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It's October 24, 1962.

It's the middle of the night and pitch black out on the open seas off the coast of Cuba.

The waves have grown choppy and the sky has fogged over with the blanket of mist.

Out on the deck of a large ship, a Soviet captain stands staring into the horizon, searching desperately for any sign of land.

The captain lowers his binoculars and mutters a curse.

It's almost impossible to see anything with fog so thick.

It doesn't help that the moon is just a sliver in the night sky.

These are impossible conditions in which to navigate.

And for all the captain knows, this ship may have traveled off course, and that would be a problem.

His ship is carrying 68 nuclear warheads and leaders at the Kremlin are expecting them to arrive in Cuba,

where Soviet soldiers will use the warheads to finish constructing functional nuclear weapons.

But the captain wasn't expecting such unnavigable weather, making it worse he can't use his radio.

The Americans are putting in place a naval blockade of Cuba and calling in for navigation guidance would only broadcast the captain's location.

So with dawn soon approaching, this mission could be growing far more perilous.

As the captain stands pouring over a map, his deputy sidles up next to him.

Sir, are you certain we couldn't radio?

Do you realize what happens if an American ship finds us?

I assume we would raise the white flag.

The captain shakes his head bitterly. No, we don't raise the white flag.

This comes from Moscow. If we engage in an American ship, we're ordered to detonate the explosives in the ship's home.

But sir, that would destroy the ship and likely kill every man on board.

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