There are moments in history that seem like to write out of fiction,

moments where decisions came down to the last minute or even the last second, forever altering

the events afterward.

So in this video, we're going to look at two submarine instances like this at the height

of possibly the most tense and consequential moment in global history.

One of them just happens to be one of the most brutal and grueling things

ever covered in the channel. As always, viewer discretion is strongly advised.

In October of 1986, 600 miles off the coast of Bermuda, the Soviet submarine, the K-219,

moved through the depths of the Atlantic, armed for the end of the world.

Beneath the ocean's surface, the ship carried a terrifying set of weapons, 16 ballistic missiles,

each capable of leveling an entire city, and in total, the K-219 carried about 30 nuclear

warheads, more than enough to incinerate a continent if the order ever came. On the radar, though,

the K-219 was just another vessel on routine patrol, but in reality it was in one of the most

sensitive regions of the Cold War, close enough to strike the eastern coast to the United

States within minutes, if necessary.

At the time, its mission was to conduct internal drills, maintain readiness, and silently

remind the Americans that if anything changed, they were equally prepared.

At the time as well, the Soviet Union was standing on a razor's edge.

Only six months earlier, the world watched in horror as the Chernobyl nuclear

power plant sent radioactive fire into the sky. The incident embarrassed the Kremlin and

enraged its people, and now Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was preparing for a summit

with U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Reykjavik. At the summit, nuclear arms were planned to be discussed,

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