Existing comment:
Cold War Navy
A flexible, responsive force.
Following World War II, budget cuts, reductions in the size of the forces, and attempts to reorganize the military threatened the existence of the Navy. Several Cold War crises, however, showed that the Navy remained a viable force that could respond rapidly and flexibly, applying appropriate force to defuse the situation. The Navy's versatility quieted critics and guaranteed it a continuing role in the defense of the Nation.
1947-1980
The Iron Curtain Descends:
After suffering enormous losses during World War II, the Soviet Union felt that its security depended upon a buffer of satellite states along its borders, and a large standing army. The communist "iron curtain" would separate Eastern Europe -- including a divided Germany -- from the rest of the world.
In contrast, the [sic] America's desire to "return to normal" as quickly as possible meant a rapid demobilization of the Armed Forces and significant reduction of the defense budget. Americans were confident that the new United Nations could resolve disputes, and that the devastating power of the atomic bomb was theirs alone.
Then, in 1949, the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb, ending American complacency.
On 25 April 1945, representatives of 50 nations including the United States and the Soviet Union convened in San Francisco to outline a new international peacekeeping organization called the "United Nations". The UN charter was officially ratified six months later. ...
The 100-mile-long Berlin Wall bisected Germany's capital city for 28 years.
Cuban Missile Crisis
To The Brink of Nuclear War:
When communist Fidel Castro became leader of Cuba in 1959, the Cold War veered uncomfortably close to home. The small Caribbean country was only a hundred miles south of Florida. Castro's actions, which included ending free speech and expropriating American property, only heightened American fears.
In 1962, surveillance flights discovered that the Soviets were were [sic] erecting missile batteries on the island of Cuba; missiles that could be aimed at the United States. In the tense October days that followed, President John F Kennedy had to confront the unthinkable -- the Cold War could culminate with nuclear holocaust.
Bay of Pigs Fiasco -- April 1961:
On 3 January 1961, just 17 days before Kennedy became president, Eisenhower severed diplomatic relations with Castro-ruled Cuba. He also ordered the Central Intelligence Agency secretly to train Cuban exiles for an invasion of the island, but he left the decision to use them to the new President.
Advised than an invasion would trigger a counter-revolution against Castro, Kennedy gave the go ahead, but stipulated no American forces would be used.
The invasion of Cuba ended almost as soon as it began. Cubans captured or killed all of the invaders at the Bay of Pigs.
Cuban Missile Crisis -- October 1962:
Soviet leaders saw the failure of the Bay of Pigs as a sign of weakness in the new administration, and installed missiles on Cuba. On 14 October, American surveillance photos detected the weapons.
After a tense week, President Kennedy and his advisors decided to "quarantine" the island. On 22 October, Kennedy made the plan public. A Navy task force had already taken station 500 miles from Cuba. The Russians had two days to make their move.
Robert L. Dennison (1901-1980) USNA 1923:
While serving as commander of the battleship Missouri, Dennison so impressed Harry S Truman that the President promoted him to naval aide. Dennison served in this position from 1948 to 1953, when Truman left office.
In February 1960, Dennison was appointed Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he was responsible for reading Army, Air Force, Marine, and Navy assault forces for a possible invasion of Cuba. His responsibilities also including coordinating the maritime support of America's allies.
Crisis Averted:
As the United States and Soviet Union teetered on the brink of nuclear war, some two-dozen Soviet ships -- with canvas-draped ballistic missiles visible on their decks -- steamed toward the Cuban quarantine line. ... Navy ships and aircraft carefully tracked these ships.
On 28 October 1962, American intelligence agencies received word that half of the missile-bearing Soviet ships had either stopped or put about. Soon after, Khrushchev informed Kennedy that he was ordering the withdrawal of all missiles and bombers from Cuba. The most dangerous Cold War confrontation was over.
Castro would remain in power after the Cuban missile crisis, but Khrushchev's handling of the affair initiated his downfall. The Russian leader was ousted in October 1964.
USS Liberty:
During the Arab-Israeli "Six-Day War" of 1967, the USS Liberty was sent to collect electronic intelligence in the eastern Mediterranean. On the afternoon of 8 June, the ship was attacked first by Israeli aircraft, and then by three Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats.
Liberty received more than 800 bullet holes, and a torpedo hit on her starboard side that ripped a large hole in her hull. Thirty-four men were killed in the attacks and more than 170 wounded. Although Israel quickly apologized, explaining it had mistaken the Liberty for an Egyptian Navy ship, the debate rages to this day whether the attack was deliberate.
Originally built in 1945, Liberty was acquired by the Navy in 1963. After being outfitted for collecting and processing foreign communications and electronic emissions, she was deployed in June 1965. After the Israeli attack, she was repaired and returned to the United States, and then decommissioned in 1968.
Liberty's crew managed to keep the badly damaged ship afloat, and she left the area under her own power. ... |