moved on its own to Murmansk.

The most dangerous incident occurred on October 27, when the B-59 submarine was surfacing to recharge its batteries. Discovered by a US patrol plane, the submarine submerged without fully charged batteries. More than 10 nearby destroyers also joined in the pursuit of the B-59 and dropped many PDC depth charges.

"At that time we felt like we were sitting in a metal box and someone was hitting us with a hammer. The crew was very scared," Vicktor Orlov, a liaison officer, recalled the situation of the B-59 before the rain of PDC bombs fell for many hours.

Captain Valentin Savitsky refused to surface the ship, despite the temperature inside rising to 50 degrees Celsius and the rapidly decreasing oxygen supply, causing some sailors to begin to lose consciousness.

Unable to contact Moscow, Captain Savitsky concluded that war had broken out. He ordered his crew to load the nuclear torpedoes and prepare to fire on the American warship. "The war may have broken out outside while we are stuck here. We will attack them, sacrifice ourselves to take them with us and preserve the honor of the Navy," Savitsky declared.

The ship's political officer Ivan Maslennikov also agreed with this order. Normally, the agreement of these two top officers would be enough for the B-59 to launch a nuclear torpedo at the American ship. A nuclear war could break out in an instant.

At that moment, Vasili Arkhipov, chief of staff of the 69th Submarine Brigade, who was also on board the B-59, decided to intervene, opposing the proposal to launch a nuclear torpedo. Since Arkhipov was the senior commander of the brigade, his opinion carried the same weight as the captain and the political commissar, causing a heated debate in the command room.

During the argument, Arkhipov tried to calm Captain Savitsky and eventually succeeded in convincing the commander to surface the B-59 to await orders from Moscow.

Submarine B-130 after having to surface. Photo: Wikipedia.

As soon as it surfaced, the B-59 was illuminated by an American destroyer. Helicopters and planes taking off from the USS Randolph aircraft carrier repeatedly approached the B-59 at low altitude and fired warning shots at the submarine. Being approached by the American warships, the B-59 changed course and returned to its home port.

Of the four submarines involved in Operation Kama, only Captain Rurik Ketov’s B-4 managed to avoid being forced to surface by the American warships. Although it was detected by American aircraft, the submarine’s batteries had enough power to hide in the ocean, evading the surveillance of the American fleet. However, the B-4 was eventually ordered to abort its mission.

On October 28, 1962, President Kennedy made a secret deal with the Soviet leadership, agreeing to withdraw missiles from Türkiye and pledge not to invade Cuba, in exchange for the Soviet Union withdrawing nuclear weapons from Cuba, ending one of the most serious nuclear crises in history.

According to VNE