Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion , known in Hispanic America as Invasión de Bahía de Cochinos ( or Invasión de Playa Girón or Batalla de Girón ) , was an unsuccessful military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA - sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on 17 April 1961 . A counter - revolutionary military trained and funded by the United States government ' s Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) , Brigade 2506 fronted the armed wing of the Democratic Revolutionary Front ( DRF ) and intended to overthrow the revolutionary left wing government of Fidel Castro . Launched from Guatemala , the invading force was defeated within three days by the Cuban armed forces , under the direct command of Prime Minister Fidel Castro . The Cuban Revolution of 1953 to 1959 had seen President Fulgencio Batista , a right - wing ally of the U . S . , ousted . He was replaced by a new left wing administration dominated by Castro , which had severed the country ' s formerly strong links with the U . S . by expropriating their economic assets and developing links with the Soviet Union , with whom the U . S . was then embroiled in the Cold War . The U . S . government of President Dwight D . Eisenhower was concerned at the direction which Castro ' s government was taking , and in March 1960 , Eisenhower allocated $ 13 . 1 million to the CIA in order to plan Castro ' s overthrow . The CIA proceeded to organize the operation with the aid of the Mafia and various Cuban counter - revolutionary forces , training Brigade 2506 in Mexico . Following his election in 1960 , president John F . Kennedy was informed of the invasion plan and gave his consent . Over 1 , 400 paramilitaries , divided into five infantry battalions and one paratrooper battalion , assembled in Guatemala before setting out for Cuba by boat on 13 April . On 15 April , eight CIA - supplied B - 26 bombers attacked Cuban air fields and returned to the U . S . On the night of 16 April , the main invasion landed at a beach named Playa Girón in the Bay of Pigs . It initially overwhelmed a local revolutionary militia . The Cuban Army ' s counter - offensive was led by Captain José Ramón Fernández , before Castro decided to take personal control of the operation . On 20 April , the invaders finally surrendered , with the majority of troops being publicly interrogated and then sent back to the U . S . The failed invasion strengthened the position of Castro ' s administration , who proceeded to openly proclaim their intention to adopt socialism and strengthen ties with the Soviet Union . This led eventually to the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 . The invasion was a major embarrassment for U . S . foreign policy . John Kennedy ordered a number of internal investigations . Across much of Latin America , it was celebrated as evidence of the fallibility of U . S . imperialism . Background . Cuba was for centuries a part of the Spanish Empire . In the late 19th century , Cuban nationalist revolutionaries rebelled against Spanish dominance , resulting in three liberation wars : the Ten Years ' War ( 1868 – 1878 ) , the Little War ( 1879 – 1880 ) and the Cuban War of Independence ( 1895 – 1898 ) . Interested in extending its hegemony over Cuba , the crown jewel of the Spanish colonial empire , as a colony , the United States government proclaimed war on the Spanish Empire , resulting in the Spanish - American War ( 1898 ) . The U . S . subsequently invaded the island , and forced the Spanish army out . On 20 May 1902 , a new independent government proclaimed the foundation of the Republic of Cuba , with U . S . Military governor Leonard Wood handing over control to President Tomás Estrada Palma , a Cuban - born American citizen . Subsequently , large numbers of U . S . settlers and businessmen arrived in Cuba , and by 1905 , 60 % of rural properties were owned by non - Cuban North Americans . Between 1906 and 1909 , 5000 U . S . Marines were stationed across the island , and returned in 1912 , 1917 and 1921 to intervene in internal affairs , sometimes at the behest of the Cuban government . Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution . In March 1952 , a Cuban general and politician , Fulgencio Batista , seized power on the island , proclaimed himself president and deposed the discredited president Carlos Prío Socarrás of the Partido Auténtico . Batista cancelled the planned presidential elections , and described his new system as " disciplined democracy " ; although he gained some popular support , many Cubans saw it as the establishment of a one - man dictatorship . Many opponents of the Batista regime took to armed rebellion in an attempt to oust the government , sparking the Cuban Revolution . One of these groups was the National Revolutionary Movement ( " Movimiento Nacional Revolucionaria " – MNR ) , a militant organisation containing largely middle - class members which had been founded by the Professor of Philosophy Rafael García Bárcena . Another was the Revolutionary Directorate ( DR ) , which had been founded by the Federation of University Students ( FEU ) President José Antonio Echevarría ( 1932 – 1957 ) . However , the best known of these anti - Batista groups was the " 26th of July Movement " ( MR - 26 - 7 ) , founded by a lawyer named Fidel Castro . Consisting of both a civil and a military committee , the former conducted political agitation through an underground newspaper while the latter armed and trained recruits to take violent action against Batista . With Castro as the MR - 26 - 7 ' s head , the organization was based upon a clandestine cell system , with each cell containing ten members , none of whom knew the whereabouts or activities of the other cells . Between December 1956 and 1959 , Castro led a guerrilla army against the forces of Batista from his base camp in the Sierra Maestra mountains . The Batista ' s repression of revolutionaries had earned him widespread unpopularity , and by 1959 , his armies were in retreat . On 31 December , Batista resigned , and fled into exile , taking with him an amassed fortune of more than US $ 300 , 000 , 000 . The presidency fell to Castro ' s chosen candidate , the lawyer Manuel Urrutia Lleó , while members of the MR - 26 - 7 took control of most positions in the cabinet . On 16 February 1959 , Castro himself took on the role of Prime Minister . Dismissing the need for elections , Castro proclaimed the new administration to be an example of direct democracy , in which the Cuban populace could assemble " en masse " at demonstrations and express their democratic will to him personally . Critics instead condemned the new regime as un - democratic . The counter - revolution . Soon after the success of the Cuban Revolution , militant counter - revolutionary groups developed in an attempt to overthrow the new regime . Undertaking armed attacks against government forces , some set up guerrilla bases in Cuba ' s mountainous regions , leading to the six - year War against the Bandits . These dissidents were funded and armed by various foreign sources , including the exiled Cuban community , the U . S . Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) , and the Dominican government of General Rafael Trujillo . No quarter was given during the suppression of the resistance in the Escambray Mountains , where former rebels from the War Against Batista took different sides . On 3 April 1961 , a bomb attack on militia barracks in Bayamo killed four militia , and wounded eight more . On 6 April , the Hershey Sugar factory in Matanzas was destroyed by sabotage . On 14 April 1961 , guerrillas led by Agapito Rivera fought Cuban government forces near Las Cruces , Montembo , Las Villas , where several government troops were killed and others wounded . Also on 14 April 1961 , a Cubana airliner was hijacked and flown to Jacksonville , Florida ; resultant confusion then helped discovery of the staged ' defection ' of a B - 26 and pilot at Miami on 15 April . Castro ' s government began a crackdown on this opposition movement , arresting hundreds of dissidents . Although it rejected the methods of physical torture which had been employed by Batista ' s regime , Castro ' s government sanctioned the use of psychological torture , subjecting some prisoners to solitary confinement , rough treatment , hunger and threatening behavior . After conservative editors and journalists began expressing hostility towards the government following its leftward turn , the pro - Castro printers ' trade union began to harass and disrupt editorial staff . In January 1960 the government proclaimed that each newspaper would be obliged to publish a " clarification " written by the printers ' union to the end of any articles which were critical of the government . This would prove to be the start of press censorship in Castro ' s Cuba . Popular uproar across Cuba demanded that those figures who had been complicit in the widespread torture and killing of civilians be brought to justice . Although he remained a moderating force and tried to prevent the mass reprisal killings of Batistanos advocated by many Cubans , Castro helped to set up trials of many figures involved in the old regime across the country , resulting in hundreds of executions . Although widely popular in Cuba , critics , in particular from the U . S . press , argued that many of these did not meet the standards of a fair trial , and condemned Cuba ' s new government as being more interested in vengeance than justice . Castro retaliated strongly against such accusations , proclaiming that " revolutionary justice is not based on legal precepts , but on moral conviction " . In a show of support for this " revolutionary justice " , he organized the first Havana trial to take place before a mass audience of 17 , 000 at the Sports Palace stadium ; when a group of aviators accused of bombing a village were found not guilty , he ordered a retrial in which they were instead found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment . On 11 March 1961 , Jesus Carreras and American William Alexander Morgan ( a former Castro ally ) were executed after a trial . Tensions with the United States . Castro ' s Cuban government ordered the country ' s oil refineries – then controlled by the U . S . corporations Shell , Esso and Standard Oil – to process crude oil purchased from the Soviet Union , but under pressure from the U . S . government , these companies refused . Castro responded by expropriating the refineries and nationalizing them under state control . In retaliation , the U . S . cancelled its import of Cuban sugar , provoking Castro to nationalize most U . S . - owned assets on the island , including banks and sugar mills . Relations between Cuba and the U . S . were further strained following the explosion and sinking of a French vessel , the " Le Coubre " , in Havana harbor in March 1960 . Carrying weapons purchased from Belgium , the cause of the explosion was never determined , but Castro publicly insinuated that the U . S . government were guilty of sabotage . On 13 October 1960 , the U . S . government then prohibited the majority of exports to Cuba – the exceptions being medicines and certain foodstuffs – marking the start of an economic embargo . In retaliation , the Cuban National Institute for Agrarian Reform took control of 383 private - run businesses on 14 October , and on 25 October a further 166 U . S . companies operating in Cuba had their premises seized and nationalized , including Coca - Cola and Sears Roebuck . On 16 December , the U . S . then ended its import quota of Cuban sugar , the country ' s primary export . The U . S . government was becoming increasingly critical of the direction which Castro ' s revolutionary government was taking Cuba . At an August 1960 meeting of the Organization of American States ( OAS ) held in Costa Rica , the U . S . Secretary of State Christian Herter publicly proclaimed that Castro ' s regime was " following faithfully the Bolshevik pattern " by instituting a single - party political system , taking governmental control of trade unions , suppressing civil liberties , and removing both the freedom of speech and freedom of the press . He furthermore asserted that international communism was using Cuba as an " operational base " for spreading revolution in the western hemisphere , and called on other OAS members to condemn the Cuban government for its breach of human rights . In turn , Castro lambasted the treatment of black people and the working classes which he had witnessed in New York City , which he lampooned as that " superfree , superdemocratic , superhumane , and supercivilized city . " Proclaiming that the American poor were living " in the bowels of the imperialist monster " , he attacked the mainstream U . S . media for being controlled by big business . Preparation . Early plans . The idea of overthrowing Castro ' s administration first emerged within the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) , an independent civilian intelligence agency of the United States government , in early 1960 . Founded in 1947 by the National Security Act , the CIA was " a product of the Cold War " , having been designed to counter the espionage activities of the Soviet Union ' s own national security agency , the KGB . As the perceived threat of " international communism " grew larger , the CIA expanded its activities to undertake covert economic , political and military activities that would advance causes favourable to U . S . interests . The CIA ' s Director at the time , Allen Dulles , was responsible for overseeing clandestine operations across the world , and although widely considered an ineffectual administrator , he was popular among his employees , whom he had protected from the accusations of McCarthyism . The man overseeing plans for the Bay of Pigs Invasion was Richard M . Bissell , Jr . , the CIA ' s Deputy Director . Putting together a " Special Group " known as the 5412 Committee , he assembled a number of other agents to aid him in the plot , many of whom had worked on the 1954 Guatemalan coup six years before ; these included David Philips , Gerry Droller and E . Howard Hunt . Bissell placed Drecher in charge of liasing with the anti - Castro segments of the Cuban American community living in the United States , and asked Hunt to fashion a government - in - exile which the CIA would effectively control . Hunt proceeded to travel to Havana , the capital city of Cuba , where he spoke with Cubans from various different backgrounds and discovered a brothel through the Mercedes - Benz agency . Returning to the U . S . , he informed the Cuban - Americans whom he was liasing with that they would have to move their base of operations from Florida to Mexico City , because the State Department refused to permit the training of a militia on U . S . soil . Although unhappy with the news , they conceded to the order . Eisenhower ' s approval . On 17 March 1960 , the CIA put forward their plan for the overthrow of Castro ' s administration to the US National Security Council ( NSC ) , where it was given the support of U . S . President Dwight D . Eisenhower . The stated first objective of the plan was to " bring about the replacement of the Castro regime with one more devoted to the true interests of the Cuban people and more acceptable to the U . S . in such a manner to avoid any appearance of U . S . intervention . " On 18 August 1960 , Eisenhower approved a budget of $ 13 million for the operation . By 31 October 1960 , most guerrilla infiltrations and supply drops directed by the CIA into Cuba had failed , and developments of further guerrilla strategies were replaced by plans to mount an initial amphibious assault , with a minimum of 1 , 500 men . On 18 November 1960 , Allen Dulles ( CIA Director ) and Richard Bissell ( CIA Deputy Director for Plans ) first briefed President - elect John Kennedy on the outline plans . Having experience in actions such as the 1954 Guatemalan coup d ' état , Dulles was confident that the CIA was capable of overthrowing the Cuban government as led by Prime Minister Fidel Castro since 16 February 1959 . On 29 November 1960 , President Eisenhower met with the chiefs of the CIA , Defense , State and Treasury departments to discuss the new concept . No objections were expressed , and Eisenhower approved the plans , with the intention of persuading John Kennedy of their merit . On 8 December 1960 , Bissell presented outline plans to the " Special Group " while declining to commit details to written records . Further development of the plans continued , and on 4 January 1961 they consisted of an intention to carry out a " lodgement " by 750 men at an undisclosed site in Cuba , supported by considerable air power . Meanwhile , in the United States presidential election , 1960 , both main candidates , Richard Nixon of the Republican Party and John F . Kennedy of the Democratic Party , campaigned on the issue of Cuba , both taking a hardline stance on Castro . Nixon – who was then Vice President – sent a military aide to Dulles to ask how the planned invasion was progressing ; he believed that it was taking too long , considering the swift preparation of the 1954 Guatemalan " coup d ' etat " . Nixon insisted that Kennedy should not be informed of the military plans , which Dulles conceded to . On 28 January 1961 , President Kennedy was briefed , together with all the major departments , on the latest plan ( code - named " Operation Pluto " ) that involved 1 , 000 men to be landed in a ship - borne invasion at Trinidad , Cuba , about 270 km ( 170 mi ) south - east of Havana , at the foothills of the Escambray Mountains in Sancti Spiritus province . Kennedy authorized the active departments to continue , and to report progress . Trinidad had good port facilities , it was closer to many existing counter - revolutionary activities , it had an easily defensible beachhead , and it offered an escape route into the Escambray Mountains . When that scheme was subsequently rejected by the State Department , the CIA went on to propose an alternative plan . On 4 April 1961 , President Kennedy then approved the Bay of Pigs plan ( also known as " Operation Zapata " ) , because it had an airfield that would not need to be extended to handle bomber operations , it was farther away from large groups of civilians than the Trinidad plan , and it was less " noisy " militarily , which would make any future denial of direct US involvement more plausible . The invasion landing area was changed to beaches bordering the Bahía de Cochinos ( Bay of Pigs ) in Las Villas Province , 150 km south - east of Havana , and east of the Zapata peninsula . The landings were to take place at Playa Girón ( code - named " Blue Beach " ) , Playa Larga ( code - named " Red Beach " ) , and Caleta Buena Inlet ( code - named " Green Beach " ) . In March 1961 , the CIA helped Cuban exiles in Miami to create the Cuban Revolutionary Council ( CRC ) , chaired by José Miró Cardona , former Prime Minister of Cuba in January 1959 . Cardona became the de facto leader - in - waiting of the intended post - invasion Cuban government . Training . In April 1960 , the CIA began to recruit anti - Castro Cuban exiles in the Miami area . Until July 1960 , assessment and training was carried out on Useppa Island and at various other facilities in South Florida , such as Homestead AFB . Specialist guerrilla training took place at Fort Gulick , Panama and at Fort Clayton , Panama . For the increasing ranks of recruits , infantry training was carried out at a CIA - run base ( code - named " JMTrax " ) near Retalhuleu in the Sierra Madre on the Pacific coast of Guatemala . The exiles group named themselves Brigade 2506 ( " Brigada Asalto 2506 " ) . In summer 1960 , an airfield ( code - named " JMadd " , aka " Rayo Base " ) was constructed near Retalhuleu , Guatemala . Gunnery and flight training of Brigade 2506 aircrews was carried out by personnel from Alabama ANG ( Air National Guard ) , using at least six Douglas B - 26 Invader s in the markings of Fuerza Aérea Guatemalteca ( FAG ) , legitimate delivery of those to FAG being delayed by about six months . An additional 26 B - 26s were obtained from US military stocks , ' sanitized ' at ' Field Three ' to obscure their origins , and about 20 of them were converted for offensive operations by removal of defensive armament , standardization of the ' eight - gun nose ' , addition of underwing drop tanks and rocket racks . Paratroop training was at a base nicknamed " Garrapatenango " , near Quetzaltenango , Guatemala . Training for boat handling and amphibious landings took place at Vieques Island , Puerto Rico . Tank training took place at Fort Knox , Kentucky and Fort Benning , Georgia . Underwater demolition and infiltration training took place at Belle Chase near New Orleans . In November 1960 , the Retalhuleu recruits took part in quelling an officer ' s rebellion in Guatemala , in addition to the intervention of the US Navy . The CIA delivered people , supplies , and arms from Florida to all the bases at night , using Douglas C - 54 transports . On 9 April 1961 , Brigade 2506 personnel , ships , and aircraft started transferring from Guatemala to Puerto Cabezas , Nicaragua . Curtiss C - 46 s were also used for transport between Retalhuleu and a CIA base ( code - named " JMTide " , aka " Happy Valley " ) at Puerto Cabezas , Nicaragua . Facilities and limited logistical assistance were provided by the governments of General Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes in Guatemala , and General Luis Somoza Debayle in Nicaragua , but no military personnel or equipment of those nations were directly employed in the conflict . Both governments later received military training and equipment , including some of the remaining CIA ' s B - 26s . In early 1961 , Cuba ' s army possessed Soviet - designed T - 34 medium tanks , IS - 2 heavy tanks , SU - 100 ' tankdestroyers ' ( a type of self - propelled gun ) , 122mm howitzer s , other artillery and small arms , plus Italian 105mm howitzers . The Cuban air force armed inventory included Douglas B - 26 Invader light bombers , Hawker Sea Fury fighters , and Lockheed T - 33 jets , all remaining from the " Fuerza Aérea del Ejército de Cuba " ( FAEC ) , the Cuban air force of the Batista government . Anticipating an invasion , Che Guevara stressed the importance of an armed civilian populace , stating " all the Cuban people must become a guerrilla army , each and every Cuban must learn to handle and if necessary use firearms in defense of the nation . " Participants . U . S . Government personnel . Recruiting of Cuban exiles in Miami was organized by CIA staff officers E . Howard Hunt and Gerry Droller . Detailed planning , training and military operations were conducted by Jacob Esterline , Colonel Jack Hawkins and Colonel Stanley W . Beerli under the direction of Richard Bissell , and his deputy Tracy Barnes . Cuban government personnel . Already , Fidel Castro was known as , and addressed as , the commander - in - chief of Cuban armed forces , with a nominal base at ' Point One ' in Havana . In early April 1961 , his brother Raúl Castro was assigned command of forces in the east , based in Santiago de Cuba . Che Guevara commanded western forces , based in Pinar del Río . Major Juan Almeida Bosque commanded forces in the central provinces , based in Santa Clara . Raúl Curbelo Morales was head of the air force . Sergio del Valle Jiménez was Director of Headquarters Operations at Point One . Efigenio Ameijeiras was the Head of the Revolutionary National Police . Ramiro Valdés Menéndez was Minister of the Interior and head of G - 2 ( Seguridad del Estado , or state security ) . His deputy was Comandante Manuel Piñeiro Losada , also known as ' Barba Roja ' . Captain José Ramón Fernández was head of the School of Militia Leaders ( Cadets ) at Matanzas . Other commanders of units during the conflict included Major Raúl Menéndez Tomassevich , Major Filiberto Olivera Moya , Major René de los Santos , Major Augusto Martínez Sanchez , Major Félix Duque , Major Pedro Miret , Major Flavio Bravo , Major Antonio Lussón , Captain Orlando Pupo Pena , Captain Victor Dreke , Captain Emilio Aragonés , Captain Angel Fernández Vila , Arnaldo Ochoa , Orlando Rodriguez Puerta . Soviet - trained Spanish advisors were brought to Cuba from Eastern Bloc countries . These advisors had held high staff positions in the Soviet Armies during World War II , and became known as ' Hispano - Soviets ' , having long - resided in the Soviet Union . The most senior of these were the Spanish Communist veterans of the Spanish Civil War , Francisco Ciutat de Miguel , Enrique Líster , and Cuban - born Alberto Bayo . Ciutat de Miguel ( Cuban alias : Ángel Martínez Riosola , commonly referred to as Angelito ) was an advisor to forces in the central provinces . The role of other Soviet agents at the time is uncertain , but some of them acquired greater fame later . For example , two KGB colonels , Vadim Kochergin and Victor Simanov were first sighted in Cuba in about September 1959 . Prior warnings of invasion . The Cuban security apparatus knew the invasion was coming , via their secret intelligence network , as well as loose talk by members of the brigade , some of which was heard in Miami , and was repeated in US and foreign newspaper reports . Nevertheless , days before the invasion , multiple acts of sabotage were carried out , such as the El Encanto fire , an arson attack in a department store in Havana on 13 April , that killed one shop worker . The Cuban government also had been warned by senior KGB agents Osvaldo Sánchez Cabrera and ' Aragon ' , who died violently before and after the invasion , respectively . The general Cuban population was not well informed , except for CIA - funded Radio Swan . As of May 1960 , almost all means of public communication were in the government ' s hands . On 29 April 2000 , a " Washington Post " article , " Soviets Knew Date of Cuba Attack " , reported that the CIA had information indicating that the Soviet Union knew the invasion was going to take place , and did not inform Kennedy . On 13 April 1961 , Radio Moscow broadcast an English - language newscast , predicting the invasion " in a plot hatched by the CIA " using paid " criminals " within a week . The invasion took place four days later . David Ormsby - Gore , British Ambassador to the US , stated that British intelligence analysis , as made available to the CIA , indicated that the Cuban people were predominantly behind Castro , and that there was no likelihood of mass defections or insurrections . Prelude to invasion . Air attacks on airfields ( 15 April ) . During the night of 14 / 15 April , a diversionary landing was planned near Baracoa , Oriente Province , by about 164 Cuban exiles commanded by Higinio ' Nino ' Diaz . Their mother ship , named " La Playa " or " Santa Ana " , had sailed from Key West under a Costa Rican ensign . Several US Navy destroyers were stationed offshore near Guantánamo Bay to give the appearance of an impending invasion fleet . The reconnaissance boats turned back to the ship after their crews detected activities by Cuban militia forces along the coastline . As a result of those activities , at daybreak , a Cuban Air Force reconnaissance sortie over the Baracoa area was launched from Santiago de Cuba . That was a FAR T - 33 , piloted by Lt Orestes Acosta , and it crashed fatally into the sea . On 17 April , his name was falsely quoted as a defector among the disinformation circulating in Miami . On 15 April 1961 , at about 06 : 00 Cuba local time , eight Douglas B - 26B Invader bombers in three groups simultaneously attacked three Cuban airfields at San Antonio de los Baños and at Ciudad Libertad ( formerly named Campo Columbia ) , both near Havana , plus the Antonio Maceo International Airport at Santiago de Cuba . The B - 26s had been prepared by the CIA on behalf of Brigade 2506 , and had been painted with the false flag markings of the FAR ( Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria ) , the air force of the Cuban government . Each was armed with bombs , rockets and machine guns . They had flown from Puerto Cabezas in Nicaragua , and were crewed by exiled Cuban pilots and navigators of the self - styled " Fuerza Aérea de Liberación " ( FAL ) . The purpose of the action ( code - named " Operation Puma " ) was reportedly to destroy most or all of the armed aircraft of the FAR in preparation for the main invasion . At Santiago , the two attackers destroyed a C - 47 transport , a PBY Catalina flying boat , two B - 26s and a civilian DC - 3 plus various other civilian aircraft . At San Antonio , the three attackers destroyed three FAR B - 26s , one Sea Fury and one T - 33 , and one attacker diverted to Grand Cayman due to low usable fuel . At Ciudad Libertad , the three attackers destroyed only non - operational aircraft such as two P - 47 Thunderbolts . One of those attackers was damaged by anti - aircraft fire , and ditched about 50 km north of Cuba , with the loss of its crew Daniel Fernández Mon and Gaston Pérez . Its companion B - 26 , also damaged , continued north and landed at Boca Chica field ( Naval Air Station Key West ) , Florida . The crew , José Crespo and Lorenzo Pérez - Lorenzo , were granted political asylum , and made their way back to Nicaragua the next day via Miami and the daily CIA C - 54 flight from Opa - locka Airport to Puerto Cabezas Airport . Their B - 26 , purposely numbered 933 , the same as at least two other B - 26s that day for disinformation reasons , was held until late on 17 April . Deception flight ( 15 April ) . About 90 minutes after the eight B - 26s had taken off from Puerto Cabezas to attack Cuban airfields , another B - 26 departed on a deception flight that took it close to Cuba but headed north towards Florida . Like the bomber groups , it carried false FAR markings and the same number 933 as painted on at least two of the others . Before departure , the cowling from one of the aircraft ' s two engines was removed by CIA personnel , fired upon , then re - installed to give the false appearance that the aircraft had taken ground fire at some point during its flight . At a safe distance north of Cuba , the pilot feathered the engine with the pre - installed bullet holes in the cowling , radioed a mayday call , and requested immediate permission to land at Miami International airport . The pilot was Mario Zúñiga , formerly of the FAEC ( Cuban Air Force ) , and after landing he masqueraded as ' Juan Garcia ' , and publicly claimed that three colleagues had also defected from the FAR . The next day he was granted political asylum , and that night he returned to Puerto Cabezas via Opa - Locka . Reactions ( 15 April ) . At 10 : 30 am on 15 April at the United Nations , the Cuban Foreign Minister Raúl Roa attempted to accuse the US of aggressive air attacks against Cuba , and that afternoon formally tabled a motion to the Political ( First ) Committee of the UN General Assembly . In response , US ambassador to the UN Adlai Stevenson stated that US armed forces would not " under any conditions " intervene in Cuba , and that the US would do everything in its power to ensure that no US citizens would participate in actions against Cuba . He also stated that Cuban defectors had carried out the attacks that day , and he presented a UPI wire photo of Zúñiga ' s B - 26 in Cuban markings at Miami airport . Stevenson was later embarrassed to realize that the CIA had lied to him and to Secretary of State Dean Rusk . President Kennedy supported the statement made by Stevenson : " I have emphasized before that this was a struggle of Cuban patriots against a Cuban dictator . While we could not be expected to hide our sympathies , we made it repeatedly clear that the armed forces of this country would not intervene in any way . " On 15 April , the national police , led by Efigenio Ameijeiras , started the process of arresting thousands of suspected anti - revolutionary individuals , and detaining them in provisional locations such as the Karl Marx Theatre , the moat of Fortaleza de la Cabana and the Principe Castle all in Havana , and the baseball park in Matanzas . Phony war ( 16 April ) . On the night of 15 / 16 April , the Nino Diaz group failed in a second attempted diversionary landing at a fresh location near Baracoa . On 16 April , Merardo Leon , Jose Leon , and 14 others staged an armed uprising at Las Delicias Estate in Las Villas , with only four surviving . Leonel Martinez and three others took to the countryside . Following the air strikes on airfields on 15 April 1961 , the FAR managed to prepare for armed action at least four T - 33s , four Sea Furies and five or six B - 26s . All three types were armed with machine guns ( 20mm cannon , in the case of the Sea Furies ) for air - to - air combat and for strafing of ships and ground targets . CIA planners had failed to discover that the US - supplied T - 33 jets had long been armed with M - 3 machine guns . The three types could also carry bombs , for attacks against ships and tanks . No additional air strikes against Cuban airfields and aircraft were specifically planned before 17 April , because B - 26 pilots ' exaggerated claims gave the CIA false confidence in the success of the 15 April attacks , until U - 2 reconnaissance photos on 16 April showed otherwise . Late on 16 April , President Kennedy ordered cancellation of further airfield strikes planned for dawn on 17 April , to attempt plausible deniability of US direct involvement . Late on 16 April , the CIA / Brigade 2506 invasion fleet converged on ' Rendezvous Point Zulu ' , about south of Cuba , having sailed from Puerto Cabezas in Nicaragua where they had been loaded with troops and other materiel , after loading arms and supplies at New Orleans . The US Navy operation was code - named " Bumpy Road " , having been changed from " Crosspatch " on 1 April 1961 . The fleet , labelled the ' Cuban Expeditionary Force ' ( CEF ) , included five 2 , 400 - ton ( empty weight ) freighter ships chartered by the CIA from the Garcia Line , and subsequently outfitted with anti - aircraft guns . Four of the freighters , " Houston " ( code name " Aguja " ) , " Río Escondido " ( code name " Ballena " ) , " Caribe " ( code name " Sardina " ) , and " Atlántico " ( code - name " Tiburón " ) , were planned to transport about 1 , 400 troops in seven battalions of troops and armaments near to the invasion beaches . The fifth freighter , " Lake Charles " , was loaded with follow - up supplies and some Operation 40 infiltration personnel . The freighters sailed under Liberian ensigns . Accompanying them were two LCIs ( Landing Craft Infantry ) outfitted with heavy armament at Key West . The LCIs were " Blagar " ( code - name " Marsopa " ) and " Barbara J " ( code - name " Barracuda " ) , sailing under Nicaraguan ensigns . After exercises and training at Vieques Island , the CEF ships were individually escorted ( outside visual range ) to " Point Zulu " by US Navy destroyers , , , , , , . US Navy Task Group 81 . 8 had already assembled off the Cayman Islands , commanded by Rear Admiral John E . Clark onboard aircraft carrier , plus helicopter assault carrier , destroyers , , , , and submarines and . Command and control ship and carrier were also reportedly active in the Caribbean at the time . was a Landing Ship Dock that carried three LCUs ( Landing Craft Utility ) and four LCVP s ( Landing Craft , Vehicles , Personnel ) . " San Marcos " had sailed from Vieques Island . At " Point Zulu " , the seven CEF ships sailed north without the USN escorts , except for " San Marcos " that continued until the seven landing craft were unloaded when just outside the Cuban territorial limit . Invasion . Invasion day ( 17 April ) . During the night of 16 / 17 April , a mock diversionary landing was organized by CIA operatives near Bahía Honda , Pinar del Río Province . A flotilla containing equipment that broadcast sounds and other effects of a shipborne invasion landing . That was the source of Cuban reports that briefly lured Fidel Castro away from the Bay of Pigs battlefront area . At about 00 : 00 on 17 April 1961 , the two CIA LCIs " Blagar " and " Barbara J " , each with a CIA ' operations officer ' and an Underwater Demolition Team ( UDT ) of five frogmen , entered the Bay of Pigs " ( Bahía de Cochinos ) " on the southern coast of Cuba . They headed a force of four transport ships ( " Houston " , " Río Escondido " , " Caribe " and " Atlántico " ) carrying about 1 , 400 Cuban exile ground troops of Brigade 2506 , plus tanks and other vehicles in the landing craft . At about 01 : 00 , the " Blagar " , as the battlefield command ship , directed the principal landing at Playa Girón ( code - named " Blue Beach " ) , led by the frogmen in rubber boats followed by troops from " Caribe " in small aluminium boats , then LCVP s and LCU s . The " Barbara J " , leading " Houston " , similarly landed troops 35 km further northwest at Playa Larga ( code - named " Red Beach " ) , using small fiberglass boats . Unloading troops at night was delayed , due to engine failures and boats damaged by unforeseen coral reefs . The few militia in the area succeeded in warning Cuban armed forces via radio soon after the first landing , before the invaders overcame their token resistance . At daybreak at about 06 : 30 , three FAR Sea Furies , one B - 26 bomber and two Lockheed T - 33 fighter jets started attacking those CEF ships still unloading troops . At about 06 : 50 , and south of Playa Larga , " Houston " was damaged by several rockets from a Sea Fury and a T - 33 , and about 2 hours later captain Luis Morse intentionally beached it on the western side of the bay . About 270 troops had been unloaded , but about 180 survivors who struggled ashore were incapable of taking part in further action because of the loss of most of their weapons and equipment . At about 07 : 00 , two invading FAL B - 26s attacked and sank the Cuban Navy Patrol Escort ship " El Baire " at Nueva Gerona on the Isle of Pines . They then proceeded to Girón to join two other B - 26s to attack Cuban ground troops and provide distraction air cover for the paratroop C - 46s and the CEF ships under air attack . At about 07 : 30 , five C - 46 and one C - 54 transport aircraft dropped 177 paratroops from the parachute battalion of Brigade 2506 in an action code - named " Operation Falcon " . About 30 men , plus heavy equipment , were dropped south of Australia sugar mill on the road to Palpite and Playa Larga , but the equipment was lost in the swamps , and the troops failed to block the road . Other troops were dropped at San Blas , at Jocuma between Covadonga and San Blas , and at Horquitas between Yaguaramas and San Blas . Those positions to block the roads were maintained for two days , reinforced by ground troops from Playa Girón . At about 08 : 30 , a FAR Sea Fury piloted by Carlos Ulloa Arauz crashed in the bay , due to stalling or anti - aircraft fire , after encountering a FAL C - 46 returning south after dropping paratroops . By 09 : 00 , Cuban troops and militia from outside the area had started arriving at Australia sugar mill , Covadonga and Yaguaramas . Throughout the day they were reinforced by more troops , heavy armour and T - 34 tanks typically carried on flat - bed trucks . At about 09 : 30 , FAR Sea Furies and T - 33s fired rockets at the " Rio Escondido " , that ' blew up ' and sank about south of Girón . At about 11 : 00 , Premier Fidel Castro issued a statement over Cuba ' s nationwide network saying that the invaders , members of the exiled Cuban revolutionary front , have come to destroy the revolution and take away the dignity and rights of men . At about 11 : 00 , a FAR T - 33 attacked a FAL B - 26 ( serial number 935 ) piloted by Matias Farias who then survived a crashlanding on the Girón airfield , his navigator Eduardo González already killed by gunfire . His companion B - 26 suffered damage and diverted to Grand Cayman Island ; pilot Mario Zúñiga ( the ' defector ' ) and navigator Oscar Vega returned to Puerto Cabezas via CIA C - 54 on 18 April . By about 11 : 00 , the two remaining freighters " Caribe " and " Atlántico " , and the CIA LCIs and LCUs , started retreating south to international waters , but still pursued by FAR aircraft . At about 12 : 00 , a FAR B - 26 exploded due to heavy anti - aircraft fire from " Blagar " , and pilot Luis Silva Tablada ( on his second sortie ) and his crew of three were lost . By 12 : 00 , hundreds of militia cadets from Matanzas had secured Palpite , and cautiously advanced on foot south towards Playa Larga , suffering many casualties during attacks by FAL B - 26s . By dusk , other Cuban ground forces were gradually advancing southward from Covadonga and southwest from Yaguaramas toward San Blas , and westward along coastal tracks from Cienfuegos towards Girón , all without heavy weapons or armour . Three FAL B - 26s were shot down by FAR T - 33s , with the loss of pilots Raúl Vianello , José Crespo , Osvaldo Piedra and navigators Lorenzo Pérez - Lorenzo and José Fernández . Vianello ' s navigator Demetrio Pérez bailed out and was picked up by USS " Murray " . Pilot Crispín García Fernández and navigator Juan González Romero , in B - 26 serial 940 , diverted to Boca Chica , but late that night they attempted to fly back to Puerto Cabezas in B - 26 serial 933 that Crespo had flown to Boca Chica on 15 April . In October 1961 , the remains of the B - 26 and its two crew were found in dense jungle in Nicaragua . One FAL B - 26 diverted to Grand Cayman with engine failure . By 16 : 00 , Fidel Castro had arrived at the central Australia sugar mill , joining José Ramón Fernández whom he had appointed as battlefield commander before dawn that day . On 17 April 1961 , Osvaldo Ramírez ( leader of the rural resistance to Castro ) was captured by Castro ' s forces in Aromas de Velázquez , and immediately executed . At about 21 : 00 on 17 April 1961 , a night air strike by three FAL B - 26s on San Antonio de Los Baños airfield failed , reportedly due to incompetence and bad weather . Two other B - 26s had aborted the mission after take - off . Other sources allege that heavy anti - aircraft fire scared the aircrews Invasion day plus one ( D + 1 ) 18 April . By about 10 : 30 on 18 April , Cuban troops and militia , supported by tanks , took Playa Larga after Brigade forces had fled towards Girón in the early hours . During the day , Brigade forces retreated to San Blas along the two roads from Covadonga and Yaguaramas . By then , both Fidel Castro and José Ramón Fernández had re - located to that battlefront area . At about 17 : 00 on 18 April , FAL B - 26s attacked a Cuban column of 12 civilian buses leading trucks carrying tanks and other armour , moving southeast between Playa Larga and Punta Perdiz . The vehicles , loaded with civilians , militia , police and soldiers , were attacked with bombs , napalm and rockets , suffering heavy casualties . The six B - 26s were piloted by two CIA contract pilots plus four pilots and six navigators from Brigade 2506 air force . The column later re - formed and advanced to Punta Perdiz , about 11 km northwest of Girón . Invasion day plus two ( D + 2 ) 19 April . During the night of 18 April , a FAL C - 46 delivered arms and equipment to the Girón airstrip occupied by Brigade 2506 ground forces , and took off before daybreak on 19 April . The C - 46 also evacuated Matias Farias , the pilot of B - 26 serial ' 935 ' ( code - named " Chico Two " ) that had been shot down and crash - landed at Girón on 17 April . The final air attack mission ( code - named " Mad Dog Flight " ) comprised five B - 26s , four of which were manned by American CIA contract air crews and pilots from the Alabama Air Guard . One FAR Sea Fury ( piloted by Douglas Rudd ) and two FAR T - 33s ( piloted by Rafael del Pino and Alvaro Prendes ) shot down two of these B - 26s , killing four American airmen . Combat air patrols were flown by Douglas A4D - 2N Skyhawk jets of VA - 34 squadron operating from USS " Essex " , with nationality and other markings removed . Sorties were flown to reassure Brigade soldiers and pilots , and to intimidate Cuban government forces without directly engaging in acts of war . Without direct air support , and short of ammunition , Brigade 2506 ground forces retreated to the beaches in the face of considerable onslaught from Cuban government artillery , tanks and infantry . Late on 19 April , destroyers USS " Eaton " ( code - named " Santiago " ) and USS " Murray " ( code - named " Tampico " ) moved into Cochinos Bay to evacuate retreating Brigade soldiers from beaches , before firing from Cuban army tanks caused Commodore Crutchfield to order a withdrawal . Invasion day plus three ( D + 3 ) 20 April . From 19 April until about 22 April , sorties were flown by A4D - 2Ns to obtain visual intelligence over combat areas . Reconnaissance flights are also reported of Douglas AD - 5W s of VFP - 62 and / or VAW - 12 squadron from USS " Essex " or another carrier , such as USS " Shangri - La " that was part of the task force assembled off the Cayman Islands . On 21 April , " Eaton " and " Murray " , joined on 22 April by destroyers USS " Conway " and USS " Cony " , plus submarine USS " Threadfin " and a CIA PBY - 5A Catalina flying boat , continued to search the coastline , reefs and islands for scattered Brigade survivors , about 24 - 30 being rescued . Aftermath . Casualties . Aircrews killed in action totaled 6 from the Cuban air force , 10 Cuban exiles and 4 American airmen . Paratrooper Eugene Herman Koch was killed in action , and the American airmen shot down were Thomas W . Ray , Leo F . Baker , Riley W . Shamburger and Wade C . Gray . In 1979 , the body of Thomas ' Pete ' Ray was repatriated from Cuba . In the 1990s , the CIA admitted to his links to the agency , and awarded him the Intelligence Star . 114 Cuban exiles from Brigade 2506 were killed in action . The final toll in Cuban armed forces during the conflict was 176 killed in action . Other Cuban forces casualties were between 500 and 4 , 000 ( killed , wounded or missing ) . The airfield attacks on 15 April left 7 Cubans dead and 53 wounded . Prisoners . On 19 April 1961 , at least seven Cubans plus two CIA - hired US citizens ( Angus K . McNair and Howard F . Anderson ) were executed in Pinar del Rio province , after a two - day trial . On 20 April , Humberto Sorí Marin was executed at Fortaleza de la Cabaña , having been arrested on 18 March following infiltration into Cuba with 14 tons of explosives . His fellow conspirators Rogelio González Corzo ( alias " Francisco Gutierrez " ) , Rafael Diaz Hanscom , Eufemio Fernandez , Arturo Hernandez Tellaheche and Manuel Lorenzo Puig Miyar were also executed . Between April and October 1961 , hundreds of executions took place in response to the invasion . They took place at various prisons , including the Fortaleza de la Cabaña and El Morro Castle . Infiltration team leaders Antonio Diaz Pou and Raimundo E . Lopez , as well as underground students Virgilio Campaneria , Alberto Tapia Ruano , and more than one hundred other insurgents were executed . About 1 , 202 Brigade 2506 members were captured , of which nine died from asphyxiation during transfer to Havana in a closed truck . In May 1961 , Fidel Castro proposed to exchange the surviving Brigade prisoners for 500 large farm tractors , valued at US $ 28 million . On 8 September 1961 , 14 Brigade prisoners were convicted of torture , murder and other major crimes committed in Cuba before the invasion , five being executed and nine jailed for 30 years . Three confirmed as executed were Ramon Calvino , Emilio Soler Puig ( " el Muerte " ) and Jorge King Yun ( " el Chino " ) . On 29 March 1962 , 1 , 179 men were put on trial for treason . On 7 April 1962 , all were convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison . On 14 April 1962 , 60 wounded and sick prisoners were freed and transported to the US . On December 21 , 1962 , Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro and James B . Donovan , a US lawyer , signed an agreement to exchange 1 , 113 prisoners for US $ 53 million in food and medicine , sourced from private donations and from companies expecting tax concessions . On 24 December 1962 , some prisoners were flown to Miami , others following on the ship " African Pilot " , plus about 1 , 000 family members also allowed to leave Cuba . On 29 December 1962 , President Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline attended a " welcome back " ceremony for Brigade 2506 veterans at the Orange Bowl in Miami , Florida . Political reaction . The failed invasion severely embarrassed the Kennedy Administration , and made Castro wary of future US intervention in Cuba . On 21 April , in a State Department press conference , President Kennedy said : " There ' s an old saying that victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan . . . Further statements , detailed discussions , are not to conceal responsibility because I ' m the responsible officer of the Government . . . " In August 1961 , during an economic conference of the Organization of American States in Punta del Este , Uruguay , Che Guevara sent a note to Kennedy via Richard N . Goodwin , a secretary of the White House . It said : " Thanks for Playa Girón . Before the invasion , the revolution was weak . Now it ' s stronger than ever . " Additionally , Guevara answered a set of questions from Leo Huberman of " Monthly Review " following the invasion . In one reply , Guevara was asked to explain the growing number of Cuban counter - revolutionaries and defectors from the regime , to which he replied that the repelled invasion was the climax of counter revolution , and that afterwards such actions " fell drastically to zero . " In regards to the defections of some prominent figures within the Cuban government , Guevara remarked that this was because " the socialist revolution left the opportunists , the ambitious , and the fearful far behind and now advances toward a new regime free of this class of vermin . " As Allen Dulles later stated , CIA planners believed that once the troops were on the ground , any action required for success would be authorized to prevent failure , as Eisenhower had done in Guatemala in 1954 after the invasion looked as if it was collapsing . President Kennedy was angered with the CIA ' s failure , and declared he wanted " to splinter the CIA in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds . " Kennedy commented to his journalist friend Ben Bradlee , " The first advice I ' m going to give my successor is to watch the generals and to avoid feeling that because they were military men their opinions on military matters were worth a damn . " Later analysis . Maxwell Taylor survey . On 22 April 1961 , President Kennedy asked General Maxwell D . Taylor , Attorney General Robert F . Kennedy , Admiral Arleigh Burke and CIA Director Allen Dulles to form the Cuba Study Group , to report on the lessons to be learned from the failed operation . On 13 June , General Taylor submitted the report of the Board of Inquiry to President Kennedy . The defeat was attributed to lack of early realization of the impossibility of success by covert means , inadequate aircraft , limitations of armaments , pilots and air attacks to attempt plausible deniability , and ultimately , loss of important ships and lack of ammunition . C . I . A report . In November 1961 , C . I . A inspector general Lyman B Kirkpatrick , authored a report ' Survey of the Cuban Operation ' , that remained classified until 1996 . Conclusions were : In spite of vigorous rebuttals by C . I . A management of the findings , C . I . A Director Allen Dulles , CIA Deputy Director Charles Cabell , and Deputy Director for Plans Richard Bissell were all forced to resign by early 1962 . In later years , the C . I . A ' s behavior in the event became the prime example cited for the psychology paradigm known as groupthink syndrome . In mid - 1960 , C . I . A operative E . Howard Hunt had interviewed Cubans in Havana ; in a 1997 interview with CNN , he said , " . . . all I could find was a lot of enthusiasm for Fidel Castro . " Invasion legacy in Cuba . For many Latin Americans , the Bay of Pigs Invasion served to reinforce the already widely held belief that the U . S . could not be trusted , but also illustrated that they could be defeated , and encouraged political groups across the region to find ways to undermine U . S . imperialism . The invasion is often recognized as making Castro even more popular , adding nationalistic sentiments to the support for his economic policies . Following the 15 April air attacks on Cuban airfields , he declared the revolution " Marxist - Leninist " . After the invasion , he pursued closer relations with the Soviet Union , partly for protection , that helped pave the way for the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis . Castro was then increasingly wary of further US intervention , and more open to Soviet suggestions of placing nuclear weapons on Cuba to ensure its security . In March 2001 , shortly before the 40th anniversary of the invasion , a conference took place in Havana , attended by about 60 American delegates . The conference was titled , co - sponsored by the University of Havana and the US - based National Security Archive . There are still yearly nationwide drills in Cuba during the ' Dia de la Defensa ' ( Defense Day ) , to prepare the population for an invasion . Invasion legacy for Cuban exiles . Many who fought for the CIA in the conflict remained loyal after the event ; some Bay of Pigs veterans became officers in the US Army in Vietnam , including six colonels , 19 lieutenant colonels , nine majors , and 29 captains . By March 2007 , about half of the Brigade had died . In April 2010 , the Cuban Pilot ' s Association unveiled a monument at the Kendall - Tamiami Executive Airport in memory of the 16 aviators for the exile side killed during the battle . The memorial consists of an obelisk and a restored B - 26 replica aircraft atop a large Cuban flag . Playa Girón today . Little remains of the original village , which in the 1960s was small and remote . It is still remote , with just a single road to the village and out again , but it has grown markedly since the invasion . Few people there today were residents at the time . The road from the north is marked by frequent memorials to the Cuban dead . There are billboards marking where invaders were rounded up and showing pictures of their being led away . Another at the entrance to the village quotes Fidel Castro ' s comment that the conflict was the " first defeat of Yankee imperialism . " A two - room museum , with American aircraft and other military equipment outside , shows pictures , arms and maps of the attack and photos of Cuban soldiers who died . Billboards and other material also remember the Counter - revolutionary forces . In Popular Culture . In the 2010 video game Call of Duty : Black Ops , the very first level of the single player campaign details the playable character participating in the fictional assassination attempt on Castro during the invasion .