Cuban missile crisis summary
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a Cold War showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union. It brought the two powers to the edge of nuclear conflict. Its critical phase lasted 13 days, from 16 to 28 October 1962.
The cause was simple. The Soviets had placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. The United States demanded their removal.
Three leaders stood at the center: US President John F. Kennedy, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The crisis came close to disaster several times, as you will see below.
Cuban missile crisis and the Bay of Pigs
The story starts in 1961. In April 1961, Cuban exiles trained by the CIA landed at the Bay of Pigs. The landing failed to topple Castro’s government.
That failure left Havana afraid of a second attempt. In July 1962, Khrushchev and Castro secretly agreed to station Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. Their aim was to deter a new US invasion.
The United States had its own missiles near the Soviet border. In March 1962, a unit of 15 Jupiter missiles linked to Çiğli Air Base in Türkiye became operational.
Cuban missile crisis timeline
Here is the sequence of events:
- April 1961: The Bay of Pigs landing fails.
- March 1962: The unit of 15 Jupiter missiles in Türkiye becomes operational.
- July 1962: Khrushchev and Castro secretly agree to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.
- 14 October 1962: U-2 photographs reveal Soviet missile sites in Cuba.
- 16 October 1962: Kennedy is briefed. The 13-day critical phase begins.
- 22 October 1962: Kennedy announces the sites and a naval quarantine on television.
- 24 October 1962: Strategic Air Command moves to DEFCON 2.
- 26 October 1962: Khrushchev offers to remove the missiles in return for a pledge not to invade Cuba.
- 27 October 1962: Major Rudolf Anderson Jr.’s U-2 is shot down, the B-59 incident occurs, and Robert Kennedy meets Ambassador Dobrynin in secret.
- 28 October 1962: Khrushchev announces the missiles will be removed.
- 20 November 1962: The United States lifts the quarantine.
- April 1963: The Jupiter missiles leave Türkiye.
- 5 August 1963: The Limited Test Ban Treaty is signed.
- 30 August 1963: The Washington–Moscow hotline is announced.
Cuban missile crisis 1962: how the 13 days unfolded
On 14 October 1962, U-2 reconnaissance photographs showed Soviet medium-range nuclear missile sites in Cuba. Two days later, on 16 October, Kennedy was told. Historians commonly use that date as day one.
Kennedy gathered a group of advisers known as ExComm. They weighed several options, including an air strike and an invasion of Cuba. They settled on a naval blockade.
On 22 October, Kennedy went on television. He revealed the missile sites. He also announced a naval quarantine to stop shipments of offensive weapons to Cuba.
The word was chosen with care. “Blockade” suggests an act of war. By saying “quarantine,” the administration tried to present the legal nature of the step differently.
On 24 October, Strategic Air Command went to DEFCON 2. That is one step below DEFCON 1, the highest alert level. Nuclear-armed B-52 bombers were kept in the air throughout the crisis.
Cuban missile crisis president: Kennedy’s choices
Kennedy faced pressure from many sides. His advisers had discussed an air strike and an invasion. He chose the quarantine first, which left room for talks.
The hardest test came on 27 October. A U-2 flown by Major Rudolf Anderson Jr. was shot down over Cuba. The pilot died. Some voices pushed for an immediate strike on the Soviet anti-aircraft missile sites. Kennedy resisted that pressure.
That single decision mattered. The record shows a president holding back when the pressure was highest.
Khrushchev made two moves in two days. His message of 26 October proposed removing the Soviet missile sites in exchange for a US guarantee not to invade Cuba. His second message, on 27 October, added a new demand: remove the American Jupiter missiles from Türkiye as well.
Cuban missile crisis submarine: the B-59 incident
The sea held its own danger. On 1 October 1962, four Soviet Foxtrot-class submarines left Kola Bay. Each carried one nuclear torpedo.
One of them was B-59. On 27 October, an incident took place aboard it. The sources disagree on what happened.
Some submariners say B-59’s captain, Valentin Savitski, gave an order to use the nuclear torpedo. Vasili Arkhipov’s 1997 account is different. He treats that possibility as hypothetical and does not explain his own intervention.
So the popular story of one officer single-handedly stopping a launch is not fully settled. What is settled is the setting: a nuclear weapon on a submarine, in a tense standoff, far from any quick radio order.
Details you won’t find in guidebooks
The invasion force. The United States sent more than 100,000 troops to Florida for a possible invasion of Cuba. That is a huge number for a plan that was never used.
The lost U-2. On 27 October, Captain Charles Maultsby’s U-2 went astray on an air-sampling mission near the North Pole. It strayed into Soviet airspace. Soviet fighters took off in response. The same day, another U-2 was shot down over Cuba.
The secret Türkiye talks. On the night of 27 October, Robert Kennedy met Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. They discussed removing the missiles from Cuba and a US pledge not to invade the island. They also secretly discussed removing the Jupiter missiles in Türkiye.
The denial. On 14 December 1962, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara spoke with Türkiye’s Minister of National Defense, İlhami Sancar. He said that the US and Türkiye had refused to discuss a comparison of the Cuban and Turkish missiles with the Soviets. That statement hid the secret understanding.
The hotline. The Washington–Moscow emergency link, announced on 30 August 1963, started with teletype machines that sent written messages. Think of it as a very early typed chat between two capitals, built after the crisis.
Cuban missile crisis where: Cuba, Washington and Türkiye
The crisis touched three places. Cuba held the Soviet missile sites. Washington was where Kennedy and ExComm made decisions. Türkiye mattered because of the 15 Jupiter missiles linked to Çiğli Air Base.
The sea was the fourth stage. The quarantine and the Soviet submarines turned the sea into part of the crisis.
For travelers in Türkiye, the lesson is quiet but real. A small unit on Turkish soil became part of a bargain between the superpowers.
How the crisis ended
On 28 October, Khrushchev announced publicly that the Soviet missiles in Cuba would be dismantled and taken home. The settlement had a public side and a secret side.
The public side: the missiles left Cuba, and the United States pledged not to invade the island. The secret side: the Jupiter missiles in Türkiye would be removed.
The quarantine did not end at once. The United States lifted it on 20 November 1962, after the Soviets agreed to withdraw their Il-28 bombers from Cuba. The Jupiter missiles left Türkiye in April 1963.
What changed afterward
The crisis pushed both sides toward safer habits. On 5 August 1963, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty. It banned nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in space and underwater.
On 30 August 1963, the emergency hotline between Washington and Moscow was announced. Leaders no longer had to rely only on slow diplomatic channels.
The DEFCON 2 alert, the shot-down U-2 and the B-59 incident all showed one thing. Diplomacy can fail through accident, not only through choice. That is why the 13 days still matter.
Cuban missile crisis documentary and movie
If you want to see the story on screen, the 2012 PBS documentary Cuban Missile Crisis: Three Men Go to War, made for the 50th anniversary, focuses on the roles of Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro.
FAQ
When was the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The critical phase ran from 16 to 28 October 1962. It began when President Kennedy was told about the Soviet missile sites and ended when Khrushchev announced the missiles would be removed.
Who were the main leaders in the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The main leaders were US President John F. Kennedy, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
What was the Bay of Pigs link to the crisis?
The Bay of Pigs landing in April 1961 used CIA-trained Cuban exiles and failed to topple Castro. Khrushchev and Castro then agreed in July 1962 to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter a new US invasion.
Why does Türkiye appear in the story?
A unit of 15 American Jupiter missiles linked to Çiğli Air Base became operational in Türkiye in March 1962. On 27 October Khrushchev asked for their removal, and a secret understanding on them helped end the crisis. They were removed in April 1963.
Is there a documentary about the crisis?
Yes. The 2012 PBS documentary Cuban Missile Crisis: Three Men Go to War focuses on the roles of Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro.
Sources
- U.S. National Archives, Cuban Missile Crisis archives.gov
- Türkçe Vikipedi, Küba Füze Krizi tr.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, Cuban Missile Crisis en.wikipedia.org
- U.S. State Department Office of the Historian, The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962 history.state.gov
- National Security Archive, The Jupiter Missiles and the Endgame of the Cuban Missile Crisis nsarchive.gwu.edu
- U.S. National Archives, Forty Years Ago: The Cuban Missile Crisis archives.gov
- Miller Center, JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis millercenter.org
- National Security Archive, Curtis LeMay, Additional Decisions nsarchive.gwu.edu
- Library of Congress, The Soviet Union and the United States loc.gov
- John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, October 27, 1962 microsites.jfklibrary.org
- National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Cuban Missile Crisis nationalmuseum.af.mil
- National Security Archive, Missing Over the Soviet Union nsarchive2.gwu.edu
- National Security Archive, The Underwater Cuban Missile Crisis at 60 nsarchive.gwu.edu
- National Security Archive, Memorandum of Conversation, 14 December 1962 nsarchive.gwu.edu
- DocsTeach, Photograph of the Hot Line Teletype Machine docsteach.org
- U.S. National Archives, Test Ban Treaty (1963) archives.gov
- WABE, Three Men Go to War wabe.org
Image: Cuban missiles.jpg — see above, Public domain
