Description

Standoff in the Caribbean is a fact-based story of one U.S. Navy destroyer during 13 horrific days in October 1962 that kept the world on edge.

For two weeks in October-November 1962, the United States Armed Forces were placed on their highest state of readiness since World War II after photographs taken by reconnaissance aircraft revealed that Soviet missile sites were being constructed in Cuban. President John F. Kennedy and the Joint Chiefs of Staff were determined to prevent the sites from becoming operational. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and his field commanders in Cuba were equally determined that missile installations would be placed in Cuba and were prepared to use battlefield nuclear weapons to defend the island if the United States invaded.

An armada of 200 plus U.S. Navy ships set sail to enforce a blockade of Cuban with instructions to launch an attack on the Island Nation on a moment’s notice. Additionally, 20 aircraft armed with nuclear bombs were in the air, around the clock, ready to strike the USSR, if so ordered.

This period in history bought world to the edge of a nuclear holocaust. The final outcome depended entirely on which side would blink first.