Cuban Missile Crisis

By facebooker_1995223190535502

  • Monday, October 15

    A U-2 reconnaissance aircraft reveals several SS-4 nuclear missiles in Cuba.

  • Tuesday, October 16

    Crisis begins: President Kennedy convenes his Executive Committee to consider America's options.

  • Wednesday, October 17

    An SS-5 IRBM site, the first of three to be identified, is detected in Cuba.

  • Thursday, October 18

    President Kennedy meets with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and advises him that America will not tolerate Soviet missiles in Cuba. Gromyko denies the presence of any Soviet weaponry in Cuba.
    CHAMA Dominic Airdrop test over Johnston Island area. 1.59 Megaton yield Hydrogen bomb test.

  • Friday, October 19

    President Kennedy meets with the Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, and the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They discuss military options.

  • Sunday, October 21

    President Kennedy decides on a naval blockade of Cuba.

  • Monday, October 22

    President Kennedy addresses the American public and announces his plan to implement a naval blockade of Cuba. U.S. military alert is set at DEFCON 3 and Castro mobilizes all of Cuba's military forces.

  • Tuesday, October 23

    The OAS (Organization of American States) supports the decision to quarantine Cuba. Reconnaissance photos reveal that Soviet missiles are ready for launch.

  • Wednesday, October 24

    Soviet ships reach the quarantine line, but receive radio orders from Moscow to hold their positions. Consideration of civil defense options and planning for possible Soviet responses in Berlin. President Kennedy concludes that if we invade in the next ten days, the missile base crews in Cuba will likely fire at least some of the missiles at US targets.

  • Thursday, October 25

    U.S. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson confronts the Soviets at the U.N. but they refuse to answer. American military forces are instructed to set DEFCON 2 - the highest ever in U.S. history. Review of the movement of ships toward the quarantine line and potential US responses.

  • Saturday, October 27

    While one U-2 spy plane accidentally flies into Russia, another is shot down over Cuba. EX-COMM receives a second letter from Khrushchev stating that, in addition to a public promise not to invade Cuba, the U.S. remove its missiles from Turkey. CALAMITY Dominic Airdrop over Johnston Island area by B-52 Hydrogen bomb test. Yield 800 Kilotons.

  • Sunday, October 28

    The crisis is over. In a speech aired on Radio Moscow, Khrushchev announces the dismantling of Soviet missiles in Cuba and does not insist on his demands concerning the removal of U.S. missiles from Turkey.

  • Monday, October 29

    President Kennedy orders US ships to remain on the quarantine line and authorizes continuation of low-level reconnaissance flights.

  • Wednesday, November 21

    Just over a month after the crisis began, President Kennedy terminates the quarantine when Khrushchev agrees after several weeks of tense negotiations at the UN to withdraw Soviet IL-28 nuclear bombers from Cuba.

  • Saturday, October 20

    President Kennedy returns to Washington to discuss the discovery of additional Soviet missiles in Cuba.
    CHECKMATE Dominic High Altitude test on Missile test over Johnston Island Area. Low Kiloton yield.

  • Friday, October 26

    EX-COMM receives a letter from Khrushchev stating that the Soviets would remove their missiles if President Kennedy publicly guarantees the U.S. will not invade Cuba. The CIA reports that the construction of the missile sites is continuing and accelerating. RFK meets secretly with Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin and agrees after a phone call to the president that the removal of US missiles from Turkey is negotiable as part of a comprehensive settlement.