Bay of Pigs Invasion

Bay of Pigs Invasion
Part of the Cold War
Map showing the location of the Bay of Pigs
Date 17–19 April 1961 Location Bay of Pigs, southern coast of Cuba Result Decisive Cuban government victory
Belligerents
Cuba	United States Cuban DRF
Commanders and leaders
Fidel Castro José Ramón Fernández Juan Almeida Bosque Che Guevara Efigenio Ameijeiras	John F. Kennedy Allen Dulles Pepe San Román Erneido Oliva
Units involved
Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces	Brigade 2506 CIA USAF
Strength
25,000 Cuban army 200,000 Cuban Militia 9,000 armed police	1,500 ground forces 8 American B-26 bombers 5 supply ships
Casualties and losses
Cuban army: 176 killed 500+ wounded or 4,000 killed, wounded, missing 6 Cuban aircraft shot down	Brigade 2506: 118 killed 360 wounded 1,202 captured 4 American B-26 bomber aircraft shot down 2 supply ships sunk
Location within North America

Fidel Castro

John F. Kennedy
Allen Dulles

The Bay of Pigs Invasion (Spanish: Invasión de Playa Girón or Invasión de Bahía de Cochinos or Batalla de Girón) was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on 17 April 1961. A counter-revolutionary military (made up of Cuban exiles who traveled to the United States after Castro's takeover), 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 increasingly communist government of Fidel Castro. Launched from Guatemala and Nicaragua, the invading force was defeated within three days by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, under the direct command of Prime Minister Fidel Castro.