The Soviet submarine was crippled, isolated, and its captain believed the war had already begun—until one officer's refusal to authorize nuclear retaliation averted apocalypse. The post On October 27, 1962, the fate of the planet came down to one man’s judgement inside an overheated Soviet submarine — the captain had ordered a nuclear torpedo readied against American ships, and it took one calmer head to stop him appeared first on Space Daily .