The invention relates to a heat exchanger, in particular to a vertical tube shell type rapid cooling heat exchanger. The vertical tube shell type rapid cooling heat exchanger comprises a cracking cylinder body, and a cracked gas inlet, a water feeding inlet, a heat exchange tube, a water and steam outlet and a cracked gas outlet are sequentially arranged in the cylinder body. The vertical tube shell type rapid cooling heat exchanger is characterized in that the upper portion and the lower portion of the cylinder body are provided with elastic connecting pieces, and an inlet tube plate and an outlet tube plate are arranged at the upper end of the cracked gas inlet and the upper end of the cracked gas outlet, wherein the inlet tube plate and the outlet tube plate are flexible thin tube plates. According to the vertical tube shell type rapid cooling heat exchanger, by the adoption of the flexible thin tube plates and the elastic connecting pieces, a heat-resisting alloy bead weld layer is applied to the outer surface of an inlet tube, a flow guiding device and an anti-coking baffle are additionally arranged to absorb the thermal expansion difference between the heat exchange tube and the cylinder body, thermal stress is reduced, and a good protection effect on the tube plates is achieved.