Oct. 16, 1962 was the first of the "thirteen days" -- the crucial fortnight at the heart of the Cuban missile crisis. From here, we'll go into the events of each day in closer detail.
08:00 - Following the discoveries by intelligence analysts in Washington the previous day, President Kennedy is informed by National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy of "hard photographic evidence" showing Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. Kennedy exclaims that Khrushchev "can't do this to me." He later calls the premier of the Soviet Union an "immoral gangster" to his brother Robert Kennedy, then telephones Republican lawyer John McCloy, who advises him to take forceful action to remove the missiles.
10:00 - In Moscow, Khrushchev meets with the U.S. ambassador to the USSR Foy Kohler and tells him forcefully that all Soviet activity in Cuba is purely defensive. He also claims that the Cuban government has leaked any information regarding Soviet action in Cuba without Soviet permission.
11:00 - President Kennedy briefs Robert Kennedy on the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba, who expresses surprise. Bobby would later write that his main reaction had been one of "shocked incredulity" and the feeling that as well as being subject to USSR deception, "we had also fooled ourselves."
11:45 - The head photo interpreter for the CIA, Arthur Lundahl, shows President Kennedy the U-2 photos of Cuban missiles, taken the previous day. Kennedy's first impression of the site was that it could be "mistaken for a football field." Kennedy then orders a meeting of 14 advisors, forming the group that becomes known as "ExComm" -- the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, shown above. ExComm then meet for the first time and are shown photos of the missiles. The group is informed that the CIA estimates that Soviet MRBMs could explode over Washington in 13 minutes once they are armed and ready to fire. The briefing board used by the CIA to show the range of missiles on Cuba can be found here.
However, Defence Secretary McNamara suggest that the nuclear warheads required are
not yet present on Cuba so the missiles couldn't be fired immediately. Despite
this, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Maxwell Taylor, warns that
the missiles could be fired "very quickly." In a meeting earlier in the day, the Joint Chiefs of
Staff had been adamant that the military threat from Cuban was "so serious"
that missiles must be "taken out" by air strikes. ExComm
orders six further surveillance flights over Cuba, which are carried out over the
course of the day. (An
audio recording of the ExComm meeting from the National Security Archives can
be found here.)
14:30 - Robert Kennedy meets with the Special Group Augmented and expresses his brother's "general dissatisfaction" with Operation Mongoose -- a covert program for sabotage in Cuba -- and their lack of progress in ousting Castro. He informs the Mongoose operational team that they will meet at 9.30am every morning until further notice.
16:35 - President Kennedy meets with reporters, telling them that his priority is ensuring the "survival of our country" and avoiding the "third and perhaps last war" but doesn't inform them of the unfolding crisis.
17:15 - The Soviet cargo ship Bolshevik Sukhanov leaves for Cuba from Kaliningrad with equipment for R-14 missiles.
18:30 - ExComm meets again and President Kennedy is informed that all missiles on Cuba will be "fully operational in two weeks," with individual missiles ready sooner. Kennedy thinks that Soviet action is intended as both a "psychological" and "political" threat to the United States as well as being defensive.
National Security Archive
