@comrade_Comrade Ah, so there were additional steps in the chain in Petrov's case? Fair enough.
In the case of the nuclear torpedo - I would be inclined to say that taking out a destroyer would be considered an escalation over shooting down a spyplane - especially since using a nuclear weapon leaves little doubt that it was the Soviets that did so, while in the case of the spyplane it was questionable (IIRC, it was actually the Cubans who did that one, but the Americans didn't know at the time). Diplomacy might still have won in the end, but the doomsday clock would at least have moved a few seconds towards midnight before it did.
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@comrade_Comrade Ah, so there were additional steps in the chain in Petrov's case? Fair enough.
In the case of the nuclear torpedo - I would be inclined to say that taking out a destroyer would be considered an escalation over shooting down a spyplane - especially since using a nuclear weapon leaves little doubt that it was the Soviets that did so, while in the case of the spyplane it was questionable (IIRC, it was actually the Cubans who did that one, but the Americans didn't know at the time). Diplomacy might still have won in the end, but the doomsday clock would at least have moved a few seconds towards midnight before it did.