Serhii Plokhy recounts how October 27, "Black Saturday," was the closest the world came to nuclear war as local commanders took control. In the Sargasso Sea, the Soviet submarine B-59, harassed by U.S. dummy depth charges, nearly fired a nuclear torpedo.

Serhii Plokhy recounts how October 27, "Black Saturday," was the closest the world came to nuclear war as local commanders took control. In the Sargasso Sea, the Soviet submarine B-59, harassed by U.S. dummy depth charges, nearly fired a nuclear torpedo. Disaster was only averted by Vasily Arkhipov, who overruled the captain. Simultaneously, Soviet officers in Cuba shot down a U-2 plane, killing Major Anderson, without orders from Moscow. They believed the flight was a precursor to a bombing raid. Communication failures left the world's survival to pure luck. (7)
1959