American Plane Flying over Soviet Freighter
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world's attention turned to a Soviet freighter destined for Cuba. As the United States alleged the nuclear warheads to arm Soviet missiles were aboard this ship, the world watched to see if the ship would attempt to run an American blockade. Khruschev ordered the ships turn back to avoid instigating nuclear war, and Secretary of State Dean Rusk famously said, "We were eyeball to eyeball, and the other side just blinked."
While there are mixed reports as to how close the ships came to Cuba, this image illustrates the high stakes of the situation. Just imagine the consequences of a hypothetical engine failure of the American plane here. The plane could crash into the ship or rumors could spread that the Soviets shot the plane down. There are several ways a simple surveillance flight could have stumbled into World War III.
While there are mixed reports as to how close the ships came to Cuba, this image illustrates the high stakes of the situation. Just imagine the consequences of a hypothetical engine failure of the American plane here. The plane could crash into the ship or rumors could spread that the Soviets shot the plane down. There are several ways a simple surveillance flight could have stumbled into World War III.
Source:
Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons Volume 2: The History of VP, VPB, VP(H) and VP(AM) Squadrons.
Dictionary of American Naval Aviation Squadrons Volume 2: The History of VP, VPB, VP(H) and VP(AM) Squadrons.