50 Years Ago Today – Soviet Union Blinks
Excerpt from “The Last Gun Ship - History of USS Mullinnix DD-944” - A Historical Novel by Frank A. Wood
0145 25 October: Kennedy transmits a message to Khrushchev acknowledging his letter of yesterday. Kennedy makes it perfectly clear he is not going to back down and requests Khrushchev to “take the necessary action to permit the restoration of the earlier situation (e.g. – no missiles in Cuba).
0715 25 October; USS Essex and USS Gearing DD-710 hail and attempt to intercept the Soviet tanker Bucharest. Since there is no reason to suspect the ship carriers contraband, the Bucharest is allowed to continue its voyage to Cuba.
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25 October: Mullinnix arrives and moors port side to pier at the naval arsenal, Callao, Peru. Later, she moved to the Repair Pier, Callao, at which the ship took on an additional 56,006 gallons of fuel.
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1426 25 October: At the prompting of the United States, U Thant sends a second message to Khrushchev and Kennedy asking them to avoid direct confrontations between Soviet and US ships will the quarantine remains in effect.
1700 25 October: During an ExComm meeting, CIA Director McCone tells the group that some of the missiles are now operational in Cuba.
1743 25 October: The Commander of US quarantine forces, Admiral Alfred Ward, orders the USS Kennedy DD-850 to proceed toward a Lebanese freighter, the Marucla. The USS Kennedy informs the Marucla that night by radio that the ship will be boarded the following morning. (the Marucla was cleared through the blockade after its cargo was checked.)
The president issues National Security Action Memorandum 199 authorizing the loading of multistage nuclear weapons on aircraft under the command of the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR).
0600 26 October: the CIA reports that construction of IRBM and MRBM bases in Cuba is proceeding without interruption.
1000 26 October: Kennedy tells ExComm that the blockade alone won’t stop the Soviet Union. They discuss an invasion again. Kennedy decides to up the pressure on the Soviets by increased the frequency of low-level flights over Cuba from twice per day to once every two hours.
Later that morning, the president orders the State Department to proceed with preparations for a crash program aimed at establishing a civil government in Cuba after an invasion and occupation of the country. CINCLANT estimates that up to 18,000 US casualties might occur during the first ten days of fighting.
1300 26 October: John Scali, State Department correspondent for ABC News, lunches with Aleksandr Fomin at the Occidental Restaurant in Washington at Fomin’s urgent request. Formin, officially the Soviet embassy public affairs counselor, is (unofficially) known to be the KGB’s Washington station chief. Noting that “war seems about to break out,” he asks Scali to contact his “high-level friends” in the State Department to ascertain whether the United States would be interested in a possible solution to the crisis.
Blink
1400 26 October: The United States asks Brazil to have the Brazilian ambassador to Havana, Luis Batian Pinto, to meet privately with Fidel Castro and give him reassurances that the United States us unlikely to invade Cuba if the missiles are removed.
1800-2100 26 October: The State Department begins receiving a message from the US embassy in Moscow containing a new, private letter from Khrushchev. The message arrives in four sections over the span of three hours. It appears to have been written by Khrushchev himself, Bobby Kennedy calling it “very long and emotional”. It contains a proposal for a settlement: “I propose: we, for our part, will declare that our ships bound for Cuba are not carrying any armaments. You will declare that the United States will not invade Cuba with its troops and will not support any other forces which might intend to invade Cuba. Then the necessity of the presence of our military specialists in Cuba will disappear.”
Blink
Mid-evening 26 October: The USS Cony DD-508, part of the Randolph task group, investigates a sonar contact (possibly C-19).
1935 26 October: Scali meets with Fomin again, reciting a message given to him by Dean Rusk, “I have reason to believe that the US government sees real possibilities and supposes that the representatives of the two governments in New York could work this matter out with U Thant and with each other. My impression is, however, that time is very urgent.”
2200 26 October: ExComm reconvenes to consider if the Khrushchev letter is authentic and compare it to the proposal from Aleksnadr Fomin.
Later that night, unknown to ExComm members, Bobby Kennedy and Anatoly Dobrynin meet at the Soviet embassy (one of a series of secret meetings between the two). Robert Kennedy offers to introduce the Turkish missiles into a potential settlement.
At about the same time, Khrushchev receives a communiqué from Castro, stating he feared the US invasion was imminent. Khrushchev apparently understands the cable as a warning of an impending invasion and as an attempt to get Khrushchev to launch the missiles in Cuba against the United States.
Castro orders Cuban antiaircraft forces to open fire on all US aircraft flying over the island. When Soviet Ambassador to Cuba Alekseyev asks Castro to rescind his order, he is rebuffed.
New additional targets are identified with the low-level surveillance. Military planners consequently revise air attack targeting and plans. The airstrike plan now includes three massive strikes per day until Cuban air capability is destroyed. Some 1,190 bombing sorties are planned for the first day of operations.
To be continued... Woody
0145 25 October: Kennedy transmits a message to Khrushchev acknowledging his letter of yesterday. Kennedy makes it perfectly clear he is not going to back down and requests Khrushchev to “take the necessary action to permit the restoration of the earlier situation (e.g. – no missiles in Cuba).
0715 25 October; USS Essex and USS Gearing DD-710 hail and attempt to intercept the Soviet tanker Bucharest. Since there is no reason to suspect the ship carriers contraband, the Bucharest is allowed to continue its voyage to Cuba.
1700 25 October: During an ExComm meeting, CIA Director McCone tells the group that some of the missiles are now operational in Cuba.
1743 25 October: The Commander of US quarantine forces, Admiral Alfred Ward, orders the USS Kennedy DD-850 to proceed toward a Lebanese freighter, the Marucla. The USS Kennedy informs the Marucla that night by radio that the ship will be boarded the following morning. (the Marucla was cleared through the blockade after its cargo was checked.)
The president issues National Security Action Memorandum 199 authorizing the loading of multistage nuclear weapons on aircraft under the command of the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR).
0600 26 October: the CIA reports that construction of IRBM and MRBM bases in Cuba is proceeding without interruption.
1000 26 October: Kennedy tells ExComm that the blockade alone won’t stop the Soviet Union. They discuss an invasion again. Kennedy decides to up the pressure on the Soviets by increased the frequency of low-level flights over Cuba from twice per day to once every two hours.
Later that morning, the president orders the State Department to proceed with preparations for a crash program aimed at establishing a civil government in Cuba after an invasion and occupation of the country. CINCLANT estimates that up to 18,000 US casualties might occur during the first ten days of fighting.
1300 26 October: John Scali, State Department correspondent for ABC News, lunches with Aleksandr Fomin at the Occidental Restaurant in Washington at Fomin’s urgent request. Formin, officially the Soviet embassy public affairs counselor, is (unofficially) known to be the KGB’s Washington station chief. Noting that “war seems about to break out,” he asks Scali to contact his “high-level friends” in the State Department to ascertain whether the United States would be interested in a possible solution to the crisis.
Blink
1400 26 October: The United States asks Brazil to have the Brazilian ambassador to Havana, Luis Batian Pinto, to meet privately with Fidel Castro and give him reassurances that the United States us unlikely to invade Cuba if the missiles are removed.
1800-2100 26 October: The State Department begins receiving a message from the US embassy in Moscow containing a new, private letter from Khrushchev. The message arrives in four sections over the span of three hours. It appears to have been written by Khrushchev himself, Bobby Kennedy calling it “very long and emotional”. It contains a proposal for a settlement: “I propose: we, for our part, will declare that our ships bound for Cuba are not carrying any armaments. You will declare that the United States will not invade Cuba with its troops and will not support any other forces which might intend to invade Cuba. Then the necessity of the presence of our military specialists in Cuba will disappear.”
Blink
Mid-evening 26 October: The USS Cony DD-508, part of the Randolph task group, investigates a sonar contact (possibly C-19).
1935 26 October: Scali meets with Fomin again, reciting a message given to him by Dean Rusk, “I have reason to believe that the US government sees real possibilities and supposes that the representatives of the two governments in New York could work this matter out with U Thant and with each other. My impression is, however, that time is very urgent.”
2200 26 October: ExComm reconvenes to consider if the Khrushchev letter is authentic and compare it to the proposal from Aleksnadr Fomin.
Later that night, unknown to ExComm members, Bobby Kennedy and Anatoly Dobrynin meet at the Soviet embassy (one of a series of secret meetings between the two). Robert Kennedy offers to introduce the Turkish missiles into a potential settlement.
At about the same time, Khrushchev receives a communiqué from Castro, stating he feared the US invasion was imminent. Khrushchev apparently understands the cable as a warning of an impending invasion and as an attempt to get Khrushchev to launch the missiles in Cuba against the United States.
Castro orders Cuban antiaircraft forces to open fire on all US aircraft flying over the island. When Soviet Ambassador to Cuba Alekseyev asks Castro to rescind his order, he is rebuffed.
New additional targets are identified with the low-level surveillance. Military planners consequently revise air attack targeting and plans. The airstrike plan now includes three massive strikes per day until Cuban air capability is destroyed. Some 1,190 bombing sorties are planned for the first day of operations.
To be continued... Woody
posted by Frank A. Wood at 11:04
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