Chronological view

…

Step 10 of 14 · Thursday 25 October 1962

The first ship is let through

The tanker Bucharest reaches the line. The destroyer USS Gearing hails her and, as she carries only fuel, lets her sail on to Cuba. At the UN, Adlai Stevenson shows the photos to the Soviet ambassador.

  • Stevenson to Zorin: he is prepared to wait for an answer "until hell freezes over".
  • Most Soviet missile ships are now sailing back east.
Open the profile of this day →
  • United States
  • Soviet Union
  • Submarine
  • R-12 range, ~1,900 km
  • R-14 range, ~4,000 km
  • Quarantine line, 500 nmi

On the map

United States

  • USS Gearing · Shadowing the Bucharest
  • USS Essex · Anti-submarine group on the quarantine line
  • USS Newport News · Quarantine force flagship
  • USS Enterprise · Covering Guantánamo and the Windward Passage

Soviet Union

  • Aleksandrovsk · Docked at La Isabela
  • Kimovsk · Sailing home
  • Yuri Gagarin · Sailing home
  • Poltava · Sailing home
  • Bucharest · Hailed and allowed through
  • B-59 · Foxtrot submarine with a nuclear torpedo
  • B-130 · Foxtrot submarine

Ship positions are approximate and show the situation of the day, not exact tracks.

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