Examine the events of August 1962 in detail as Foreign Policy continues its retelling of the Cuban missile crisis, 50 years later:

Aug. 3, 1962

The Soviet ship Divnogorsk, shown above, arrives in the port of Mariel, Cuba. Soviet military headquarters staff are on board.

Aug. 5, 1962

The Soviet cargo ship Bardin leaves for Cuba from Sevastopol carrying equipment for Soviet headquarters staff.

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Aug. 8, 1962

Meeting in Washington, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, shown above, discuss possible pretexts for a military invasion of Cuba. Attorney General Robert Kennedy suggests they "sink the Maine again or something," referring to the destruction of the American battleship in Havana Harbor in 1898, an event that led to the Spanish-American War.

United States Naval Heritage Center

Aug. 10, 1962

The director of the CIA, John McCone (above left), tells President John F. Kennedy that he suspects the Soviet Union is delivering medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) to Cuba, pointing to the sudden transfer of materials and personnel to the island. But McCone has no substantial evidence to support this hunch yet.

Later in the day, a CIA agent reports rockets and "probably atomic bombs" arriving at the port of Mariel in Cuba.

JFK Library

Aug. 13, 1962 

Alekandr Alekseyev, shown above with Che Guevara, is instated as the Soviet ambassador to Cuba in Havana. He delivers to Fidel Castro the text of the agreement on the deployment of Soviet missiles to Cuba.

Aug. 14, 1962

The Soviet ship Nakhimov arrives in the port of Mariel, with more Soviet military headquarters staff, after a two-week trip from the Black Sea.

In the United States, meanwhile, the Kennedy administration instructs the CIA not to publish information about suspected missile sites in Cuba.

MAVI

Aug. 16, 1962

A NATO plane photographs the Soviet passenger ship Khabarovsk en route to Cuba. Soldiers on board hurry on to the top deck, along with the ship's nurses, to give the impression of a spontaneous deck party.

Aug. 17, 1962 

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, shown above, disagrees with CIA chief McCone's belief that the Soviets are installing offensive missiles in Cuba. McNamara claims instead that the military build up is merely defensive. He goes on to warn Kennedy that taking any dramatic measures against Cuba could "hurt the U.S. in the eyes of world opinion."

A U.S. intelligence report also declares that Soviet anti-aircraft fire control radar (WHIFF) has been intercepted near Havana, confirming the presence of anti-aircraft weapons in Cuba.

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Aug. 20, 1962 

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Maxwell Taylor (above left) informs Kennedy that he doesn't believe Castro's government can be overthrown without direct U.S. military intervention.

On Taylor's recommendation, Kennedy authorizes more aggressive plans to oust Castro "with all possible speed" but forbids direct U.S. military involvement.

The CIA also establishes a working group to study the Soviet buildup in Cuba in greater detail.

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Aug. 21, 1962 

In private,McCone implores Kennedy to act in Cuba, using "sufficient armed forces to occupy the country, destroy the regime, free the people."  In photograph above, U.S. marines are on patrol at Guantanamo naval base.

Aug. 22, 1962 

The Soviet government abolishes the post of Soviet commandant in Berlin, temporarily diverting the Kennedy administration's focus from Cuba. Kennedy advisors fear that Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev plans to carry out his threat to a sign a peace treaty with the East Germans, undermining the post-war occupation regime.

A CIA agent stationed in Cuba reports a Soviet surface-to-air missile site near Santa Lucia, Pinar del Rio.

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Aug. 23, 1962 

Kennedy requests that the Defense Department investigate any possible actions that could be taken to remove the U.S. Jupiter nuclear missiles, shown above, from Turkey.

He then calls a meeting of the National Security Council and orders a contingency plan to deal with the possibility of Soviet missiles being deployed to Cuba. American plans include a stepped-up sabotage campaign against Cuba.

U.S. intelligence records pilots talking in Russian on Cuban Revolutionary Air Force airwaves and issues another report concerning Soviet ships heading for Cuba.

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Aug. 25, 1962

The freighter Omsk leaves the Soviet port of Sebastopol carrying six R-12 rockets and 264 men. Instructions for the route are kept in sealed envelopes to be opened en route. It is not until the third envelope is opened that the ship is ordered to "proceed to Cuba."

Aug. 26, 1962 

Che Guevara and Emilio Aragones Navarro -- a close associate of Fidel Castro -- arrive in the Soviet Union to discuss the missile deployments.  They are greeted by Khrushchev's defense minister, Rodion Malinovsky (above right), who assures them, "You don't have to worry ... there will be no big reaction from the American side."

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Aug. 28, 1962 

A U.S. intelligence report expresses concern over exercises by Cuban jet aircraft.

Meanwhile, as the Soviet Omsk crosses the Atlantic, the men on board are forced to keep all hatches closed in an attempt to avoid detection; temperatures inside could reach 120 degrees.

Aug. 29, 1962 

An American U-2 surveillance flight provides conclusive evidence, shown above, of eight SA-2 (surface-to-air) missile sites across Cuba. Further reconnaissance also identifies coastal defense cruise missile installations for the first time.

Kennedy is informed there is now concrete evidence of surface-to -air missile installations in Cuba. On receiving the report, the president demands that it remain confidential, telling his aides to "put it back in the box and nail it shut."

Kennedy later tells reporters: "I'm not for invading Cuba at this time ... an action like that ... could lead to very serious consequences for many people." He also says there is "no information as yet" about the possibility of air defense missiles in Cuba.

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Aug. 30, 1962 

As the heads of the Cuban delegation in Moscow, Guevara and Aragones Navarro meet with Khrushchev. They deliver Castro's amendments to the Soviet-Cuban agreement over missile deployment.

Guevara asks Khrushchev (both shown above) to declare the missile deployment publically.  But Khrushchev refuses to sign the document, possibly to prevent it being leaked by the Cuban government.

Meanwhile, the Soviet cargo ship Poltava leaves Nikolaev in the Black Sea with eight R-12 missiles destined for Cuba.

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Aug. 31, 1962 

A CIA agent stationed in Cuba reports that the port at Mariel, where many of the Soviet ships have been docking, is now closed to "unauthorized personnel" with rumors of the arrival of 40-foot rockets.

The CIA also receives a report that a 50-foot rocket launcher has been sighted in Cuba and that a further 11 Soviet cargo ships are sailing for the island.

Kennedy is informed of the presence of surface- to-air missile sites, shown above, in Cuba that had been confirmed by the U-2 surveillance flights on Aug. 29. 

He then orders that the dissemination of intelligence about Soviet missiles be as limited as possible.

Republican Senator Kenneth Keating, however, tells Congress that there is evidence of Soviet "rocket installations in Cuba." The evidence he cites had previously been dismissed by the CIA as "soft."

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