THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

Or

How we went to the brink and back!

October 14,1962

• Routine U-2 flight over Cuba

October 15,1962

• Reconnaissance photos show missile sites (SS-4 and SS-5’s)under construction

October 15, 1962• Cubans and Soviets installing 24

SS-4’s sites

• SS-4- medium range ballistic missile launchers- all have 2 missiles with a 1 megaton nuclear warhead and have a 1,100 mile range (Washington, Atlanta, New Orleans and 40% of SAC bases)

October 15,1962

• Each missile= 1 million tons of TNT (Hiroshima blast was 13,000 tons of TNT)

October 15, 1962

• Cubans and Soviets installing 16 SS-5’s

• SS-5- longer range missiles• Can travel 2,200 miles and

target most American cities except Seattle

• Could destroy all SAC bases

October 15, 1962

October 16,1962

• JFK told about missile sites

• ExComm is formed- 12 advisors to the President

October 16, 1962• JFK will keep

regular

schedule

• Options-

–Diplomacy

–Surveillance and blockade

–Invasion

October 20,1962

• ExComm- surgical strike or quarantine?

• JFK has a cold- returns to the White House from Chicago

October 21,1962

Questions

• Can we destroy all the missiles?

–We can destroy the ones we know about- but not all

• What will the casualties be?

–10,000-20,000

October 21,1962 (Continued)• JFK decision-

– Will blockade Cuba

–Will carry out more U-2 flights

–Press should tone down coverage

October 22,1962• JFK speech to the

nation

• Attack from Cuba = attack from the USSR

• Copy of the speech sent to Khrushchev

• Defcon 3- nuclear alert

October 22, 1962

• “It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the western hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States.” JFK

October 23, 1962

• Low level reconnaissance missions

• OAS approves the quarantine

• Proclamation of Interdiction will take effect at 10AM on October 24, 1962

October 23, 1962• RFK talks to Ambassador

Dobrynin

• Quarantine line moved from 800 miles to 500 miles around Cuba– Why?

• U Thant proposes a pause of 2-3 weeks- stop shipments and suspend quarantine

October,24, 1962• Defcon 2

• How should we deal with Soviet ships approaching the quarantine line?

–Communicate

–Fire across bow

–Blow off rudder

• Soviet ships turning back

October 25, 1962• US answer to U Thant-

No!- Cubans and Soviets could continue to prepare missile sites already there

• UN Security Council meets- Ambassador Stevenson vs. Soviet ambassador

October 25, 1962 (cont.)

• Walter Lippman article- why not agree to removal of Cuban missiles for American missiles in Turkey? (trial balloon)

• Some Cuban missiles become operational

October 25, 1962

• UN Security Council meets- Ambassador Adlai Stevenson vs. Valerian Zorin

October 26, 1962

• Marcula boarded• Aleksandr Fomin (KGB) and

John Scalli (ABC) meet- dismantle sites for a promise to never invade Cuba?

October 26, 1962

• Khrushchev letter- knot analogy

• RK and Dobrynin meet- talk about Turkish missiles

October 26, 1962-Letter from Khrushchev

• “we and you ought not now to pull on the ends of the rope in which you have tied the knot of war, because the more the two of us pull, the tighter that knot will be tied. And a moment may come when that knot will be tied so tight that even he who tied it will not have the strength to untie it, and then it will be necessary to cut that knot, and what that would mean is not for me to explain to you, because you yourself understand perfectly of what terrible forces our countries dispose. “

October 26, 1962

• Meanwhile….25,000 marines were assembling around the Caribbean

• 100,000 soldiers were mobilized in Florida

October 26, 1962

• 2 aircraft carriers-Enterprise and Independence were headed for Cuba at full speed

• Air Force was working on a bombing option-2,000+ sorties

October 27,1962

• U-2 shot down over Cuba- another U-2 strays over the USSR but is safe

• More demanding (2nd) Khrushchev letter arrives

October 27, 1962• RFK- respond only the first

letter

• RFK sees Dobrynin again

• Scali and Fomin-Why are the Turkish missiles now brought up as part of the deal (second letter)?

October 28, 1962• Soviets hear JFK

is scheduled to make a speech at 5PM

–Fear he will announce a Declaration of War

October 28, 1962

• Soviets broadcast acceptance of deal over Radio Moscow

• Public announcement-Cuban missiles will be removed for an American promise not to invade

November 21, 1962• Crisis over-Back

to Defcon 4

• Private promise- US will remove obsolete Jupiter missiles from Turkey