Wikipedia2

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)

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)

In a televised address at 7 pm, Kennedy reveals the missiles, announces the quarantine and warns that any missile launched from Cuba will be met with a full retaliatory response against the Soviet Union.

• US forces go to DEFCON 3.
• The Navy plans the quarantine line 800 nautical miles from Cuba.
• Families are evacuated from Guantánamo Bay.

Kennedy tells the world (22 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

The quarantine force sails (21 October 1962)

Process details

Map

Impact summary