Plesiosauroidea and Bay of Pigs Invasion: Difference between pages

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{{TaxoboxPOV}}

{{Infobox Military Conflict

| color = pink

|conflict=Bay of Pigs Invasion

| name = Plesiosaur

|partof=[[Cold War]]

| fossil_range = [[Jurassic]] to [[Cretaceous]]

|image=

| image = Plesiosaur-illustration.png

|caption

| regnum = [[Animal]]ia

|date=[[April 15]] - [[April 19]], [[1961]]

| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]

|place=[[Bay of Pigs]], Southern [[Cuba]]

| classis = [[Reptile|Reptilia]]

|casus=[[Cuban Revolution|The Cuban Revolution]]

| superordo = [[Sauropterygia]]

|territory=

| ordo = [[Plesiosauria]]

|result=Victory for the Republic of Cuba

| subordo = '''Plesiosauroidea'''

|combatant1=[[Image:Flag of Cuba.svg|22px]] [[Cuba]]ns trained by [[Image:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg|22px]] Soviet advisers

| subordo_authority = [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], [[1825]]

|combatant2=[[Image:Flag of Cuba.svg|22px]][[Cuban exile]]s trained by the [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px]] [[United States]]

| subdivision_ranks = [[Family (biology)|Families]]

|commander1=[[Image:Flag of Cuba.svg|22px]] [[Fidel Castro]]<BR>[[Image:Flag of Cuba.svg|22px]] [[José Ramón Fernández]]<BR> [[Image:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg|25px]] [[Image:Flag of Spain.svg|22px]] [[Francisco Ciutat de Miguel]]

| subdivision =

|commander2=[[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|20px]] [[Grayston Lynch]]<BR> [[Image:Flag of Cuba.svg|22px]] [[Pepe San Roman]]<BR>[[Image:Flag of Cuba.svg|22px]] [[Erneido Oliva]]

[[Cimoliasauridae]]<br />

|strength1=51,000

[[Cryptoclididae]] <br />

|strength2=1,500

[[Elasmosauridae]] <br />

|casualties1=various estimates; over 1,600 dead (Triay p. 81) to 5,000 total estimated (Lynch)

[[Plesiosauridae]] <br />

|casualties2=115 dead<br>1,189 captured

[[Polycotylidae]]

}}

[[Image:Alerta.jpg|thumb|230px|Cuban poster warning before invasion showing a soldier armed with an [[RPD]] [[machine gun]].]]

'''Plesiosaurs''' ([[International Phonetic Alphabet for English|IPA]] {{IPA|/ˈplisiəˌsɔɹ/}}) (Greek: ''plesios'', near to + ''sauros'', lizard) were large, [[carnivore|carnivorous]] aquatic [[reptile]]s. They are somewhat fancifully said to have resembled "a turtle with a snake threaded through its body", though they lacked a shell. The name "Plesiosaur" is applied both to the "true" plesiosaurs (Suborder Plesiosauroidea) and to the larger taxonomic rank of [[Plesiosauria]], which includes both long-necked and short-necked forms. Short necked Plesiosaurs are more properly called [[pliosaur]]s.

The 1961 '''Bay of Pigs Invasion''' (also known in Cuba as the '''Playa Girón''' after the beach in the [[Bay of Pigs]] where the landing took place) was an unsuccessful [[United States]]-planned and funded attempted invasion by armed [[Cuban exile]]s in southwest [[Cuba]]. An attempt to overthrow the government of [[Fidel Castro]], this action accelerated a rapid deterioration in [[Cuban-American relations]], which was further worsened by the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] the following year. The name Bay of Pigs comes from Bahía de Cochinos, where in all probability "Cochino" refers to a species of [[Triggerfish]] (Balistes vetula) [http://www.invemar.org.co/redcostera1/invemar/docs/Vol33/BIMC_33_03_Claro.pdf], rather than pigs ([[Boar|Sus scrofa]]).

The pigs at the island

Plesiosaurs (''sensu'' Plesiosauroidea) first appeared at the very start of the [[Jurassic]] period, and thrived until the [[Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event|K-T extinction]] at the end of the [[Cretaceous]]. Despite being large [[Mesozoic]] reptiles, they were not a type of [[dinosaur]].

Tensions between [[The United States]] and [[Cuba]] had increased steadily since the [[Cuban Revolution]] of 1959. The [[Dwight Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] and [[John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]] administrations had judged that Castro's policies, including the [[expropriation]] of American-owned assets on the island and Cuba's increasing ties with the [[Soviet Union]], could not be tolerated.

On March 17, 1960, the [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] administration agreed to a recommendation from the CIA to equip and drill Cuban exiles for action against the new Castro government.<ref name="thousand"> ''A Thousand days:John F Kennedy in the White House'' [[Arthur Schlesinger Jr]] 1965 </ref> Eisenhower stated that it was the policy of the U.S. government to aid anti-Castro guerilla forces. The [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] began to recruit and train anti-Castro forces in the [[Sierra Madre de Chiapas|Sierra Madre]] mountains on the Pacific coast of [[Guatemala]].<ref name="thousand"/>

The CIA was initially confident that it was capable of overthrowing Castro, having experience assisting in the overthrow of other foreign governments such as the government of [[Iran]]ian prime minister [[Mohammed Mossadegh]] in 1953 and [[Guatemala]]n president [[Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán]] in 1954. [[Richard Mervin Bissell Jr.]], one of [[Allen Dulles]]'s three aides, was made director of "Operation Zapata."

It is occasionally claimed that plesiosaurs are not extinct, although the scientific evidence for this belief is disputed; the modern sightings that are occasionally reported are usually explained as [[basking shark]] carcasses or [[hoax]]es.

The original plan called for landing the [[Brigade 2506|exile brigade]] (Brigade 2506) in the vicinity of the old colonial city of [[Trinidad, Cuba]], in the central province of [[Sancti Spiritus]] approximately 400 km southeast of Havana at the foothills of the [[Escambray Mountains|Escambray mountains]]. The selection of the Trinidad site provided a number of options that the exile brigade could exploit during the invasion. The population of Trinidad was generally opposed to Castro and the rugged mountains outside the city provided an area into which the invasion force could retreat and establish a [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] campaign were the landing to falter. Throughout 1960, the growing ranks of Brigade 2506 trained at locations throughout southern [[Florida]] and in [[Guatemala]] for the beach landing and possible mountain retreat.

== Description ==

The typical plesiosaur had a broad body and a short [[tail]]. They retained their ancestral two pairs of limbs, which evolved into large [[flipper]]s. Plesiosaurs evolved from earlier, similar forms such as [[Pistosaurus|pistosaurs]] or very early longer necked [[pliosaur]]s. There are a number of [[Family (biology)|families]] of plesiosaur, which retain the general appearance and are distinguished by various specific details. These include the [[Plesiosauridae]], unspecialised types which are limited to the [[Early Jurassic]] period; [[Cryptoclididae]], with a medium-long neck and somewhat stocky build; [[Elasmosauridae]], with very long flexible necks and tiny heads; and the [[Cimoliasauridae]], a poorly known group of small [[Cretaceous]] forms. Traditionally, all plesiosaurs have a small head and long neck, but in recent classifications, one short nbecked and big-headed Cretaceous group, the [[Polycotylidae]], are included under the Plesiosauroidea, rather than the traditional Pliosauroidea.

On [[February 17]] [[1961]], [[John F. Kennedy]], the new U.S. president, asked his advisors whether the toppling of Castro might be related to weapon shipments and if it was possible to claim the real targets were modern fighter aircraft and rockets which endangered America's security. At the time, Cuba's army possessed Soviet tanks, artillery and small arms, and its air force consisted of [[A-26 Invader|B-26]] medium bombers, [[Hawker Sea Fury|Hawker Sea Furies]] (a fast and effective, though obsolete, propeller driven [[fighter-bomber]]) and [[T-33]] jets left over from the Batista Air Force.<ref>http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/baypigs-airforce.htm</ref>

== Behaviour ==

Unlike their Pliosaurian cousins, Plesiosaurs (with the exception of the Polycotylidae) were probably slow swimmers and not very streamlined. It is thought that they cruised slowly near the surface of the water, and darted their head to snap up unwary fish or cephalopods, using their long flexible neck. Their unique four-flippered swimming adaptation may have given them tremendous maneouvurability, so they could swiftly rotate their bodies, to better aid in catching their prey.

As Kennedy's plans evolved, critical details were changed that were to hamper chances of a successful mission without direct U.S. help. These revised details included changing the landing area for Brigade 2506 to two points in [[Matanzas Province]], 202 km southeast of [[Havana]] on the eastern edge of the Zapata peninsula at the [[Bay of Pigs|Bahía de Cochinos]] (Bay of Pigs). The landings would now take place on the Girón and Playa de zapatos Larga beaches. This change effectively cut off contact with the rebels in the Escambray "[[War Against the Bandits]]". The Castro government also had been warned by senior [[KGB]] agents [[Osvaldo Sánchez Cabrera]] and [["Aragon",]] who respectively died violently before and after the invasion. <!--(Welch and Blight, p. 113)-->The U.S. government was aware that a high casualty rate was possible. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}.

==Taxonomy==

The classification of plesiosaurs has varied over time; the following represents one current version (see O'Keefe 2001)

==Soviet Advisers to Cuban government forces==

* '''Superorder [[Sauropterygia|SAUROPTERYGIA]]'''

** '''Order [[Plesiosauria|PLESIOSAURIA]]'''

*** Suborder '''[[Pliosaur]]oidea'''

*** Suborder '''Plesiosauroidea'''

**** Family [[Plesiosaurus|Plesiosauridae]]

**** (Unranked) '''[[Euplesiosauria]]'''

***** Family [[Elasmosauridae]]

***** Superfamily Cryptoclidoidea

****** Family [[Cryptoclididae]]

****** (Unranked) [[Tricleidia]]

******* ''[[Tricleidus]]''

******* Family [[Cimoliasauridae]]

******* Family [[Polycotylidae]]

A militia, artillery, and intelligence are necessary to field a regular army. Foreign advisors were brought from [[Eastern Bloc]] countries; the most senior of these were [[Francisco Ciutat de Miguel]], [[Enrique Lister]], and [[Alberto Bayo]].<ref>(Paz-Sanchez, 2001, pp 189-199) </ref> Ciutat de Miguel (Masonic name: Algazel; Russian name: Pavel Pablovich Stepanov; Cuban alias: Ángel Martínez Riosola, commonly referred to as Angelito) is said to have arrived the same day as [[La Coubre explosion]]; he was wounded in the foot during the [[War Against the Bandits]], the type of wound that is common to senior officers observing combat at the edge of effective rifle range. Date of wound is not given in references cited [http://www.sbhac.net/Republica/Personajes/Militares/Militares1.htm]

== In fiction ==

The plesiosaur is popular among children and [[cryptozoologist]]s, and appears in a number of [[children's books]], and several [[film]]s. It has appeared in films about [[lake monster]]s, including ''[[Magic in the Water]]'' (1995), and movies about the [[Loch Ness Monster]], such as ''[[Loch Ness (film)|Loch Ness]]'' (1996). In both films, the creature primarily serves as a [[symbol]] of a lost, child-like sense of wonder.

==Invasion==

Contrary to reports, the long-necked, sharp-toothed creature in the classic film ''[[King Kong]]'' (1933) &mdash; which flips a raft full of rescuers on their way to save [[Fay Wray]], and then munches on the swimmers &mdash; is not a plesiosaur. Despite striking a profile in the mist very similar to the famous "Surgeon's Photo" of the Loch Ness Monster, it then chases the routed heroes onto dry land, where it is clearly intended to be a [[sauropod]], like the ''Brontosaurus'' (now ''[[Apatosaurus]]''). However, Kong later battles a serpent-like creature in a cave, which possesses four flippers and resembles a plesiosaur, but acts more like some kind of giant snake. In [[Steve Alten]]'s novel [[The Trench]], a climatic scene at the end has [[Angel]] fighting with several deep sea reptiles similar to Pliosaurs - identified as Kronosaurs.

On the morning of [[April 15]], [[1961]], three flights of [[Douglas Aircraft Company|Douglas]] [[A-26 Invader|B-26B Invader]] light bomber aircraft displaying Cuban Fuerza Aerea Revolucionaria (FAR - Revolutionary Air Force) markings bombed and strafed the Cuban airfields of [[San Antonio de Los Baños]], Antonio Maceo International Airport, and the airfield at Ciudad Libertad. Operation Puma, the code name given to the [[offensive counter air attack]]s against the [[Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces]], called for 48 hours of air strikes across the island to effectively eliminate the Cuban air force, ensuring Brigade 2506 complete air superiority over the island prior to the actual landing at the Bay of Pigs. This failed because the airstrikes were not continued, as was originally planned - limited by decisions at the highest level of US government. The second wave of airstrikes, designed to wipe out the remainder of Castro's airforce was stopped due to a communication breakdown rather than a lack of political will{{Fact|date=February 2007}}. [[Adlai Stevenson]], the US ambassador to the United Nations had been embarrassed by revelations that the first wave of airstrikes had been carried out by US planes despite his repeated denials that this was so. He contacted [[McGeorge Bundy]] who, unaware of the critical importance to the mission of the second wave, cancelled the airstrike despite Kennedy's earlier approval for it. Castro also had prior knowledge of the invasion and had moved the airplanes out of harm's way.

[[Image:BayofPigs.jpg|350px|right|thumb|Map showing the ___location of the Bay of Pigs.]]

Of the Brigade 2506 aircraft that sortied on the morning of [[April 15]], one was tasked with establishing the CIA cover story for the invasion. The slightly modified two-seat B-26B used for this mission was piloted by [[Captain]] Mario Zuniga. Prior to departure, the engine cowling from one of the aircraft's two engines was removed by maintenance personnel, fired upon, then re-installed to give the appearance that the aircraft had taken ground fire at some point during its flight. Captain Zuniga departed from the exile base in [[Nicaragua]] on a solo, low-flying mission that would take him over the westernmost province of [[Pinar del Río|Pinar del Rio]], Cuba, and then northeast toward [[Key West, Florida]]. Once across the island, Captain Zuniga climbed steeply away from the waves of the [[Florida Straits]] to an altitude where he would be detected by US radar installations to the north of Cuba. At altitude and a safe distance north of the island, Captain Zuniga feathered the engine with the pre-installed bullet holes in the engine cowling, radioed a mayday call, and requested immediate permission to land at Boca Chica Naval Air Station a few kilometers northeast of [[Key West, Florida]]. This account is at apparent variance with Cuban government reports that [[Sea Fury]], [[B-26]] fighter bombers and [[T-33]] trainers flown by the few Cuban (notable Rafael del Pino, (Lagas, 1964)) and some left-wing Chilean and Nicaraguan pilots (Lagas, 1964; Somoza-Debayle and Jack Cox, 1980), loyal to Castro attacked the older slower B-26s flown by the invading force.<ref>http://www.urrib2000.narod.ru/ArticGiron1-e.html</ref>

By the time of Captain Zuniga's announcement to the world mid-morning on the 15th, all but one of the Brigade's Douglas bombers were back over the Caribbean on the three and a half hour return leg to their base in Nicaragua to re-arm and refuel. Upon landing, however, the flight crews were met with a cable from Washington ordering the indefinite stand-down of all further combat operations over Cuba.

==Alleged living plesiosaurs==

[[Image:Lochnessmonster.jpg|thumb|225px|The "Surgeon's Photo" of the [[Loch Ness Monster]]. In November 1993, Christian Spurling confessed on his deathbed that he made it from a toy submarine and putty.]]

On [[April 17]], four 2,400-ton chartered transports (named the ''Houston'', ''Río Escondido'', ''Caribe'', and ''Atlántico'') transported 1,511 Cuban exiles to the Bay of Pigs on the Southern coast of Cuba. They were accompanied by two CIA-owned infantry landing crafts (LCI's), called the ''Blagar'' and ''Barbara J'', containing supplies, ordnance, and equipment. The small army hoped to find support from the local population, intending to cross the island to [[Havana]]. The CIA assumed that the invasion would spark a popular uprising against Castro. However, the

{{main articles|[[sea monster]], [[lake monster]], [[Loch Ness Monster]]}}

Escambray rebels had been contained by Cuban militia directed by [[Francisco Ciutat de Miguel]] (see Soviet Advisers to Cuban government forces above). By the time the Invasion began, Castro had already executed some who were suspected of colluding with the American campaign (notably two former "Comandantes" Humberto Sorí Marin and [[William Alexander Morgan]]<ref>http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/morgan/Morgan-03-13-6]</ref><ref>http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/bayofpigs/chron.html</ref> Others executed included Alberto Tapia Ruano, a catholic youth leader. April was a bloody month for the resistance. Several hundreds of thousands were imprisoned before, during and after the invasion (Priestland, 2003).

Lake or [[sea monster]] sightings are occasionally explained as plesiosaurs. While the survival of a small, unrecorded breeding colony of plesiosaurs for the 65,000,000 years (with respect to [[evolution]]) since their apparent extinction is unlikely, the discovery of real and even more ancient [[living fossil]]s such as the ''[[Coelacanth]]'', and of previously unknown but enormous deep-sea animals such as the [[giant squid]], have fueled imaginations.

After landing, it soon became evident that the exiles were not going to receive effective support at the site of the invasion and were likely to lose. Reports from both sides describe tank battles (see much detail in printed references section below) involving heavy USSR equipment.<ref name="SPlister.htm">http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SPlister.htm</ref> Kennedy decided against giving the faltering invasion US air support (though four US pilots were killed in Cuba during the invasion) because of his opposition to overt intervention. Kennedy also canceled several sorties of bombings (only two took place) on the grounded Cuban Airforce, which might have crippled the Cuban Airforce and given air superiority to the invaders. [[U.S. Marines]] were not sent in.

The [[1977]] discovery of a carcass with flippers and what appeared to be a long neck and head by the [[Japan]]ese [[fishing]] [[trawler]] ''[[Zuiyo Maru]]'' off [[New Zealand]] created a plesiosaur craze in Japan. Members of a blue-ribbon panel of eminent marine scientists in Japan reviewed the discovery. Professor Yoshinori Imaizumi of the [[Japanese National Science Museum]] said, "It's not a fish, whale, or any other mammal." Others argued that it was actually a decayed [[basking shark]], but Professor [[Toshio Kasuya]] said, "If it were a shark, the spine would be smaller, and the neck itself is too long as shown in the picture. I think we can exclude the fish theory." [http://paleo.cc/paluxy/plesios.htm]

==Air action==

The [[Loch Ness Monster]] is reported to resemble a plesiosaur. Arguments against the plesiosaur theory include the fact that the lake is too cold for a [[cold-blooded]] animal to easily survive, that air-breathing animals like plesiosaurs would be easily spotted when they surface to breathe, that the lake is too small to support a breeding colony, and that the loch itself formed only 10,000 years ago during the [[Wisconsin glaciation|last ice age]].

Aviation is commonly considered the deciding factor during the Bay of Pigs Invasion. The first airplane of the Cuban Armed forces was obtained in 1913; Cuban pilots, such as Francisco Terry Sánchez and Santiago Campuzano fought combat missions as early as WW I [http://www.nocastro.com/documents/aviacion/aviacion1.htm]. The 1931 Gibara landing against Machado was defeated in great part by Cuban Aviation [http://www.nocastro.com/documents/aviacion/aviacion2.htm]. However, by the end of January 1959 most Cuban pilots and support technicians from the Batista era were in jail [http://www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/80.81sp/Cuba4677.htm] or in exile.

The [[National Museums of Scotland]] confirmed that [[vertebra]]e discovered on the shores of [[Loch Ness]] in [[2003]] belong to a plesiosaur, though there are some questions about whether the [[fossil]]s were planted (BBC News, July 16, 2003).

During the Bay of Pigs invasion, the first Cuban exile attack with B-26 left Cuban forces with "two [[B-26]]s, two [[Sea Fury|Sea Furies]], and two [[T-33]]As at San Antonio de los Baños Airbase, and only one Sea Fury at the [[Antonio Maceo Airport]]" and two of the attacking bombers were damaged [http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/americas/cuba/Cuba-af-history.htm] April 17 Cuban exile pilots and copilots/navigators: Matias Farias, Eddy Gonzalez, Osvaldo Piedra, Jose Fernandez, Raul Vianello, Jose, A. Crespo, Lorenzo Perez Lorenzo, Crispin Garcia, and Juan Mata Gonzalez are killed. April 19 US aviators Riley Shamburger, Wade Gray, Thomas W. Ray and Leo Baker, replacing exhausted Cuban exile fliers, die in action.

It was reported in [[The Star (Malaysia)]] on April 8th, 2006, that fishermen discovered bones resembling that of a Plesiosaur near [[Sabah]], [[Malaysia]]. The creature was speculated to had died only a month before. A team of researchers from [[Universiti Malaysia Sabah]] was currently investigating the specimen. However, the bones were later determined to be that of a whale.

Cuban pilots Alvaro Galo and Willy Figueroa were jailed for cowardice, for not flying B-26; Captain Evans was accused of poisoning crews and also jailed.

Plesiosaurus is one of the Pre-historic creatures mentioned in Jules Verne's "[[Journey to the Center of the Earth]]", in which it fights an [[Ichthyosaur]] in the Central Sea.

Cuban Air Force pilots included Carlos Ulloa Rauz who was Nicaraguan; Jaques Lagas who flew a B-26 and survived is from Chile' Alfredo Noa died in battle in a plane piloted by Luis A. Silva Tablada also killed. Rafael del Pino. de Varens died in a B-26 accident in Camaguey. Laga lists dead Castro fliers as: Noa, Silva, Ulloa, Martin Torres, Reinaldo Gonzalez Calainada, and Orestes Acosta. On page 81 Lagas mentions Enrique Carrera Rola and Gustavo Borzac.

==Trivia==

* The Transformers character [[Magmatron]] turns into a ''Plesiosaur''.

On page 82 Lagas mentions 16 exile planes in first attack, presumable B-26 bombers. Kraus mentions eight B-26 piloted by Cuban exiles [http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/americas/cuba/Cuba-af-history.htm]. Lagas mentions Cuban pilot Alberto Fernandez. Juan Suarez Plaza Ernesto Carrera is mentioned as flying a Seafury, and another Nicaraguan; Seafuries were also flown by Cuban pilots including Douglas Rood and Sanchez de Mola. Lagas states he was the only B-26 pilot left on the 19th of April. By April 21 ten of twelve exile B-26B had been destroyed [http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/americas/cuba/Cuba-af-history.htm]. Eight Cuban pilots survived, only one from the B-26.

== External links ==

* ''[http://www.plesiosaur.com/ The Plesiosaur Site]''. Richard Forrest.

* ''[http://www.plesiosauria.com/ The Plesiosaur Directory]''. Adam Stuart Smith.

* ''[http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/9020/plesiosaur/ Plesiosaur FAQ's]''. Raymond Thaddeus C. Ancog.

* ''[http://www.oceansofkansas.com/plesiosaur.html Oceans of Kansas Paleontology]''. Mike Everhart.

* "[http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/culturecommunity/museums/whatsnew/plesiosaurfossil/ Plesiosaur fossil found in Bridgwater Bay]". ''Somersert Museums County Service''. (best known fossil)

* "[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-2-527486,00.html Fossil hunters turn up 50-ton monster of prehistoric deep]". Allan Hall and Mark Henderson. ''Times Online'', December 30, 2002. (Monster of Aramberri)

* "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3069803.stm A Jurassic fossil discovered in Loch Ness by a Scots pensioner could be the original Loch Ness monster, according to Nessie enthusiasts]". ''BBC News'', July 16, 2003. (Loch Ness, possible hoax)

* "[http://paleo.cc/paluxy/plesios.htm Sea-monster or shark? an analysis of a supposed plesiosaur carcass netted in 1977]". Glen J. Kuban.

* "[http://www.gennet.org/facts/nessie.html A Plesiosaur? Here is the other side of the story. It looks like one to me.]". Internet reference to article.

* ''[http://www.the-scientist.com/news/20041118/01 Triassic reptiles had live young]''.

* ''[http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq/articles/38/38_1/Cryptid.htm Plesiosaur or Basking Shark? You decide.]''. Creationist research on the issue.

*[http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/culturecommunity/museums/whatsnew/plesiosaurfossil/ Bridgwater Bay juvenile plesiosaur]

==ReferencesLand action==

*Lingham-Soliar, T., 1995: in ''Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond.'' '''347''': 155-180

*Cicimurri, D., and M. Everhart, 2001: in ''Trans. Kansas. Acad. Sci.'' '''104''': 129-143

*O'Keefe, F. R., 2001: A cladistic analysis and taxonomic revision of the Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia); ''[[Acta Zoologica Fennica|Acta Zool. Fennica]]'' '''213''': 1-63

*White, T., 1935: in ''Occasional Papers Boston Soc. Nat. Hist.'' '''8''': 219-228

*Hampe, O., 1992: ''Courier Forsch.-Inst. Senckenberg'' '''145''': 1-32

*Ellis, R. 2003: ''Sea Dragons''' ([[Kansas University Press]])

* ( ), 1997: in ''Reports of the National Center for Science Education'', '''17.3''' (May/June 1997) pp 16&ndash;28.

*Everhart, M.J. 2005. "Where the Elasmosaurs roamed," Chapter 7 in "Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea," [[Indiana University Press]], Bloomington, 322 p.

*Everhart, M.J. 2005. "Gastroliths associated with plesiosaur remains in the Sharon Springs Member (Late Cretaceous) of the Pierre Shale, Western Kansas" ([http://www.oceansofkansas.com/Gastro2.html on-line, updated from article in ''Kansas Acad. Sci. Trans.'' 103(1-2):58-69])

In the beginning the [[militia]] on the beach surrendered, and the invaders moved to control the [[causeway]]s. There the fighting became intense, and Cuban forces casualities were very high, both as a result of fire power from the invading ground forces and the [[strafing]] [[B-26]]. However, once their air-support was eliminated and after expending all ammunition the invaders were forced back to the beach (summarized from Lynch, Grayston L. 2000, and others in bibliography below). The land action was very bloody. Carlos Franqui wrote:<ref>Data sources include: de Paz-Sánchez, 2001; Lynch, 2000 D; Johnson, 1964; Franqui, 1984; Vivés, 1984. Complete citations in Bibliography section.</ref>

[[Category:Sauropterygia| ]]

{{Quotation| “We lost a lot of men. This frontal attack of men against machines (the enemy tanks) had nothing to do with guerrilla war; in fact it was a Russian tactic, probably the idea of the two Soviet generals, both of Spanish origin (they fought for the Republic in the Spanish Civil War and fled to the Soviet Union to later fight in World War II. One of them was a veteran, a fox (sic) named Ciutah. He (Ciutah) was sent by the Red Army and the Party as an advisor and was the father of the new Cuban army. He was the only person who could have taken charge of the Girón campaign. The other Hispano-Russian general was an expert in antiguerrilla war who ran the Escambray cleanup. But the real factor in our favor at Girón was the militias: Almejeira’s column embarked on a suicide mission, they were massacred but they reached the beach.”}}

[[bg:Плезиозаври]]

[[ca:Plesiosaure]]

==Casualties==

[[da:Plesiosaurus]]

By the time fighting ended on [[April 21]], 68 exiles were dead and the rest were captured. Estimates of Cuban forces killed vary with the source, but were generally far higher.

[[de:Plesiosaurier]]

[[es:Plesiosauria]]

The 1,209 captured exiles were quickly put on trial. A few were executed and the rest sentenced to thirty years in prison for [[treason]]. After 20 months of negotiation with the United States, Cuba released the exiles in exchange for $53 million in food and medicine.

[[id:Plesiosaurus]]

[[it:Plesiosauria]]

It is generally assumed by some that during the Bay of Pigs Invasion Cuba's losses were high. Triay (2001 p. 110) mentions 4,000 casualties; Lynch (p. 148) 50X or about 5,000. Other sources indicate over 2,200 casualties. Unofficial reports list that seven Cuban army infantry battalions suffered significant losses during the fighting.

[[he:פלסיוזאוריה]]

[[nl:Plesiosauria]]

In one air attack alone, Cuban forces suffered an estimated 1,800 casualties when a mixture of army troops, militia, and civilians were caught on an open causeway riding in civilian buses towards the battle scene in which several buses were hit by [[napalm]].<ref>http://www.serendipity.li/cia/bay-of-pigs.htm</ref><ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1984/EJR.htm</ref><ref>http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/articles/bayofpigs.htm</ref>

[[ja:プレシオサウルス]]

[[no:Svaneøgler]]

The government initially reported their army losses as 87 dead with many more wounded. The number of those killed in action in Cuba's army during the battle eventually ran to 140, and then finally to 161. Thus in the most accepted calculations, a total of around 2,000 (perhaps as many as 5,000, see above) Cuban militia fighting for the Republic of Cuba may have been killed, wounded or missing in action.

[[pl:Plezjozaury]]

[[pt:Plesiossauro]]

The total casualties for the brigade were 104 members killed, and a few hundred more were wounded. Of those killed, ten died trying to escape Cuba in a boat (Celia), nine asphyxiated in a sealed truck on the way to Havana,<ref>http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/15933592.htm</ref> five were executed after the invasion, five were executed after being captured infiltrating Cuba, five died in training at their base and two died in a Cuban prison camp.

[[sv:Plesiosaurier]]

In 1979 the body of Alabama National Guard Captain {Pilot} Thomas Willard Ray who was executed after capture was returned

to his family from Cuba; the CIA eventually ("in the late 90's") admitted to his links to the agency and awarded him their highest award the [[Intelligence Star]].<ref>Thomas, Eric 2007 (accessed 2-22-07) Local Man Forever Tied To Cuban Leader Father Frozen, Displayed By Fidel Castro KGO ABC7/KGO-TV/DT. ABC San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=assignment_7&id=5056129</ref>

==Release of most captive prisoners==

In May 1961 Castro proposed an exchange of the surviving members of the assault for five hundred bulldozers. The trade soon rose to $28 million [[United States dollars]].<ref name="thousand"/> Negotiations were non-productive until after the [[Cuban missile crisis]]. On December 21, 1962 Castro and James B. Donovan, a U.S. lawyer signed an agreement to exchange the 1,113 prisoners for $53 million U.S. dollars in food and medicine, the money being raised by private donations.<ref>http://onwar.com/aced/chrono/c1900s/yr60/fcuba1961.htm</ref> On December 29, 1962 Kennedy met with the returning brigade at [[Palm Beach]], [[Florida]].<ref name="thousand"/>

==Aftermath, reactions and re-evaluations==

[[Image:JFK.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Robert F. Kennedy]]'s Statement on Cuba and Neutrality Laws, April 20, 1961]]

The failed Bay of Pigs invasion severely embarrassed the Kennedy administration, and made Castro wary of future US intervention in Cuba. As a result of the failure, [[Director of Central Intelligence|CIA director]] [[Allen Dulles]], [[Deputy Director of Central Intelligence|deputy CIA director]] [[Charles Cabell]], and Deputy Director of Operations [[Richard Mervin Bissell Jr.|Richard Bissell]] were all forced to resign. All three were held responsible for the planning of the operation at the CIA. Responsibility of the Kennedy Administration and the US State Department for modifications of the plans were not apparent until later.

The Kennedy administration continued covert operations against Castro, later launching [[the Cuban Project]] to "help Cuba overthrow the Communist regime". Tensions would again peak in the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] of 1962.

The CIA wrote a detailed internal report that laid blame for the failure squarely on internal incompetence. A number of grave errors by the CIA and other American analysts contributed to the debacle:

*The administration believed that the troops could retreat to the mountains to lead a guerrilla war if they lost in open battle. The mountains were too far to reach on foot, and the troops were deployed in swamp land, where they were easily surrounded.

*They believed that the involvement of the US in the incident could be denied.

*They believed that Cubans would be grateful to be liberated from Fidel Castro and would quickly join the battle. This support failed to materialize; many hundreds of thousands of others were arrested, and some executed, prior to the landings. (see also Priestland 2003; Lynch, 2000).

The CIA's near certainty that the Cuban people would rise up and join them was based on the agency's extremely weak presence on the ground in Cuba. Castro's counterintelligence, trained by Soviet Bloc specialists including [[Enrique Lister]],<ref name="SPlister.htm"/> had infiltrated most resistance groups. Because of this, almost all the information that came from exiles and defectors was "contaminated." CIA operative [[E. Howard Hunt]] had interviewed Cubans in Havana prior to the invasion; in a future interview with [[CNN]], he said, "...all I could find was a lot of enthusiasm for Fidel Castro."<ref>http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/18/interviews/hunt/</ref> [[Grayston Lynch]] among others, also points to Castro's rounding up of hundreds of thousands of anti-Castro and potentially anti-Castro Cubans across the island prior and during the invasion (e.g. Priestland, 2003) to destroying any chances for a general uprising against the Castro regime. Thus the million voices that had cried "Cuba si, comunismo NO!" on November 28 1959,[http://aguadadepasajeros.bravepages.com/cubahistoria/congreso_catolico_cuba_1959.htm] were gone or silent.

Many military leaders almost certainly expected the invasion to fail but thought that Kennedy would send in [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] to save the exiles. Kennedy, however, did not want a full scale war and abandoned the exiles.

An [[April 29]] [[2000]] ''[[Washington Post]]'' article, "Soviets Knew Date of Cuba Attack", reported that the CIA had information indicating that the [[Soviet Union]] knew the invasion was going to take place and did not inform Kennedy. [[Radio Moscow]] actually broadcast an English-language newscast on [[April 13]], [[1961]] predicting the invasion "in a plot hatched by the CIA" using paid "criminals" within a week. The invasion took place four days later. According to British minister [[David Ormsby-Gore]], British intelligence estimates, which had been made available to the CIA, indicated that the Cuban people were predominantly behind Castro and that there was no likelihood of mass defections or insurrections following the invasion.<ref name="thousand"/> More recent analysis suggest that, probably because of the Castro government's almost complete blackout of actions outside of Havana, the sources such as those used in the Ormsby-Gore intelligence estimate were not aware of the following related material: On April 14, 1961, the guerrillas of Agapito Rivera fought Cuban government forces near Las Cruces, Montembo, Las Villas, several government forces were killed and others wounded.<ref>Corzo, 2003 p. 83</ref> On April 16, Merardo and Jose Leon plus 14 others staged armed rising at Las Delicias Estate in Las Villas, only four survived<ref>Corzo, 2003 p. 85</ref> Leonel Martinez and 12 others took to the country side (ibid). On the 17th of April 1961 Osvaldo Ramírez then chief of the rural resistance to Castro (see [[War Against the Bandits]]) was captured in Aromas de Velázquez and immediately executed. [http://www.nuevoaccion.com/] The ruthlessness with which this resistance was suppressed is well described in Franqui.<ref>Franqui 1984, pp. 111-115 </ref> On April 3, 1961, a bomb attack on militia barracks in Bayamo killed four militia and eight more are wounded; on April 6, the Hershey Sugar factory in Matanzas is destroyed by sabotage; on April 18, Directorio guerrilla Marcelino Magaňaz died in action in Sierra Maestra.<ref>Corzo, 2003 p. 79-89</ref> On April 19 at least seven Cubans plus two US citizens Angus K. McNair and Howard F. Anderson are executed in Pinar del Rio Province.<ref>Corzo, 2003 p. 90</ref>. However, the general Cuban population was not well informed, except for CIA funded Radio Swan [http://www.firmaspress.com/viaje-al-corazon-de-cuba.pdf] [[Pirate radio in Central America and Caribbean Sea]], since May of 1960 almost all means of public communication were in the government’s hands.<ref>. NYT May 26, 1960 p. 5; [http://www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/Cuba83eng/chap.5.htm]</ref>

The invasion is often criticized as making Castro even more popular, adding nationalistic sentiments to the support for his economic policies. Following the initial B-26 bombings, he declared the revolution "[[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninist]]". After the invasion, he pursued closer relations with the Soviet Union, partly for protection, which helped pave the way for the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] a year and a half later.

There are still yearly nation-wide drills in Cuba during the 'Dia de la Defensa' (defense day) to prepare the entire population for an invasion.

An appendix to the Enrique Ros book pp. 287-298 gives the names of Bay of Pigs veterans who became officers in the US Army in Vietnam, these names include 6 Colonels, 19 Lt Colonels, 9 Majors, and 29 Captains. As of March 2007, the Communist Party is now the only political party in Cuba, and about 50% of the Brigade have passed on<ref>. Iuspa-Abbott. Paola, 2007 (accessed 3-27-07) Palm Beach County Bay of Pigs veterans remember invasion of Cuba. South Florida Sun-Sentinel Posted March 26 2007 [http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-pbrigademar26,0,6683790.story?coll=sfla-news-cuba]</ref>

==Notes==

<div class="references-small">

<references/>

</div>

==Bibliography==

*Anderson, Jon L. 1998 Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life. Grove/Atlantic ISBN 0-8021-3558-7

*Corzo, Pedro 2003 Cuba Cronología de la lucha contra el totalitarismo. Ediciones Memorias, Miami. ISBN 1890829242

*Franqui, Carlos 1984 (foreword by G. Cabrera Infante and translated by Alfred MacAdam from Spanish 1981 version) Family portrait with Fidel. 1985 edition Random House First Vintage Books, New York. ISBN 0394726200 pp. 111-128

*Lynch, Grayston L. 2000 Decision for Disaster: Betrayal at the Bay of Pigs. Potomac Books Dulles Virginia ISBN 1-57488-237-6

*Hunt, E. Howard 1973 Give us this day. Arlington House, New Rochelle, N.Y. ISBN-10 0870002287 ISBN-13: 978-0870002281

*Johnson, Haynes 1964 The Bay of Pigs: The Leaders' Story of Brigade 2506. W. W. Norton & Co Inc. New York. 1974 edition ISBN 0-393-04263-4

*Lagas, Jacques 1964 Memorias de un capitán rebelde. Editorial del Pácifico. Santiago, Chile.

*Lazo, Mario 1968, 1970 Dagger in the heart: American policy failures in Cuba. Twin Circle. New York. I968 edition Library of Congress number 6831632, 1970 edition, ASIN B0007DPNJS

*Grayston L. Lynch (see Lynch, Grayston L.)

*de Paz-Sánchez, Manuel 2001 Zona de Guerra, España y la revolución Cubana (1960-1962), Taller de Historia, Tenerife Gran Canaria ISBN 8479263644

*Priestland, Jane (editor) 2003 British Archives on Cuba: Cuba under Castro 1959-1962. Archival Publications International Limited, 2003, London ISBN 1-903008-20-4

*[[Jean Edward Smith]], "Bay of Pigs: The Unanswered Questions," ''The Nation'', (Apr. 13, 1964), p. 360-363.

*Somoza-Debayle, Anastasio and Jack Cox 1980 Nicaragua Betrayed Western Islands Publishers, pp. 169-180 ISBN 088279235

*Ros, Enrique 1994 (1998) Giron la verdadera historia. Ediciones Universales (Colección Cuba y sus jueces) third edition Miami ISBN 0-89729-738-5

*Thomas, Hugh 1998 Cuba or The Pursuit of Freedom. Da Capo Press, New York Updated Ed. ISBN 0-306-80827-7

*Triay, Victor 2001 Andres Bay of Pigs. University Press of Florida, Gainesville ISBN 0-8130-2090-5

*Welch, David A and James G Blight (editors) 1998 Intelligence and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Frank Cass Publishers, London and Portland Oregon ISBN 0-7146-4883-3 ISBN 0-7146-4435-8

*Vivés, Juan (Pseudonym, of a former veteran and Castro Intelligence Official; Translated to Spanish from 1981 Les Maîtres de Cuba. Opera Mundi, Paris by Zoraida Valcarcel) 1982 Los Amos de Cuba. EMCÉ Editores, Buenos Aires. ISBN 9500400758

*Wyden, Peter 1979 Bay of Pigs Simon. and Schuster New York ISBN 0-671-24006-40

==See also==

{{portalpar|Cuba|Flag of Cuba.svg}}

*[[Cuba-United States relations]]

*[[Guantánamo Bay (Cuba)]]

*[[Swan Islands, Honduras|Swan Islands]]

*''[[Red Zone Cuba]]'' ([[1966]])

==External links==

*[http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0417.html#article NY Times headline, April 18, 1961, ''Anti-Castro Units Land in Cuba; Report Fighting at Beachhead; Rusk Says U.S. Won't Intervene'']

*[http://www.parascope.com/articles/1296/bayofpigs.htm Detail Information on the Bay of Pigs Invasion] &mdash; Includes maps of the Invasion and Documents.

*[http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/baypigs/pigs.htm History of Cuba] &mdash; Bay of Pigs Invasion.

*[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/bayofpigs/chron.html National Security Archive chronology]

*[http://www.urrib2000.narod.ru/ArticGiron1-e.html The Sea Fury aircraft at Bay of Pigs]

*[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-BayPigsI.html Reference on Bay of Pigs Invasion at Encylopedia.com]

*[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-150695778.html?refid=hbw_rd Bay of Pigs betrayal the betrayal of the Cuban people by the CIA, State Department, and staff members of the New York Times ranks as one of America's darkest foreign-policy moments]

{{Cuba-United States relations}}

{{Cold War}}

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