Two U-2 incidents

A Soviet surface-to-air missile shot down Major Rudolf Anderson's U-2 over Cuba, killing him. Kennedy did not order an immediate retaliatory attack. The incident raised the prospect that local military action could force decisions in Washington and Moscow.

Elsewhere, Charles Maultsby's U-2 strayed into Soviet airspace during an air-sampling mission. Soviet fighters responded, and American fighters were sent to assist. He returned safely. This separate incident showed how operations far from Cuba could add to the crisis.

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An illustrated guide

Three separate dangers on 27 October

  1. Over Cuba

    Anderson’s U-2 is shot down

    A Soviet surface-to-air missile kills Major Rudolf Anderson. Kennedy does not immediately retaliate.

  2. Near the Soviet Union

    Maultsby’s U-2 strays off course

    A separate air-sampling mission enters Soviet airspace. Maultsby eventually returns safely.

  3. Under the Atlantic

    B-59 faces American ships

    Explosive signals, poor communications and a nuclear torpedo create a danger unknown to the Americans.

These were separate incidents, not a chain of commands. The political leaders did not have a complete picture of the submarine encounter. Later accounts of B-59 differ.

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B-59 beneath the Atlantic

American ships used explosive signals in an effort to bring Soviet submarine B-59 to the surface. Its crew endured extreme heat, depleted batteries and uncertain communications. The Americans did not know that it carried a nuclear torpedo.

Later Soviet accounts describe a confrontation over possible use of the weapon and an important restraining role for Vasily Arkhipov. The records and recollections are not identical. The episode should be explained through their differences, rather than reduced to an undocumented scene in which one man simply presses or refuses a button.

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A settlement under pressure

Khrushchev's new message linked withdrawal from Cuba to American missiles in Turkey. Kennedy's public reply addressed the earlier proposal centred on a non-invasion assurance. Privately, Robert Kennedy met Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin.

The diplomatic breakthrough involved both pressure and compromise. Khrushchev's subsequent private letter records his understanding that the Turkish missiles would be removed within months, with the discussion kept confidential.

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