The book ‘Rockets and People‘ is part of the NASA History Series. It was written by the Soviet Academician Boris Chertok. The Preface to the Third Volume of the series states that “Chertok’s chapter on the Cuban Missile Crisis provides a radically unique perspective on the crisis, from the point of view of those who would have been responsible for unleashing nuclear Armageddon in 1962 had Kennedy and Khrushchev not been able to agree on a stalemate…” So, what kind of unique information can we learn from that part of the book? The author tells us that “Although Yangel’s high-boiling component R-12 and R-14 missiles were capable of destroying all the United States’ NATO allies, only Korolev’s liquid-oxygen R-7 and R-7A missiles posed a real threat to America itself… [But] In 1962, the same R-12 and R-14 missiles, which had already been put into service, came close to blowing up the world during the Caribbean (or Cuban Missile) Crisis…
When Yangel entered into competition with Korolev for the intercontinental missile, he still only had experience in the experimental development and operation of the intermediate-range R-12 missile. These missiles used nontoxic kerosene as fuel. The new toxic unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine propellant (UDMH) was being used on R-14 missiles for the first time…
The ministers and commanders-in-chief have different views. Each of the chiefs—Korolev, Yangel, Chelomey—has his own point of view… [but] only missiles from Yangel’s Dnepropetrovsk KB [in Ukraine] were involved in the balance between war and peace…
The first Soviet troop combat units headed by Army General I. A. Pliyev arrived in Cuba in July and early August. The thoroughly camouflaged deployment of the nuclear warheads began in mid-August. Operation Anadyr, to prepare and ship the nuclear missile expedition to “Freedom Island” (what we called Cuba at the time), was conducted so secretly that none of us who associated with the rocket-space elite suspected for what purpose the missiles developed by our friends in Dnepropetrovsk were being prepared. In September, the R-12 missiles and Il-28 airplanes began arriving in Cuba. Now declassified archives have shown that by 20 October, according to the Pentagon’s plan, U.S. strategic forces were supposed to be fully prepared for nuclear war. This information provided to our top political leadership apparently served as the reason for the publication of a TASS statement on 11 September: The Soviet government considers it its duty to display vigilance under the circumstances that have developed and to instruct the USSR Ministry of Defense and the Soviet Army Command to take all measures to bring our armed forced into the highest state of combat readiness.”
The first R-12 missile was prepared in Cuba for fueling and to be mated with the nuclear warhead on 4 October 1962. Before 10 October, another 10 missiles were ready for installation on launch tables; by 20 October, there were 20 missiles. Some sources mention that the missiles installed in Cuba were fully prepared for launch. What do historians of the Cuban Missile Crisis mean by that? I heard from Smirnitskiy that nuclear warheads hadn’t been mated with a single missile. But if that was the case, then not a single missile was actually ready for launch. I have no intention of trying to clear up that contradiction. That is a matter for military historians— let them hunt for the truth in declassified archives or interview still-living witnesses. In naming the readiness dates, I have only used publications that remain undisputed. It’s no surprise that for more than 30 years, we did not know exactly what happened in Cuba. There’s something else that’s amazing. The remarkable U.S. intelligence services did not figure out in time that nuclear missiles had been delivered to Cuba. Despite active air defense, American U-2 airplanes relentlessly penetrated Cuban air space and intensely photographed the enemy island. On 14 October, a U-2 returned to base after a routine flight. When they processed the photos, the U.S. intelligence officers were shocked. Soviet missiles were discovered! President Kennedy was informed on 16 October, after thorough examination of the photos. He hardly expected to find Soviet missiles armed with nuclear warheads right under his nose! Khrushchev had outsmarted him…
American historians have attested that, according to the final data of aerial reconnaissance, 24 missile launch sites were detected in Cuba.
If a missile division launched all of its missiles first (a second launch wouldn’t be possible), the division would be capable of destroying at least 40 vital strategic military targets over almost the entire U.S. territory (except Alaska). The total nuclear potential of an entire division in the first and only launch, if each missile has a launch site and reaches its target, could reach— depending on the type of warhead—up to 70 megatons…
At this time, in addition to the R-12 missiles already delivered to Cuba, our transport ships began moving toward Cuba with camouflaged R-14 missiles on their decks. A squadron of submarines was ordered to escort these missile transports…
On 22 October, President Kennedy delivered a television address to the American people informing them of “offensive missile sites” that had been detected in Cuba. He called for “a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba.”20 We, the first missile specialists in the USSR, had just found out about the new deployment of the missiles developed by our Dnepropetrovsk colleagues from Kennedy’s speech…
On 23 October, President Kennedy signed an executive order calling for a naval blockade of Cuba. This order threatened our ships carrying R-14 missiles under submarine escort with an encounter with the U.S. Navy…
The Soviet government demanded a session of the U.N. Security Council. That same day, U.S. intelligence informed Kennedy that there were 24 R-12 (SS-4 in American parlance) missile sites and 20 Il-28 bombers in Cuba…
On 25 October, the ships carrying the R-14 missiles and warheads received the order from Moscow to turn back without haste…”
Comments:
“Each of the chiefs—Korolev, Yangel, Chelomey—has his own point of view…” – All three were the Ukrainians.
Sergei Korolev, Ukrainian who opened Space to Humankind >
Vladmir Chelomei, a Ukrainian born in Poland >
Mikhail Yangel, a Ukrainian born in Siberia as a grandson of a UKRAINIAN political prisoner >
Ukrainian Wiki page devoted to Yangel tells us that Lavrentiy, Mikhail’s grandfather, was sent to Siberia from Chernigiv region of Ukraine in 1894. But Russia would not be Russia if it did not try to lie and steal the famous personalities such as Korolev and Yangel.
Two Ukrainians Launched the First Satellite on Oct. 04, 1957 but Moscow denied them the Noble Prize >
