United States President John F. Kennedy, already aware that numerous Soviet ships were headed towards Cuba, was advised by John McCone, director of the CIA, that some of those ships probably carried missiles. During a meeting John and Robert Kennedy, Dean Rusk, and Robert McNamara came to the conclusion that the Soviet Union would not go so far as placing missiles on Cuba.
To sustain this conclusion, Soviet diplomats repeatedly advised Kennedy's administration that there were no missiles in Cuba. These diplomats, knowledgeable or otherwise, also claimed that there were no plans to place missiles on Cuba, assuring the administration that the Soviets held no interest in triggering an international incident that might have an effect on the United States elections soon to be held in November.
President Declares there are No Missiles in Cuba
In spite of this assurance, in late August, a U-2 flight photographed a series of missile sites being constructed on Cuba. Whether in disregard of this information, a confirmed belief, or in an attempt to keep it secret, on September 4, 1962, President Kennedy
advised Congress that there were "no offensive missiles in Cuba."
Soviet Missiles Arrive in Cuba
In Havana, under cover of darkness on September 8, the first shipment of soviet missiles, SS-4 MRBMs, were unloaded in Cuba. On September 16, a second ship loaded with missiles arrived there.
All total, the Soviets were building nine missile sites in Cuba. Six of these sites were for SS-4s. Three of them were to house SS-5s, with a range of 2,400 miles.
Due to "a number of unconnected problems" these missiles were not discovered by the United States until October 14. On that date photographs taken by a U-2 flight revealed the construction of an SS-4 site near San Cristobal. President Kennedy was not shown these photos until two days later.
Ariel Photographs Reveal More
U-2 fights were now being flown almost continuous. Photographs taken on October 19 showed that four missile sites on Cuba were operational. Not until the evening of October 21 was the United Kingdom informed of this threatening situation. The American public would wait one more day to be informed of the danger their country faced.
The United States and Cuba: The Case of the Misadvised Advisors, continues with: The Cuban Missile Crisis: Attack by Air or Sea.
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