Longest Three Days of my Life

The last days of October 1962 were indeed the longest and most frightening days of my life. We sailed on the 24th October 1962 in the submarine Taciturn. We were stored for war, live torpedo’s, pennant numbers painted out and radio silence. We patrolled our designated area in the North Atlantic running in silent routine for three days listening for Russian submarines coming down around Iceland. At night if it was clear with no contacts we came to periscope depth to snort and charge our batteries. No one knew anything, had the Russians and Americans exchanged fire?? had a world war begun? In fact was there still a world to return to? On the 28th we finally received a radio message saying the Russian ships had turned back. The tension was over, but they had been terrifying days of not knowing and thinking the worse. The Cuban Missile Crisis took place 50 years ago in October but it still feels like yesterday.
God Bless and keep reading.