Locals who have lived near the beach all their life: "There's a bunch of reefs where you want to land." Dude in Quantico looking at grainy photos shot from 60,000 ft.: "Looks like seaweed to me, bruh."
It was actually planned to fail from the get go. The CIA was informed by cuban intelligence that they were aware of a planned invasion. The CIA in turn needed to get rid of the brigadistas, otherwise there was a threat by the brigade leaders of taking over Nicaragua if the invasion was canceled.
"I have no clear picture of what to expect, but I am confident that something will happen" I cannot believe that's even a real quote lmao he's essentially just saying "We're going to fuck around, and by god we will find out"
It never stops to amaze me, how many failed military operations were launched with the goal being summarized as "It's totally gonna work out, and be good, don't worry about it!"
Unfortunately, our imperialism is pretty successful except for in Cuba. If Vietnam went down like the massacres in Jakarta Indonesia, we would have never heard of it or its war. The cia used a vampire scare in the Philippines to thwart communism" aka protect the colonists and it worked. And honestly some of these conflicts not working was the plan all along like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. Making the military complex rich was enough.
My buddies and I were looking to try a new restaurant randomly one day; when we got there, an older guy asked us if we were commemorating the day. "What day?" We had randomly chosen to eat at a Cuban restaurant on April 17. Anyway the guy said he had been a M50 Ontos tanker, but never made it onto the beach. What a cluster of failure
@@lucasokeefe7935Ah yes, good ole Lazerpig’s grandpappy. Famous for destroying a T-64 with a butter knife. Nobody tell him the T-64 was just a Toyota Hilux.
There were. They were killed when their transport ship, the S.S. Porky, which was also completely unarmed, was set ablaze by rockets from Cuban air force jets rockets. All hands were lost. Unrelated, everyone ate bacon. Lots and lots of bacon.
It was more than that I think. The CIA was under the impression that the people were already tired of Castro and were willing to fight against him, which ended up being wildly false
They just got tens of thousands of refugees fleeing from the CONCEPT of living under communism. Cubans to this day are one of the most right wing demographics in the US. They had plenty of reason to believe it was a possibility. Of course that's no substitute for knowing for sure and the CIA definitely dropped the ball on this one
US Government to the Cuban Exiles before the operation begins: "Don't worry guys we've got your back". US Government to the Cuban Exiles after the operation begins: "I've never seen this man in my life".
Still waiting for the US to invite their other allies to live in the US--you know, since one party apparently loves immigrants and the other party apparently loves veterans. Hm. What groups of people would fit both definitions?
Pretty much how they treat every soldier, go fight for your country in Iraq but sorry your Thai wife isn’t wanted here so now you have to live overseas with you family. Fuck America.
I don’t understand why they didn’t just invade themselves at this point. They were trained, equipped, commanded, and transported by America, there is no deniability in this scenario. All it did was make the invasion extremely weak.
1500 men to cover a 40 mile wide 'beachhead.' Cuban exiles talking too much about the upcoming operation so Cuban intelligence knows something is up. Sending a single boat with 5 men ahead of the main force seems laughable to me. And then they find out there's literally a beachparty going on. Seems to me they did everything possible to make the operation a failure. *EDIT: my bet is even the American government got fed up with all these tough talking, gung-ho Cuban exiles so they concocted this whole plan to get rid of them.* If this was a movie, with a better script, the advance party would casually switch from wetsuits to black tie like Sean Connery 'Goldfinger.'
JFK never really wanted the operation in the first place, it was always a CIA plan. It's good that JFK didn't given the following failures that were found by the CIA Inspector-General including: - The CIA exceeded its capabilities in developing the project from guerrilla support to overt armed action without any plausible deniability. - Failure to realistically assess risks and to adequately communicate information and decisions internally and with other government principals. - Insufficient involvement of leaders of the exiles. - Failure to sufficiently organize internal resistance in Cuba. - Failure to competently collect and analyze intelligence about Cuban forces. - Poor internal management of communications and staff. - Insufficient employment of high-quality staff. - Insufficient Spanish-speakers, training facilities, and material resources. - Lack of stable policies and/or contingency plans. Add all that in top of an unplanned invasion and then further occupation.
And not just that, they were going to fight Castro's army, who had fought a campaign against Batista's forces and had considerable experience and understanding of the terrain they were defending.
for the following reasons: there were conflicts all over the world at this point, and vietnam was ramping up. putting a bunch of military supplies and troops in there would have hurt options somewhere else the soviets would likely attack berlin, at least JFK thought so, in meeting minutes there is a lot of talk about avoiding soviet escalation in europe in response to their escalation castro had just won a guerrilla war with huge popular support, though the movement was small. that means they would be going in with a group used to avoiding searches, small in size, with the people backing them. both due to castro and what he wanted, and also the fact their lives were hell under an american puppet before and they didn't want to return to that and most importantly, they didn't think this would be their last chance. they thought through coups, assassinations, pressure from far right terror groups the US helped and finally through blockade would end up destroying the government, it didn't thanks to the government never losing popular support, and all of the above being seen as what they were, attempts to maintain american order on the island
And led directly to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Castro now was sure we were actively trying to depose him, so he invited the USSR in. It’s a good thing Khrushchev was pragmatic enough to realize Castro was a nut, and refused Castro’s requests first to proceed with a nuclear attack on the U.S., and then later to leave the missiles intact and in Castro’s control when the USSR pulled out.
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Sir, I have the list of things that can go wrong here, what should we do about it? “Go wrong? What could go wrong, we’ve planned this for 2 years! Ignore the list, it’s wrong.” Later that day… “Corporal, where is that list and why weren’t we informed?!”
Transmission# 15-18 Designate: X-RAY OP 40 team inserted with Bay of Pigs forces in Cuba Target: Fidel Castro Woods, Bowman, and Mason meeting contact at Santa Maria 0500 hrs April 17, 1961
General Lemnitzer from the Joint Chiefs of Staff made an analysis that the success of a paramilitary option is doubtful. 2 days later he told the defence secreatry it would be a great chance. Some suspect that it was intented to damage Kennedy. CIA-Director Dulles did not told Kennedy about his doubts. He expected the US military would intervene when the paramilitaries fail.
A combination of racist underestimation of what theu say as an inherently and politically inferior force, coupled with the "Dutch Courage" of having all the money and guns in the world plus a couple hundred angry motivated anti-communist Cuban guys
They learned nothing from it either. They tried the same thing in Laos during the Vietnam war. They failed to build a significant fighting force to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail.
As Trump might say, "calling off that air cover is the worst decision in the history of decisions." Hindsight is 20/20, but sometimes foresight is too. It's' really hard to wrap my head around JFK's decision here. Squabbles with Intel are no reason to pull fire support away from troops already on the ground.
0:10 A-26/B-26 Invader was a Medium Bomber or Attack Bomber, the USAAC requirement was for a mix between an Attack Bomber like the A-20 Havoc and a Medium Bomber like the B-26 Marauder. In payload the Invader could carry as much as the Mitchell and Marauder while being agile like a Heavy Fighter. 15:57 Invader had the guns in the nose like you said previously, not in the engines.
Fun fact; the bay is named after a species of triggerfish; Balistes vetula; Cochino who frequent these waters. Not actual mammalian pigs; Sus domesticus. In English Bahia de Cochino is always translated to bay of pigs.
Death by arrogance, have we ever seen this before? We'll see it again as history repeats it's self and nobody learns from it. Sad. Another Operations Room gem, well done. Look forward to part 2. Cheers.
We absolutely need a bonus video of Operation Gideon 2020, an attempt to repeat the Bay of Pigs in Venezuala but even more insane and hilariously incompetent.
It seems to me that they took one of the most complicated military operations to carry out - landing on a beach - and did everything to make it even more complicated. Great video though, always wondered how the events unfolded.
That's why "the Bay of Pigs" is a well-known term still today. It was an infamous cluster**** where American intelligence left the people they'd trained and equipped to twist when things went sideways.
I've been waiting for you to cover this operation. This is my favorite history channel by far. Hoping to see some more 1980's operations/campaigns like the Falklands War, Operation Urgent Fury and Just Cause.
Just want to let you know, that I’m completely ok with adds in the video like this one. It’s not hard to skip it and you definitely deserve sponsorships. You really deserve to be payed for all your hard work! Thank you for all the great history content. Cheers!
What is weird is that Essex at the time as a pure anti-submarine carrier. I have seen references that she embarked a squadron of Skyhawks on short notice for this mission but that still hardly seems overwhelming US naval air power
Many of the CVS carriers which were as you mentioned ASW carriers did embark Squadrons of A-4 Sky Hawks as light Fighters. Because the Scooter was fast, could carry a great fuel load and retain range and maneuverability with A2A weapons they were handy little rapid response Fighters. Typically the Squadrons were VC Squadrons or VFS Squadrons. The tough speedy little Scooter soldiers on to this day. Fun fact, VC-10 flew various missions including Air Defense until they were ordered to retire their A-4s and stood down around 1993.
Seen the captured American tanks in Havana and took a tour to Bay of pigs on the way to a Crocodile Zoo. They had markers set up for Cubans killed by strafing airplane it was an interesting trip.
>Launch an invasion against a sovereign nation with minimal preperation >Is convinced that the local population will revolt against the government Sounds familiar isnt it.
Somewhere (supposedly) a Zenith Super Transoceanic Radio, in ruggedized form of the A600 which was supplied as the 520-A/URR to the forces. Only 3200 of these were made. It's said Castro took one for his personal use from the POWs. Well built its probably still working to this day.
@@homurseempsone154 Yeah, it seems like he clearly pointed out the discrepancies in the Israeli account, just like he mentioned Iraq and WMDs in their respective videos. I think some of it could be because antisemitism has been recklessly applied to any criticism of Israel, but it is still fair to point it out- I distinctly remember seeing 109-countries crap under other videos of the incident and who knows what else.
@@randomwarehouse4702 exactly, he’s about as neutral a a historian can really be while still telling all the available information. Some people can’t handle nuance though
My grandfather was one of those exiled Cuban pilots that did bombing runs against Castro in Santiago. He was a part of the Cuban air force before Castro took over. I didn't expect a video on this channel about history so close to my family and Cuba.
Growing up in Miami in the 80’s, we had opportunity to meet some of those men who were on those beaches; some of which managed to escape, some of which were captured and arrested for decades. You want to talk about rabidly, rabidly anti-Communist? Those guy were beyond hard core - you could just tell - and they had no love lost for Kennedy after what they perceived as an ultimate betrayal. Funny thing is, many of those men worked for the agency for years and years and it’s no wonder the Cubans of that generation who immigrated to the U.S. vowed never to vote for Democrats - they always, always, always voted Republican. Crazy times, for sure. Fantastic video.
They invaded a country and then became angry at the local government for opposing their actions. It's a clear disconnect from reality. Unfortunately very few people take responsibility for their mistakes, instead they want to double down.
@@InspiriumESOO They were liberating their government from the invaders. Maybe if they had won Cuba could keep its lights on, today. But communism is the insidious lie that appeals to everyone that hasn't lived it.
Also don't forget that because of their hardcore anti-communist sentiments, a lot of the more centre left economic policies of the democrats that were beginning to evolve throughout the latter half of the 20th century and into today are viewed by them as a slippery slope toward communism.
@@InspiriumESOOWho is "they"? The guy you're talking to is talking about Cubans. Are you retarded, or were you just so intent on spreading your political opinions you didn't bother to comprehend the guys post?
Kennedy never agreed to provide us aircraft for support, Dulles thought he would be forced to. Dulles should have had a plan B. Google Danny Sheehan JFK
The level of incompetence in this operation is stunning. Knowing fore well that the majority of the Cuban Air Force is still intact and then cancelling the exiles air support is criminal. Not only that, but they proceeding with the operation despite various intelligence agencies reporting that an Anti-Communist uprising is unlikely. This was doomed from the get go, not only that afterwards Castro wanted 'assurances' that the US would never invade Cuba again, Nikita Khrushchev provided that, with deploying nuclear missiles to Cuba. The last time our species came close to Armageddon.
I can see why the US govt was worried about their image. Just a few years earlier they had forced several allied countries to back off when those countries tried to retake pre-war colonies*. It was about to be caught meddling just as hard (if not more shamelessly) into another sovereign nation's affairs to protect its own interests. Which, let's face it, wouldn't be the last time. *) the ones that spring to mind: the Dutch vs Indonesia and Britain+France vs Egypt (Suez Canal Crisis)
My grandfather's best friend was recruited for this operation; he was held prisoner for a while and never spoke about it. Thank you for putting a lens onto this failure.
This was much too soon. The people had just been through a Revolution and none of the eventual warts were yet available. Bautista was a horrible dictator and everyone but the rich hated him. I completely agree with Castros argument that the money from Sugar, Rum and other products should go for the people and not just line the pockets of the few. The dumbest thing is Castro. Came to the US and wanted to work with them in some kind of hybrid Socialism-much like the Scandinavian or British model but the US in Eisenhowers Administration thought he was too far left.
Same with Vietnam but at least the French pulled the US into the conflict in that case. It’s shocking how many anti colonial forces looked to the US for aid before being forced to turn to the Soviets
@@jack727dave5 and it was by design, as Eisenhower wanted Britain and France to lose they're Colonies post-war which would open up many more markets for the US to exploit themselves, being the only one capable post-war. For whatever reason when the US refused certain countries specific help, they would turn to the Soviets. Like Egypt who bounced back and forth between the US and the USSR, depending on Egypt's needs at the time. Many Countries played that same game, some not as effectively.
I knew this was a goat screw, I just didn't know how deeply and thoroughly screwed up this operation was from beginning to end..... Thanks for learning me something today.
Small animation mistake: B-26's forward firing guns were all fuselage mounted, not in the engine nacelles. The animations from 15:50 onward have muzzle flashes in the wrong place. Otherwise, great vid!
Coming from people who played small parts of great things now in charge of great things with over confidence never having had to be the top dog running such great and ambitious things.
Bissell was so disgusted by the poor results of the invasion that he quit and focused on his true passion, vacuum cleaners. And that is a true fact that I just made up!
“I have no clear picture of what to expect, but I am confident that something will happen” The games that powerful men play with people’s lives are both madly infuriating, and a tale as old as time.
I've read the declassified CIA postmortem report on the Bay of Pigs and it STILL blows my mind how massively stupid and incompetent the whole damned operation was at EVERY LEVEL.
Back in the summer of 1962 when I was 13 years old, I met one of the 2506 “Brigadistas” (Brigade men) who escaped safely and unharmed. He claimed to been a nurse or nurse assistant in Cuba before Castro. Now he was going in as a Combat medic. I remember he was very bitter about how President Kennedy didn’t fully militarily support them. (I guess US involvement).
if you want to learn more about cuba in the cold war, specifically the 50s, 60s, and 70s, the podcast blowback has a great freely avalible season on it. it's season 2 and really well done, you'll learn a lot
Download Warhammer 40,000 Tacticus for free here - play.tacticusgame.com/TheOperationsRoom
Viewer engagement comment
warhammer is worse than the bay of pigs
You need the Internet access to constantly play the game. If you don't download the patch, it prevents you from playing.
I can’t download it, apparently it promotes too much gambling
@@tuurderom2017 It's planned and commissioned by GW, so I'm not surprised it's as cash-grabby as possible.
Locals who have lived near the beach all their life: "There's a bunch of reefs where you want to land."
Dude in Quantico looking at grainy photos shot from 60,000 ft.: "Looks like seaweed to me, bruh."
Quantico is FBI’s academy.
CIA is sitting in Langley.
It was actually planned to fail from the get go. The CIA was informed by cuban intelligence that they were aware of a planned invasion. The CIA in turn needed to get rid of the brigadistas, otherwise there was a threat by the brigade leaders of taking over Nicaragua if the invasion was canceled.
Yeah but what do forriners really know about anything, right?
That part made me laugh and shake my head at the same time. lol
@@perciusmandate . Well there goes my comment to the whims of the algorithm....
So they don't just ignore our troops/ citizens, they ignore everyone...
"Don't worry, Mr. President. I know this looks bad. But just wait until you see what we've got cooking in Southeast Asia!"
We haven't waged successful war since World War 2, and the Russians did a lot of the work lol.
"I have no clear picture of what to expect, but I am confident that something will happen"
I cannot believe that's even a real quote lmao he's essentially just saying "We're going to fuck around, and by god we will find out"
Well, he wasn't wrong. Something happened.
Coming from an intelligence officer as well
+1
Hmmm ...... we're going to support an invasion of another country. And "something will happen".
Well, his confidence was not misplaced.
I am just gald he had nothing to do with intelligence .......................... hang on a minute
Where's our naval support?
"naval support broke'
And our air support?
"Air support broke"
What's our Plan B?
"We don't need to plan. Something will happen."
@@twiggledy5547 U.S.: “Well when we said ‘support’ we may have overstated things a bit.”
Why Americans always feel legitimate to invade any country.
God I missed this meme so much
@@ScottySundownit seems that very brave men were totally let down. Kennedy fighting communism, doesn't sound like it.
It never stops to amaze me, how many failed military operations were launched with the goal being summarized as "It's totally gonna work out, and be good, don't worry about it!"
OP "Trust me bro"
Seemed to be the Austrian painter's mantra as well ...
The Bay of Pigs is a Masterclass in Cringe comedy
@@dx-ek4vr
I’d watch a death of stalin type movie about this
Unfortunately, our imperialism is pretty successful except for in Cuba. If Vietnam went down like the massacres in Jakarta Indonesia, we would have never heard of it or its war. The cia used a vampire scare in the Philippines to thwart communism" aka protect the colonists and it worked. And honestly some of these conflicts not working was the plan all along like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. Making the military complex rich was enough.
My buddies and I were looking to try a new restaurant randomly one day; when we got there, an older guy asked us if we were commemorating the day. "What day?"
We had randomly chosen to eat at a Cuban restaurant on April 17. Anyway the guy said he had been a M50 Ontos tanker, but never made it onto the beach.
What a cluster of failure
So you're telling me there weren't actually any pig combatants fighting there?
How dare you, Lazerpigs grandfather was there wielding a claymore.
No,but the sea pigs chilling in the bottom of the bay voiced their concern about this bad plan.
I am has gutted as you are on this
@@lucasokeefe7935Ah yes, good ole Lazerpig’s grandpappy. Famous for destroying a T-64 with a butter knife.
Nobody tell him the T-64 was just a Toyota Hilux.
There were. They were killed when their transport ship, the S.S. Porky, which was also completely unarmed, was set ablaze by rockets from Cuban air force jets rockets. All hands were lost. Unrelated, everyone ate bacon. Lots and lots of bacon.
I never really understood the thought process of "the Cuban people just rose up to install Castro. Surely they will rise up again to overthrow him."
It was more than that I think. The CIA was under the impression that the people were already tired of Castro and were willing to fight against him, which ended up being wildly false
They just got tens of thousands of refugees fleeing from the CONCEPT of living under communism. Cubans to this day are one of the most right wing demographics in the US.
They had plenty of reason to believe it was a possibility.
Of course that's no substitute for knowing for sure and the CIA definitely dropped the ball on this one
The CIA was far too busy performing experiments on its own people to have time to do anything useful during the Cold War.
To give the idea they don’t know what they want and encourage or better grease rails for more yk…. Control and land grabs and such
It's a classic false assumption that has been made many times. "Surely the people will rise up and start a spontaneous revolution!" Lol
"I don't have any idea what will happen but something will happen" is not something you want to hear from a military planner.
“The rebels are getting their asses kicked, and the b-26s aren’t hitting anything”
its a-26 not b-26, b26 is another plane
@@RottenFlesh-we6nu Somebody missed the CoD, Black Ops reference
@@RottenFlesh-we6nuA-26s were redesignated B-26s after the Martin B-26 went out of service.
Bowman
6:19, the narrator also says B-26.
US Government to the Cuban Exiles before the operation begins: "Don't worry guys we've got your back".
US Government to the Cuban Exiles after the operation begins: "I've never seen this man in my life".
To be America's ally...
Still waiting for the US to invite their other allies to live in the US--you know, since one party apparently loves immigrants and the other party apparently loves veterans. Hm. What groups of people would fit both definitions?
@@iivin4233 The other party that loves veterans so much it keeps taking away their healthcare lmao
Pretty much how they treat every soldier, go fight for your country in Iraq but sorry your Thai wife isn’t wanted here so now you have to live overseas with you family. Fuck America.
That’s what you can expect from the Feds
I don’t understand why they didn’t just invade themselves at this point. They were trained, equipped, commanded, and transported by America, there is no deniability in this scenario. All it did was make the invasion extremely weak.
1500 men to cover a 40 mile wide 'beachhead.'
Cuban exiles talking too much about the upcoming operation so Cuban intelligence knows something is up.
Sending a single boat with 5 men ahead of the main force seems laughable to me. And then they find out there's literally a beachparty going on.
Seems to me they did everything possible to make the operation a failure.
*EDIT: my bet is even the American government got fed up with all these tough talking, gung-ho Cuban exiles so they concocted this whole plan to get rid of them.*
If this was a movie, with a better script, the advance party would casually switch from wetsuits to black tie like Sean Connery 'Goldfinger.'
JFK never really wanted the operation in the first place, it was always a CIA plan.
It's good that JFK didn't given the following failures that were found by the CIA Inspector-General including:
- The CIA exceeded its capabilities in developing the project from guerrilla support to overt armed action without any plausible deniability.
- Failure to realistically assess risks and to adequately communicate information and decisions internally and with other government principals.
- Insufficient involvement of leaders of the exiles.
- Failure to sufficiently organize internal resistance in Cuba.
- Failure to competently collect and analyze intelligence about Cuban forces.
- Poor internal management of communications and staff.
- Insufficient employment of high-quality staff.
- Insufficient Spanish-speakers, training facilities, and material resources.
- Lack of stable policies and/or contingency plans.
Add all that in top of an unplanned invasion and then further occupation.
And not just that, they were going to fight Castro's army, who had fought a campaign against Batista's forces and had considerable experience and understanding of the terrain they were defending.
for the following reasons:
there were conflicts all over the world at this point, and vietnam was ramping up. putting a bunch of military supplies and troops in there would have hurt options somewhere else
the soviets would likely attack berlin, at least JFK thought so, in meeting minutes there is a lot of talk about avoiding soviet escalation in europe in response to their escalation
castro had just won a guerrilla war with huge popular support, though the movement was small. that means they would be going in with a group used to avoiding searches, small in size, with the people backing them. both due to castro and what he wanted, and also the fact their lives were hell under an american puppet before and they didn't want to return to that
and most importantly, they didn't think this would be their last chance. they thought through coups, assassinations, pressure from far right terror groups the US helped and finally through blockade would end up destroying the government, it didn't thanks to the government never losing popular support, and all of the above being seen as what they were, attempts to maintain american order on the island
And led directly to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Castro now was sure we were actively trying to depose him, so he invited the USSR in. It’s a good thing Khrushchev was pragmatic enough to realize Castro was a nut, and refused Castro’s requests first to proceed with a nuclear attack on the U.S., and then later to leave the missiles intact and in Castro’s control when the USSR pulled out.
Putting pictures of the various military equipment is a nice touch. 👍
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I’m doing my part!
Sure
🫡
piling on
Will do!
Sir, I have the list of things that can go wrong here, what should we do about it?
“Go wrong? What could go wrong, we’ve planned this for 2 years! Ignore the list, it’s wrong.”
Later that day…
“Corporal, where is that list and why weren’t we informed?!”
Interrogator:"61. Bay of Pigs.What happened?"
Mason:"We've all got killed."
"The police are gonna be here soon. Let's make this quick."
Transmission# 15-18 Designate: X-RAY
OP 40 team inserted with Bay of Pigs forces in Cuba
Target: Fidel Castro
Woods, Bowman, and Mason meeting contact at Santa Maria
0500 hrs April 17, 1961
@@rramos117 . Carlos:"Woods, it's been a while."
“What are those numbers Mason!”
@@rramos117😂😂loopooooo
The 1st phase can be summed up with "I don't have a fucking clue what our guys doing"
“Where we dropping, boys?”
“Dropping?”
"But we know they'll do something."
I struggle to believe that the CIA actually thought this would work, no part of the plan seemed to be well thought out
Especially after they just had a revolution that ousted a USA backed government. Talk about total disconnect.
General Lemnitzer from the Joint Chiefs of Staff made an analysis that the success of a paramilitary option is doubtful. 2 days later he told the defence secreatry it would be a great chance.
Some suspect that it was intented to damage Kennedy.
CIA-Director Dulles did not told Kennedy about his doubts. He expected the US military would intervene when the paramilitaries fail.
The plan was to convince Kennedy to get the US army involved to bail them out/start a war with Cuba.
A combination of racist underestimation of what theu say as an inherently and politically inferior force, coupled with the "Dutch Courage" of having all the money and guns in the world plus a couple hundred angry motivated anti-communist Cuban guys
They learned nothing from it either. They tried the same thing in Laos during the Vietnam war. They failed to build a significant fighting force to cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail.
It’s funny how I have heard about it the bay of pigs many times but knew nothing about it until now
sounds like youre to blame there
@@wlpxx7 sounds like youre to blame there
Same
@@wlpxx7 did you know anything about this person before you past judgement?
I watched the TV show about it lol it was pretty good.
Historical events shown with animation juuuust inside my attention span makes this my favorite channel.
Polical embarrassment, leading to “We chose to go the Moon.” 18:20
As Trump might say, "calling off that air cover is the worst decision in the history of decisions."
Hindsight is 20/20, but sometimes foresight is too. It's' really hard to wrap my head around JFK's decision here. Squabbles with Intel are no reason to pull fire support away from troops already on the ground.
CHOOSE
JFK turned a moment when the US showed its Moon to the world to go to the Moon.
@@dynasty0019 Don't drink and comment
@@dynasty0019what he said ^^^^
Hands down, one of the best channels on TH-cam.
0:10 A-26/B-26 Invader was a Medium Bomber or Attack Bomber, the USAAC requirement was for a mix between an Attack Bomber like the A-20 Havoc and a Medium Bomber like the B-26 Marauder. In payload the Invader could carry as much as the Mitchell and Marauder while being agile like a Heavy Fighter.
15:57 Invader had the guns in the nose like you said previously, not in the engines.
I replied and then realised I'd misread your comment, so have now deleted it. Quite right!
A topic we did not expect, but one that will bring new light for us all!
Man. I just moved, and feel so out of place, but hearing your voice commentate major military actions always brings me home. Love the content!
Fun fact; the bay is named after a species of triggerfish; Balistes vetula; Cochino who frequent these waters. Not actual mammalian pigs; Sus domesticus. In English Bahia de Cochino is always translated to bay of pigs.
Sus??? Amogus
@@TheDAWinz its the Latin Scientific name for domestic pig.
@@TheDAWinz Doesn't recognize Latin. Super Sus.
Great video. This is an engagement that ive heard a lot about but know very little of. Excellent way to be educated
Death by arrogance, have we ever seen this before? We'll see it again as history repeats it's self and nobody learns from it. Sad. Another Operations Room gem, well done. Look forward to part 2. Cheers.
Truly a certified Renzov moment
We absolutely need a bonus video of Operation Gideon 2020, an attempt to repeat the Bay of Pigs in Venezuala but even more insane and hilariously incompetent.
As an ignorant civilian with the benefit of hindsight, this all seems like it was a bad idea.
It seems to me that they took one of the most complicated military operations to carry out - landing on a beach - and did everything to make it even more complicated.
Great video though, always wondered how the events unfolded.
"we lie cheat steal" - Mike Pompeo
Love your animated visualizations. Thanks for your hard work.
Inexcusable to stick your nose in something and then wipe your hands of it after it’s already started.
That's why "the Bay of Pigs" is a well-known term still today. It was an infamous cluster**** where American intelligence left the people they'd trained and equipped to twist when things went sideways.
I've been waiting for you to cover this operation. This is my favorite history channel by far.
Hoping to see some more 1980's operations/campaigns like the Falklands War, Operation Urgent Fury and Just Cause.
If you want to know more about Allen Dulles, I highly recommend the book "The Devil's Chess board". Very well written and eye opening.
YES I love your videos man keep up the good work
Thank you for constantly and consistently putting out historical lessons!
Just want to let you know, that I’m completely ok with adds in the video like this one. It’s not hard to skip it and you definitely deserve sponsorships. You really deserve to be payed for all your hard work! Thank you for all the great history content. Cheers!
Love these detailed, accurate recounting videos. We have to remember the past to learn from it.
What is weird is that Essex at the time as a pure anti-submarine carrier. I have seen references that she embarked a squadron of Skyhawks on short notice for this mission but that still hardly seems overwhelming US naval air power
Many of the CVS carriers which were as you mentioned ASW carriers did embark Squadrons of A-4 Sky Hawks as light Fighters. Because the Scooter was fast, could carry a great fuel load and retain range and maneuverability with A2A weapons they were handy little rapid response Fighters. Typically the Squadrons were VC Squadrons or VFS Squadrons. The tough speedy little Scooter soldiers on to this day. Fun fact, VC-10 flew various missions including Air Defense until they were ordered to retire their A-4s and stood down around 1993.
Thank you for all the hard work, great videos and coverage of lesser known topics!
With that kittle resources: doomed even before start. Thx ops room
Seen the captured American tanks in Havana and took a tour to Bay of pigs on the way to a Crocodile Zoo. They had markers set up for Cubans killed by strafing airplane it was an interesting trip.
Classic case of military planners (or intelligence officers) assuming their problems away. Always plan for the worst case scenario.
>Launch an invasion against a sovereign nation with minimal preperation
>Is convinced that the local population will revolt against the government
Sounds familiar isnt it.
This battle has always been a gap in my knowledge of military history in the 20th century. Thank you for a great tutorial!
Excellent content as ever
Somewhere (supposedly) a Zenith Super Transoceanic Radio, in ruggedized form of the A600 which was supplied as the 520-A/URR to the forces. Only 3200 of these were made. It's said Castro took one for his personal use from the POWs. Well built its probably still working to this day.
Thanks for showing this operation, I never really looked at it in details.
My history teachers would have loved this channel
Absolutely grade A+ quality information and presentation. Thank you again for a wonderfully informative site.
@TheOperationsRoom bracing for the impact of all the JFK conspiracy theories:
His video on the Liberty incident had them out in force, calling him a sellout and whatnot
@@homurseempsone154 Yeah, it seems like he clearly pointed out the discrepancies in the Israeli account, just like he mentioned Iraq and WMDs in their respective videos. I think some of it could be because antisemitism has been recklessly applied to any criticism of Israel, but it is still fair to point it out- I distinctly remember seeing 109-countries crap under other videos of the incident and who knows what else.
@@homurseempsone154I believe a lot of them left after the Ukraine truck thing.
@@bruhtholemew Not sure what you mean, could you elaborate?
@@randomwarehouse4702 exactly, he’s about as neutral a a historian can really be while still telling all the available information. Some people can’t handle nuance though
It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage episode about Pigs Island wars 1961
The Revolution could not be stopped.
I was wondering when you guys were to feature this operation. Fantastic job as always lads!
Phenomenal work, Thanks.
My grandfather was one of those exiled Cuban pilots that did bombing runs against Castro in Santiago. He was a part of the Cuban air force before Castro took over. I didn't expect a video on this channel about history so close to my family and Cuba.
Growing up in Miami in the 80’s, we had opportunity to meet some of those men who were on those beaches; some of which managed to escape, some of which were captured and arrested for decades. You want to talk about rabidly, rabidly anti-Communist? Those guy were beyond hard core - you could just tell - and they had no love lost for Kennedy after what they perceived as an ultimate betrayal. Funny thing is, many of those men worked for the agency for years and years and it’s no wonder the Cubans of that generation who immigrated to the U.S. vowed never to vote for Democrats - they always, always, always voted Republican. Crazy times, for sure. Fantastic video.
It’s crazy nowadays republicans love communists states. It’s a wild time to see this flip
They invaded a country and then became angry at the local government for opposing their actions. It's a clear disconnect from reality. Unfortunately very few people take responsibility for their mistakes, instead they want to double down.
@@InspiriumESOO They were liberating their government from the invaders.
Maybe if they had won Cuba could keep its lights on, today. But communism is the insidious lie that appeals to everyone that hasn't lived it.
Also don't forget that because of their hardcore anti-communist sentiments, a lot of the more centre left economic policies of the democrats that were beginning to evolve throughout the latter half of the 20th century and into today are viewed by them as a slippery slope toward communism.
@@InspiriumESOOWho is "they"? The guy you're talking to is talking about Cubans. Are you retarded, or were you just so intent on spreading your political opinions you didn't bother to comprehend the guys post?
No, I did not see this coming! Well done!
I can’t be left on a cliffhanger. I need part 2
Omg yes, thank you for your videos, always a joy to watch!!!!
Kennedy never agreed to provide us aircraft for support, Dulles thought he would be forced to. Dulles should have had a plan B. Google Danny Sheehan JFK
THE GOAT IS BACK! MUCH LOVE MY G
Murphy's Military Law #1: _"No plan survives contact with the enemy."_
So? That is what leadership is for.
The level of incompetence in this operation is stunning. Knowing fore well that the majority of the Cuban Air Force is still intact and then cancelling the exiles air support is criminal. Not only that, but they proceeding with the operation despite various intelligence agencies reporting that an Anti-Communist uprising is unlikely. This was doomed from the get go, not only that afterwards Castro wanted 'assurances' that the US would never invade Cuba again, Nikita Khrushchev provided that, with deploying nuclear missiles to Cuba. The last time our species came close to Armageddon.
Certainly an unexpected birthday present, but I’ll definitely take it!
Happy Birthday!
Another great episode! Love your work.
I can see why the US govt was worried about their image. Just a few years earlier they had forced several allied countries to back off when those countries tried to retake pre-war colonies*. It was about to be caught meddling just as hard (if not more shamelessly) into another sovereign nation's affairs to protect its own interests. Which, let's face it, wouldn't be the last time.
*) the ones that spring to mind: the Dutch vs Indonesia and Britain+France vs Egypt (Suez Canal Crisis)
I knew the basics of The Bay of Pigs and how it was an absolute cluster. Didn't know the extent of the incompetence was this bad though.
Why, Mr President, I actually DO have detailed battle plans, troop estimates and timelines right here, scribbled on the back of this envelope…
The animation is top-notch.... great job
a treat as always
My grandfather's best friend was recruited for this operation; he was held prisoner for a while and never spoke about it. Thank you for putting a lens onto this failure.
Seeing how fail invasion opeattion i understand he did talk about
As an American, I appreciate this. I wasnt taught any of this beyond "the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion" in school
Historians & the media still try to run interference for JFK’s complete failure & incompetence by blaming the whole thing on the CIA, to this day.
Great video. One small point - it would be good if the maps had a scale on them so we can get an idea of the distances involved.
This was much too soon. The people had just been through a Revolution and none of the eventual warts were yet available. Bautista was a horrible dictator and everyone but the rich hated him. I completely agree with Castros argument that the money from Sugar, Rum and other products should go for the people and not just line the pockets of the few. The dumbest thing is Castro. Came to the US and wanted to work with them in some kind of hybrid Socialism-much like the Scandinavian or British model but the US in Eisenhowers Administration thought he was too far left.
yep they forced him further left, to survive he had to go to the next biggest player.
Man thyyhbat old adage- Keep try y
Man thyyhbat old adage- Keep try y
Same with Vietnam but at least the French pulled the US into the conflict in that case. It’s shocking how many anti colonial forces looked to the US for aid before being forced to turn to the Soviets
@@jack727dave5 and it was by design, as Eisenhower wanted Britain and France to lose they're Colonies post-war which would open up many more markets for the US to exploit themselves, being the only one capable post-war. For whatever reason when the US refused certain countries specific help, they would turn to the Soviets. Like Egypt who bounced back and forth between the US and the USSR, depending on Egypt's needs at the time. Many Countries played that same game, some not as effectively.
I knew this was a goat screw, I just didn't know how deeply and thoroughly screwed up this operation was from beginning to end..... Thanks for learning me something today.
Small animation mistake: B-26's forward firing guns were all fuselage mounted, not in the engine nacelles. The animations from 15:50 onward have muzzle flashes in the wrong place. Otherwise, great vid!
😭
@LactusTheIntolerant ?
This is yet another mentioned part of "We didn't start the fire" that I now understand
Im still astonished with how ambitious was the plan!
Coming from people who played small parts of great things now in charge of great things with over confidence never having had to be the top dog running such great and ambitious things.
You say ambitious I say delusional.
HELL YA JUST IN TIME FOR DINNER!
This gonna be good
This is another one of those stories that people will always preface with "Well, you see, it was the 60s, right?" Classic.
Bissell was so disgusted by the poor results of the invasion that he quit and focused on his true passion, vacuum cleaners.
And that is a true fact that I just made up!
Sucks for him
He thought he had this one in the bag.
He was offered a job at the FBI. But he saw J Edgar Hoover as a competitor.
Excellent as always. Thank you.
“I have no clear picture of what to expect, but I am confident that something will happen” The games that powerful men play with people’s lives are both madly infuriating, and a tale as old as time.
I've read the declassified CIA postmortem report on the Bay of Pigs and it STILL blows my mind how massively stupid and incompetent the whole damned operation was at EVERY LEVEL.
Great video, as always! Also, many thanks from Ukraine!
Can’t wait for part 2!
The Numbers! Mason, What does it mean ?
I never knew anything about "cuban invasion" this is my first source of information, thanks!
Back in the summer of 1962 when I was 13 years old, I met one of the 2506 “Brigadistas” (Brigade men) who escaped safely and unharmed.
He claimed to been a nurse or nurse assistant in Cuba before Castro.
Now he was going in as a Combat medic.
I remember he was very bitter about how President Kennedy didn’t fully militarily support them. (I guess US involvement).
He was able to getout - and he should be grateful that the US still accepted his assylum
(/s, for reference)
True!
Great coverage TOR.
Cold War events are so interesting to hear about
The whole historical period was more fun, and exciting than any other instance in history....
if you want to learn more about cuba in the cold war, specifically the 50s, 60s, and 70s, the podcast blowback has a great freely avalible season on it. it's season 2 and really well done, you'll learn a lot
@@svenrio8521. Or you could ask any cuban that lived through that period...
excellent as always
This reminds me of the joke: The best known assassin is also the worst assassin.
Nice work yet again!