All three stages of heat emergency are serious. Any exposure above 108 degrees for prolonged periods of time usually results in brain and other organ damage. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has indicated that hospitals have recorded a large spike in heat related illnesses in the regions that include Texas, Arkansas, Louisianna, New Mexico and Oklahoma. In fact, Las Vegas recorded over 152 deaths during 2022 related to excessive heat. So with the latest heat wave across the country, I was reminded of the brutal conditions aboard the B-59 Foxtrot and the extraordinary courage the crew demonstrated during the Cuban Missile Crisis Fahrenheit 111-B-59 Foxtrot Submarine Text(With Apologies to Ray Bradbury- “Fahrenheight 451” ) On the night of October 27th, 1962, The US destroyers Cony, Beal, and other ships in the ASW task Force led by the Essex Carrier managed to surface the B-59 after it had successfully evaded its pursuers for nearly 72 hours. The B59 had been on a mission since October 1st to escort Soviet ships through the United States blockade of Cuba. The Foxtrots were built for duty in the North Atlantic and the mechanical problems they encountered due to the warm water and salinity of the Caribbean caused temperatures to reach unbearable levels on the 27th after being submerged for such a lengthy period of time. Here is an account from Captain Savitsky (B-59) and others:
The account, as told to a Russian journalist, continued:
So how “cooler heads” prevailed when the order to fire the nuclear tipped torpedo was given is a testament to Vasili Arkipov and a few others aboard the B-59. They saved the world from a nuclear famine which surely would have followed a war where over 7,000 MTs of nuclear bombs would have been launched by the US alone.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |