Wikipedia2

Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko tells Kennedy that Soviet aid to Cuba is purely defensive. Kennedy, who has the photos, does not reveal what he knows.

• The ExComm narrows the options to an air strike or a naval blockade.
• Soviet ships keep their course toward Cuba.

Gromyko meets Kennedy (18 October 1962)

New U-2 photos show sites near Guanajay built for R-14 (SS-5) intermediate-range missiles. Their reach of about 4,000 km would cover most of the continental United States.

• IRBM sites are under construction; the missiles themselves are still at sea.
• US forces start moving toward Florida and the south-east.

Longer-range sites found (17 October 1962)

The Joint Chiefs of Staff argue for bombing the missile sites, followed by an invasion. Kennedy leaves for a campaign trip while the ExComm keeps debating.

• Four Soviet Foxtrot submarines are heading for the Caribbean.
• Navy planners draft a blockade plan.

The Joint Chiefs push for an air strike (19 October 1962)

A 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. The US answered with a naval quarantine of the island; the crisis ended when Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in return for a US pledge not to invade Cuba and, secretly, the removal of US missiles from Turkey.

Sections

Gromyko meets Kennedy (18 October 1962)

Process details

Map

Impact summary