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Kennedy returns to Washington, citing a cold, and chooses a naval blockade, called a "quarantine" because a blockade is an act of war. The air strike stays as a fallback.

• The quarantine will stop offensive weapons only, not food or fuel.
• Ships of the Second Fleet get ready to sail.

Kennedy picks the blockade (20 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)

The final decision is taken: the quarantine goes ahead and the air strike is put off. Warships leave Norfolk and Florida for the approaches to Cuba.

• The air force says it cannot promise to destroy every missile in one strike.
• Kennedy asks newspapers to hold the story until his address.

The quarantine force sails (21 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

Kennedy picks the blockade (20 October 1962)

Process details

Map

Impact summary