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APPENDIX F BITTER RECRIrUNATIONf.: TilE NAVY CAP AT THE BAY OF PIGS 19 APRIL 1961* On 19 April 1961, the anti-Castro Air Force operating out of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua was authorized to fly its B-26s on a combat mission over Cuba in an attempt to relieve the pressure on the anti-Castro Brigade and, possibly, to support the orderly evacuation of these troops from the beachhead at Playa Giron on th.e Bay of Pigs. In the course of this action, two B-26s--each carrying a two-man American crew under contract to CIA--were shot down and the four fliers were killed. The loss of the American crews precipitated a controversy between the US Navy and CIA which heretofore has never been the subject of serious study. The basis for the disagreement focuses on the combat air patrol tCAP) which had been authorized by Presic1ent Kennedy to fly off of the USS Essex--the flagship of a carrier task group standing off Cuba--to protect the B-26s fro~ Castro's T-33s and Sea Furies. The undisputed facts about this episode are that: 1. To support the planned air strike, President Kennedy authorized the USN to fly a CAP for one hour on 19 April. 2. The tim~rame for the CAP set by the President was agreed to by the USN and CIA as 0630-0730 Cuba (and Washington) time. 3. For whatever reason, the USN CAP and the B-26s missed their rendezvous; and two B-26s and four Americans were lost. * Unpublished manuscript by Jack B. Pfeiffer, August 1983 I 275 ::,$ I j•