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In early 1959, after Castro established a new regime in Cuba, Cuba's history as a vassal state of the United States ended, and Castro's display of independence and socialist tendencies gradually worsened Cuba's relations with the United States. For this fresh "mudslide" that suddenly emerged in the "backyard" of Latin America, the United States chose its consistent approach: subverting the regime. On April 17, 1961, the 2506th Brigade, a CIA-trained and armed mercenary force of more than 1,500 Cuban anti-Castro exiles, landed in the Bay of Pigs (Bahía de Cochinos) in an attempt to overthrow the Castro regime by force. However, it backfired, and after only 2 days, this mercenary army was completely annihilated by Cuban soldiers and civilians, which is the famous "Bay of Pigs Incident". This incident was a great political blunder for the United States, and the U.S. government and the newly installed President Kennedy lost an adult at home and abroad, and the Castro regime was further consolidated. The actions of the United States caused Cuba to feel a serious sense of crisis, and it moved closer to the Soviet Union, and the continuous closeness between Cuba and the Soviet Union eventually led to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
This magazine will be divided into three parts, introducing readers to this historical event that has been portrayed in the history of the "Cold War". This article is a novella about a series of deceptive operations carried out by the United States on the eve of the invasion of Bay of Pigs and the first day of fighting on the beach of Bay of Pigs.
Airstrikes and deceptive operations
On the night of 14 April 1961, under the cover of night, the fleet of the 2506th Brigade set sail from Puerto Cabezas in Nicaragua towards the Bay of Pigs (Bahía de Cochinos). Escorted by the fleet were the USS Essex, the flagship of the U.S. Navy's Task Force 81.8, and five destroyers.
■ Above is the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Essex, photographed on January 12, 1960, which served as the flagship of Task Force 81.8 during the Bay of Pigs incident, ready to support the 2506th Brigade. But when the 2506th Brigade collapsed, Kennedy did not order the Navy to intervene.
On the night of 14–15 April, a squad of about 164 men of the 2506th Brigade, commanded by Higinio Diaz, planned to launch a one-of-a-kind diversionary landing near Baracoa, Oriente Province, Cuba, in response to the main invasion. They will set sail from Key West, Florida, USA. To hide its sights, the ship flies the Costa Rican flag. In addition, several U.S. Navy destroyers stationed at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba also showed the illusion of an imminent invasion of Cuba, releasing smoke bombs at Cuba. Their reconnaissance vessel was spotted by Cuban militia patrolling along the Cuban coastline while surveying the Cuban coast and was hastily withdrawn.
As a result of this series of small actions by the United States, at dawn on April 15, a T-33 trainer aircraft piloted by Lieutenant Orestes Acosta of the Cuban Air Force departed from Santiago de Cuba to conduct flight reconnaissance of Baracoa, and unfortunately fell into the sea.
At 6 a.m. on April 15, eight B-26B Invader bombers departing from Puerto Cabezas split into three groups and simultaneously attacked the Air Force airports at San Antonio de los Baños and Ciudad Libertad, as well as antonio Maceo International airport in Santiago de Cuba Airport) bombed. The crew were exiled Cuban pilots and navigators who called themselves the "Liberator Air Force" (Fuerza Aérea de Liberación, FAL). The planes were provided by the CIA and, in order to conceal their eyes, were also painted with the logo of the Cuban Air Force. Each aircraft is equipped with bombs, rockets and machine guns. The purpose of the bombing campaign, code-named Operation Puma, was to destroy all or most of the Cuban Air Force's aircraft and clear the way for an amphibious landing two days later.
■ The picture above is a schematic of the "Liberator Air Force" air raid on Cuba on April 15.
■ Above is the wreckage of a Cuban warplane destroyed by an airstrike at the airport in San Antonio de los Baños. In addition, with the support of the Pentagon, the CIA initially attempted to cause unrest in Havana on April 14, but the U.S. government vetoed the action because it was clearly a reminder that americans were involved.
In Santiago de Cuba, two B-26Bs of the 2506th Brigade destroyed one C-47 transport aircraft, one PBY Catalina airship, two B-26 bombers and one civilian Douglas DC-3 transport aircraft, among other civilian aircraft. In San Antonio de los Baños, three B-26Bs destroyed three B-26 bombers, one Sea Fury fighter and one T-33 trainer aircraft of the Cuban Air Force. On the return voyage, one of the B-26s was diverted to Grand Cayman due to insufficient fuel. The island is one of the largest islands in the Cayman Islands (British Overseas Territory) located in the south of Cuba. The aircraft was then seized by the British, who feared that the British would suspect that the British would give the United States the place as an outpost to invade Cuba. In the city of La Libertad, three B-26Bs destroyed only a few useless aircraft, such as two P-47 Thunderbolt fighters. One of the B-26Bs was also hit by Cuban anti-aircraft fire and crashed 50 kilometers north of Cuba, along with two pilots, Daniel Fernández Mon and Gaston Pérez. One B-26B was also damaged and insisted on landing north to Boca Chica, Florida, and two pilots, José Crespo and Lorenzo Pérez-Lorenzo, were granted political asylum and returned to Port Cabezas on the second day in an CIA C-54 transport aircraft. It is worth noting that their aircraft was designated 933, and for reasons of blinding the outside world, at least 2 of the 8 B-26Bs involved in Operation Cougar that day also adopted this designation.
■ The picture above is the scene of the air raid on April 15.
■ Above is at la Libertad City airport after the April 15 airstrikes, where Cuban soldiers and civilians are extinguishing fires at the airport. The airports of San Antonio de los Baños and La Libertad are both located near Havana.
Nine minutes after eight B-26Bs took off against Cuban airports, another B-26 took off and flew north toward Florida in close proximity to Cuba on a CIA self-directed hoax flight. Like other bombing crews, it was painted with the Cuban Air Force logo and the 933 designation. Before taking off, the fairing of one of the aircraft's engines was removed by CIA agents and fired several shots before being reloaded, giving the illusion that the aircraft had been hit by ground fire at some point during the flight. When the plane flew to a safe distance north of Cuba, the pilot, Mario Zúñiga, radioed a distress signal and quickly got permission to land at Miami International Airport. He piloted the plane next to a C-47 in the military zone of the airport, where several U.S. government vehicles were already waiting for him. Mario Suniga, an Air Force pilot during the Batista regime, falsely claimed his name after landing as Juan Garcia and publicly claimed that he and three other colleagues had escaped from the Cuban Air Force. He was granted political asylum the next day and returned to Port Cabezas from Florida that night. This deception was so successful at the time that many media outlets around the world believed that the attack on the Cuban airport that day was the act of anti-communist factions within Cuba and had nothing to do with the outside world.
■ Pictured above is a B-26 bomber piloted by Mario Suniga, numbered 933, landing at Miami Airport on April 15, next to an airport guard guard guarding the plane.
At 10:30 a.m. on April 15, Cuban Foreign Minister Raúl Roa García accused the United States of launching aggressive airstrikes against Cuba at the United Nations and formally submitted a bill to the First Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations in the afternoon, which deals with international security matters such as disarmament, international challenges that threaten peace, and responds to challenges in the international security system. In response to Cuba's allegations at the United Nations, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, stated that U.S. forces would not invade Cuba "under any circumstances" and that the United States would do everything in its power to ensure that no U.S. citizens were involved in the attack on Cuba. Stevens also said cuban exiles were the ones who launched the attack that day, and he also submitted a photo provided by United Press International (UPI) showing the B-26 bomber piloted by Mario Suniga docked at Miami International Airport. After the Bay of Pigs incident, the U.S. government was rather embarrassed by the previous announcements, along with Stevens, who had been swept away by the CIA and Secretary of State Dean Rusk.
■ Above, at the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Adelaide Stevens shows Mario Suniga the 933 bomber piloted by Mario Suniga, which is actually a trick by the CIA to catch thieves.
President Kennedy expressed support for Stevens' statement: "I have stressed before that this is a struggle of Cuban patriots against dictators. While we can't hide our sympathy, we have stressed many times that the country's military will not get involved in any way. ”
To stabilize the situation in the country, on April 15, the Cuban National Revolutionary Police, led by Efigenio Ameijeiras, began arresting people suspected of counterrevolution in the country and detaining them at makeshift locations such as the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana, the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana, the Karl Marx Theatre, and the National Revolutionary Police. The moats of the Fortaleza de la Cabana, the Principe Castle, and the baseball park in Matanzas have become temporary cells. During the "Bay of Pigs Incident", thousands of people were arrested by the Cuban authorities, and many of them were also reckoned with after the autumn.
In addition, on the night of 15 April, a squad led by Isinho Diaz made a second diversionary landing near Baracoa, breaking the sword again.
Imminent
On 16 April, an armed rebellion by Merardo Leon, Jose Leon, and 14 others in las Delicias Estate, now defunct, was immediately suppressed.
Because of the bragging description of the results of the B-26B bomber pilots of the 2506th Brigade, the CIA developed blind confidence in the Air Raid on April 15, and there were no more air raids on Cuban airfields and aircraft until the results of the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft came out on April 16. On the evening of April 16, President Kennedy ordered the cancellation of further airstrikes on Cuban airports at dawn on April 17 to prevent suspicions of U.S. involvement.
■ Pictured above on April 16, 1961, the day after the air raids on a Cuban airport, Castro gave a speech to the Cuban military and civilians stating the socialist nature of the Cuban Revolution and calling on the Cuban army and militia to prepare for a possible invasion.
On the evening of 16 April, the invading convoy of the 2506th Brigade, which had set sail two days earlier from the port of Cabezas, laden with militants and other supplies, gathered 65 kilometers south of Cuba, with weapons and supplies loaded on board in New Orleans, United States. The U.S. Navy, which participated in the operation, gave the operation the code name Bumpy Road, which was originally called Crosspatch, but was changed to "Bumpy Road" on April 1. The fleet of the 2506th Brigade, marked with the words "Cuban Expeditionary Force" (CEF) and painted with liberian symbols, included five 2,400-ton freighters purchased by the CIA from the Garcia Line in Miami, with anti-aircraft weapons on board. Four of them: The Houston (codenamed "Needlefish"), rió Esondido (the Whale), The Caribe (codenamed "Sardines") and the Atlantico (codenamed "Shark") were planned to transport seven battalions totaling more than 1,400 men and weapons close to the landing beach; the fifth cargo ship, The Lake Charles) was equipped with follow-up supplies and 40 infiltration operations. The flotilla was accompanied by two CIA infantry landing craft, the Blagar (code-named Porpoise) and Barbara B. Barbara J (code name Barracuda), they are also equipped with heavy weapons and are also painted with the Nicaraguan logo. To increase the confidence of the operation, the cargo ships and infantry landing craft were trained and exercised on Vieques Island.
■ Above, José Peréz San Román, commander of the 2506th Brigade, and supreme political leader Manuel Artime salute the Cuban flag on April 16 aboard the infantry landing craft USS Braga.
The U.S. Navy invested heavily in the operation. Out of view, there were U.S. Navy destroyers escorting the fleet of Cuban mercenaries. And by U.S. Navy Rear Admiral John F. Kennedy, jr. Task Force 81.8, commanded by John E. Clark( consisting of 1 helicopter attack carrier, 4 destroyers and 2 submarines) has assembled in the Cayman Islands; the U.S. Navy's light command cruiser USS Northampton and the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La are also active in the Caribbean. The Cuban mercenaries were also assisted by the U.S. Navy's USS San Marcos, which sailed from Vieques, carrying three Landing Craft Utility (LCU) and four Vehicle Personnel Landing Craft Landing Craft (LCVPs).
After assembling at the sea assembly point, 5 cargo ships and 2 infantry landing craft broke away from the U.S. Navy escort and headed north, with only the San Marcos still following them, and the 7 landing craft it carried would be unloaded at the unloading site 5 km off the coast of Cuba.
Beachhead Day 1: Bloody Battle
On the night of April 16-17, 1961, CIA agents organized a diversionary false landing operation in Bahía Honda, Pinar del Río Province, Cuba, a small fleet loaded with broadcast and various simulated landing equipment that successfully attracted Castro's attention and Che Guevara's troops.
At 00:00 on April 17, 1961, the Braga and barbara The J" infantry landing craft quietly sailed into the Bay of Pigs south of Cuba, and each infantry landing craft was boarded by 1 CIA operative and 5 frogmen from the U.S. Navy's Underwater Demolition Team (UDT), who were the vanguard of the four cargo ships carrying more than 1,400 personnel of the 2506th Brigade and tanks and other vehicles.
■ The picture above is a landing craft used by the CIA at The Bay of Pigs Beachhead.
■ The painting above depicts the sailor (1) who piloted the cargo ship to carry the 2506th Brigade during the Bay of Pigs Incident, the officer on board the ship (2), and the U.S. Navy's underwater demolition team member (3) who opened the landing field for the fleet.
At about 1 a.m., the command unit of the infantry landing craft "Braga", which was the battlefield command ship, landed at the main landing site, Playa Girón (code name "Blue Beach"), preceded by the underwater demolition team frogmen in rubber boats, from the cargo ships "Cabier", "Escondido" and "Atlantico" to the 2506th Brigade personnel of the aluminum alloy dinghy, followed by the personnel of the 2506th Brigade from "San Marcos" General purpose landing craft and personnel vehicle landing craft from the Dock Landing Ship. The first group landed 3 battalions first.
"Barbara M. The J infantry landing craft also guided a battalion of the 2506th Brigade, disembarked from the Cargo Ship Houston to a fiberglass dinghy, at Playa Larga (code-named Red Beach), about 35 kilometers northwest of Geelong Beach. The troops' landing was delayed due to engine failures and damage to underwater coral reefs. When the frogmen of the underwater demolition team arrived, flood lights were lit on the "Red Beach", resulting in the specific landing site being hastily changed. As soon as the Frogman landed on the beach, he engaged in an exchange of fire with a Jeep riding a Cuban militiaman. After the first landing, the militia here gave the Cuban army a successful warning via radio, and their symbolic resistance was then repelled by the mercenaries.
■ The picture above is a schematic diagram of the landing of the 2506th Brigade in Cuba at 1:00 a.m. on April 17, 1961.
At 3:15 a.m. on April 17, Castro was awakened and informed of the armed landing of the invaders. Castro immediately ordered all militia forces in the landing zone to be on maximum alert and ordered air strikes against the invading forces in the landing zone. The Cuban government planned to strike the invaders of Larga Beach first before they entered the interior and did not meet the invaders of The Beach of Giron, and Castro immediately rushed to the front line and appointed Captain José Ramón Fernández, the principal of the Matanzas Militia School, as the commander of the front line, with unified command of the militia battalions and regular troops participating in the battle. Fighting against the armed invasion of Cuban mercenaries began.
■ The picture above shows Cuban militiamen on the streets of Havana in the early morning of April 17, 1961, who may be rushing to the Battlefield of the Bay of Pigs. Prior to the Bay of Pigs incident, Che Guevara emphasized the arming of the general population, training them as guerrillas. In the ensuing battle, the militia took on the role of the main force.
At about 6:30 a.m. on 17 April, three Sea Fury fighters, one B-26 bomber and two T-33 trainer aircraft of the Cuban Air Force flew into the beachhead and launched an air strike against the fleet of the 2506th Brigade, which was still unloading personnel and supplies on the beachhead. At 6:50, about 8 kilometers south of Lalga Beach, the Cargo Ship Houston was severely damaged by several rockets fired by a Sea Fury and a T-33; two hours later, Captain Luis Morse ran aground west of Bay of Pigs. 270 people on board have disembarked, but about 180 are unable to participate in the next operation because they have lost their weapons and equipment, and can only struggle to survive. The loss of the Houston was a huge blow to the 2506th Brigade, as the ship was carrying most of the 2506th Brigade's medical supplies, meaning the wounded would not receive adequate medical care.
■ The picture above shows that during the "Bay of Pigs Incident", the Cuban Air Force's "Sea Fury" fighter jet is being bombed. After the airstrikes on Cuba on 15 April, the Cuban Air Force armed at least four T-33 trainers, four Sea Fury fighters, and five or six B-26 bombers in preparation for a possible armed invasion, all equipped with machine guns in response to possible air combat, attacks on sea or ground targets in the ensuing battle. Moreover, these aircraft can also carry bombs for attacking ships and tanks, and it turns out that the Cuban Air Force played a large role in the battle in the Bay of Pigs.
■ The ship Houston was destroyed.
At about 7 o'clock, two B-26Bs of the 2506th Brigade sank a patrol frigate of the Cuban Navy, El Baire, in Nueva Gerona, Isle of Pines, and then rushed to Giron Beach to attack Cuban ground forces with two other B-26s, providing air cover for the ships of the 2506th Brigade and the C-47 transport aircraft carrying paratroopers that had been attacked by the Cuban Air Force. At this time, on the ground, since all the radio stations at the time of the landing were in the water, neither José Pérez San Roma, the supreme commander of the 2506th Brigade at Geelong Beach, nor erneido Oliva, the deputy commander at Larga Beach, could not communicate, and the mercenaries who landed were trapped in the beachhead positions and could not develop deeper.
■ The painting above depicts a fierce battle between the Cuban military and civilians and the 2506th Brigade landing in the Bay of Pigs.
At 7:30, five C-46s and one C-54 transport aircraft dropped 177 paratroopers from the Parachute Battalion of the 2506th Brigade to launch an airborne landing code-named Operation Falcon. About 30 paratroopers and heavy equipment landed south of Australia's Central Sugar Mill, which sits on the road leading to Larga Beach and Palpite. Unfortunately, heavy equipment fell into the swamp, and the paratroopers failed to cut the road. Other paratroopers landed in Jocuma between San Blas, San Blas and Covadonga, and Horquitas between San Blas and Yaguaramas. The roads around these landing sites have been cordoned off by the Cubans for 2 days and have been fortified by Cuban troops at Giron Beach. The paratroopers fell into the assembly area of the Cuban militia, which really fulfilled the proverb that "paratroopers are naturally surrounded". However, the well-trained paratroopers were still at ease against the untrained militia, which was not immediately annihilated. But the scattered landings of paratroopers also prevented them from cutting off the road from Australia's central sugar mills to Larga Beach, and the Cuban army could continue to send troops to the beachheads to fight the invaders.
■ Above are paratroopers of the 2506th Brigade in training in 1960, carrying M3 submachine guns, and on the right is Manuel Artime, the supreme political leader of the 2506th Brigade. In the Battle of Bay of Pigs, the paratroopers of the 2506th Brigade were scattered in multiple battlefields, and their own lack of troops made them almost no surprise effect.
At 8:30 a.m., a Cuban Air Force fighter jet piloted by Carlos Ulloa Arauz crashed in the Bay of Pigs, possibly due to an encounter with a C-46 that unloaded its paratroopers and returned south, falling from ground anti-aircraft fire or stalling. At 9:00, Cuban troops and militia from outside the Bay of Pigs area arrived at the Australian Sugar Factory, Covadonga and Yaguaramas – during the day when more infantry and heavily armored units came to their aid.
At about 9:30 a.m., the Cuban Air Force's Sea Fury and T-33 greeted the cargo ship Escondido with rockets, and since the ship was loaded with a large amount of aviation fuel, the captain immediately ordered the ship to abandon the ship and escape when it was hit and ignited a fire. Soon after, the ship sank 3 km south of Keelung Beach after three major explosions. In addition to jet fuel, the Escondido carried enough ammunition, food and medical supplies for 10 days, as well as a radio station for ground forces to communicate with the Liberator Air Force, and the sinking of the ship meant that Saint Rome could only command the troops on the beach of Giron, and he had no way of knowing the condition of the Larga beach or the paratroopers. At 10 a.m., a correspondent from Larga Beach contacted St. Roman to request that he send infantry and tanks to block the road from the Central Australia Sugar Mill to the beachhead, and St. Roman granted the request.
■ Above, on the morning of April 17, the cargo ship Escondido was hit by the Cuban Air Force and set fire to it.
At 11 a.m., Castro delivered a national address declaring that the counter-revolutionaries composed of Cuban exiles had invaded Cuban territory and wanted to undermine the Cuban revolution and take away the dignity and rights that the Cuban people had acquired after the revolution. Around the same time, a T-33 of the Cuban Air Force shot down one of the Liberator Air Force's B-26Bs (no. 935), and the pilot Matias Farias forcibly landed the plane at the Airport of Giron Beach, surviving, but his navigator, Eduardo González, was not so lucky and was killed on the spot in the air battle. Another B-26 was also damaged in the air battle and flew to Grand Cayman. Pilot Mario Suniga (the guy who flew the deception flight on April 15) and navigator Oscar Vega returned to Port Cabezas via CIA channels on April 18.
■ The B-26B light bomber numbered "Liberator Air Force" numbered 935 shot down by the Cuban Air Force on April 17 is pictured above, noting that the tail of the aircraft is also painted with the Cuban Air Force's abbreviation "FAR". At that time, the "Liberator Air Force" was painted with the Cuban flag and the logo of the Cuban Air Force in order to hide the eyes and ears.
■ Castro is looking at the B-26B, number 935, which may have been taken after the battle in Bay of Pigs ended.
■ Pictured above is a B-26 of the Cuban Air Force shot down during the Battle of the Bay of Pigs, and the B-26 of the Cuban Air Force and the B-26 of the Liberator Air Force are both from the United States.
By about 11 a.m., the remaining two cargo ships of the 2506th Brigade, the Kabir and Atlantico, as well as the CIA infantry landing craft and the general purpose landing craft, saw that the situation was not good, and they retreated south to international waters, but still did not escape the Pursuit of the Cuban Air Force. At 12:00, a pursuing B-26 bomber was shot down by heavy anti-aircraft fire from the infantry landing craft Braga during a sea attack, and the pilot Luis Silva Tablada and three other crew members disappeared.
At about 12 o'clock, hundreds of Cuban militiamen from Matanzas occupied Parpite and walked south to Larga Beach, but unfortunately encountered air strikes by "Liberator Air Force" B-26s on the way, suffering heavy losses. At 2:30 p.m., a group of militiamen from the 339th Battalion had just erected a position when they were attacked by tanks of the 2506th Brigade, most of whom were killed and suffered so many casualties that Cuba called the battle the "Slaughter of the Lost Battalion."
On the afternoon of 17 April, fighting intensified, especially in the air battles, with the Liberator Air Force losing heavily, with three B-26Bs shot down by the Cuban Air Force's T-33, three pilots and two pilots killed, and only one navigator parachuting and escaping and being rescued by the USS Murray of Task Force 81.8 of the U.S. Navy. After a B-26B, numbered 940, was diverted to Boca Chica, Florida, that evening, pilot Crispín García Fernández and navigator Juan González Romero attempted to fly the B-26B, Number 933, which was piloted by Jose Crespo, to Puerto Cabez on April 15. So far there has been no news. By October 1961, the remains of the B-26B and two pilots had been found in the jungles of Nicaragua. In addition, there was a Liberator Air Force B-26B that flew to Grand Cayman due to engine failure.
■ Pictured above is another Liberator Air Force B-26B bomber shot down by the Cuban Air Force during the Bay of Pigs Incident.
At 4 p.m., Castro arrived at Australia's Central Sugar Mill and took command at the headquarters of Captain José Ramon Fernandez, the supreme commander of the front. By the evening of 17 April, a large number of Cuban troops had arrived, and they had advanced south from Covadonga to The Beach of Giron, from Yaguaramas to the southwest to San Blas, and from Cienfuegos along the coastline to the west toward the Beach of Giron, forming a siege of the Beach of Giron. But these units were lightly armed and did not have time to put in heavy weapons or armor.
■ Above shows Castro just jumping from a T-34 tank on the battlefield of Keelung Beach.
■ Above, near Geelong Beach, Castro sits in an armored vehicle observing the battlefield situation.
■ Above is a picture of Cuban soldiers and civilians fighting fiercely with invaders in the Bay of Pigs battlefield on April 17.
At 9 p.m. on April 17, three B-26Bs of the still-unyielding Liberator Air Force conducted a night raid on the airfield in San Antonio de los Baños, but it ended in failure, allegedly due to poor pilots and bad weather. Two other B-26Bs were involved, but they aborted shortly after takeoff, and other sources said it was heavy anti-aircraft fire on the ground that scared the two bombers away.
After nightfall on 17 April, the freighters Atlantico and Cabil withdrew from Cuban waters, followed by Braga and Barbara Castro. J" infantry landing craft. The ships will return to the Bay of Pigs the next day with more ammunition, but the captains of the freighters Atlantico and Kabir are reluctant to take the muddy waters and instead sail to the high seas. The Atlantico was intercepted by a U.S. Navy destroyer 95.5 nautical miles south of Cuba, and the Americans persuaded the captain to return to continue the unfinished mission; the Cabir was not discovered by the Americans until 218 nautical miles from Cuba, and it did not return to the Bay of Pigs. As for the 5th cargo ship, the Lake Charles, it may be because the beachhead war situation is deteriorating and it is basically inactive.
(To be continued...) )
■ The picture above is of the Cuban fighters in the "Bay of Pigs Incident" who operated 4 quad-mounted anti-aircraft artillery. During the airstrike on 15 April, Cuban ground anti-aircraft fire shot down one B-26.
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