Bay of Pigs Invasion

The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an attempt in 1961 (during the Cold War) to remove Fidel Castro from power in Cuba. The CIA trained Cuban exiles and these exiles launched an attack in a bay called the Bay of Pigs.

Bay of Pigs Invasion
Part of the Cold War

Cuban soldiers supported by T-34 tanks attacking near Playa Giron. April 19, 1961
Date17–20 April 1961
Location
Bay of Pigs, southern coast of Cuba
Result Decisive Cuban government victory
Belligerents
 Cuba  United States
Cuban DRF
Commanders and leaders
Fidel Castro
José Ramón Fernández
Juan Almeida Bosque
Che Guevara[1][2]
Efigenio Ameijeiras		 John F. Kennedy
Allen Dulles
Charles Cabell
Pepe San Román
Erneido Oliva
Units involved
Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces
National Revolutionary Militia		 Brigade 2506
CIA
 U.S. Air Force
Strength
25,000 Cuban army[3]
200,000 Cuban Militia[3][4]
9,000 armed police[3][4] (across the country)		 1,500 ground forces[A]
8 American B-26 bombers
5 supply ships
Casualties and losses
Cuban Army:
176 killed
500+ wounded[B]
Militia:
2,000 killed and wounded[5]		 Brigade 2506:
118 killed
360 wounded[D]
1,202 captured[E]
United States:
4 killed
2 B-26 bombers shot down
2 supply ships lost
Location within North America

The invasion was a failure and most of the attackers were captured or killed. There were several conflicts that led to this; including a lack of promised air support and a change in where the landing was to be launched. This was one of many unsuccessful attempts by the CIA to rid Cuba of Castro. One interesting fact is that the plan was originally put in motion by Eisenhower, but the attack was ordered by John F. Kennedy who only found out about the plan after his election.[6]

References
  1. Kellner 1989, pp. 69–70. "Historians give Guevara, who was director of instruction for Cuba's armed forces, a share of credit for the victory".
  2. Szulc (1986), p. 450. "The revolutionaries won because Castro's strategy was vastly superior to the Central Intelligence Agency's because the revolutionary morale was high and because Che Guevara as the head of the militia training program and Fernández as commander of the militia officers' school, had done so well in preparing 200,000 men and women for war."
  3. Szulc (1986)
  4. FRUS X, documents 19, 24, 35, 245, 271.
  5. Quesada 2009, p. 46.
  6. "The Bay of Pigs". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
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