Tensions in September

BY RACHEL DOBBS | SEPTEMBER 6, 2012



Sept. 6, 1962

Premier Nikita Khrushchev, shown above with Fidel Castro, sends a message to the White House promising that "nothing will be undertaken before U.S. Congressional elections in November that could complicate the international situation."

In Cuba, Fidel Castro accuses the United States of firing on the Havana shoreline from American gunboats stationed off shore.

Sept. 7, 1962

Premier Khrushchev orders "Luna" short-range tactical nuclear missiles, capable of destroying a U.S. invading force, to be sent to Cuba.

Meanwhile the Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin assures Adlai Stevenson -- the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations -- that "only defensive weapons are being supplied" to Cuba.

The U.S. Tactical Air Command begins developing plans for a coordinated air attack against Cuba that could be launched as a pre-airborne assault.

U.S. Admiral Robert Dennison recommends that 113 transport planes be reserved for the next five days for a possible invasion of Cuba.

The White House announces a request from President Kennedy for 150,000 men in the U.S Ready Reserve to be ordered to active duty for 12 months.

A CIA informant in Cuba reports on a possible missile installation near San Cristobal guarded by Soviet troops. Another CIA source states that Che Guevara visited Moscow in August on a "rocket project."

AFP/Getty Images

 

Rachel Dobbs is a research assistant with the Cuban Missile Crisis +50 project. You can follow the project on Twitter at @missilecrisis62.