1960 deadly explosion of a French cargo ship in Havana, Cuba
La Coubre explosion
1960
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Photo was taken on March 5, 1960, in Havana, Cuba, at a memorial service march for victims of the La Coubre explosion. From left to right:
Fidel Castro
,
Osvaldo Dorticos Torrado
,
Che Guevara
,
Augusto Martinez Sanchez
,
Antonio Nunez Jimenez
,
William Alexander Morgan
, and
Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo
marching to
Colon Cemetery
.
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Location
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Caused by
| Unknown
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Death(s)
| 75 to 100
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The French
freighter
La Coubre
(
French:
[la
kub?]
) exploded in the harbour of
Havana
,
Cuba
, on 4 March 1960 while it was unloading 76 tons of grenades and munitions. Seventy-five to 100 people were killed, and many were injured.
Fidel Castro
alleged it was an act of
sabotage
on the part of the United States, which denied any involvement.
Events
[
edit
]
La Coubre
, a 4,310-ton French vessel, was on 4 March 1960 unloading her cargo of 76 tons of Belgian munitions she had transported from the port of
Antwerp
in Belgium to Havana. Unloading explosive ordnance directly onto the dock in Havana was against port regulations. Ships with such cargoes were supposed to be moored in the center of the harbor and their high-risk cargo unloaded onto
lighters
.
[1]
The ship exploded at 3:10 pm. Thirty minutes after the first explosion, while hundreds of people were involved in a rescue operation organized by the
Cuban military
, a second, more powerful explosion killed and injured more people.
[a]
At the time of the explosion,
Che Guevara
(who was a trained doctor) was in a meeting at the
National Institute of Agrarian Reform
(NIAR) headquarters. He drove to the scene and spent the next few hours giving medical attention to the crew members, armed forces personnel, and dock workers who had been injured.
[3]
The death toll was between 75 and 100; more than 200 people were injured.
[4]
Reaction
[
edit
]
Speaking the next day at a funeral for 27 dock workers killed by the explosions,
Fidel Castro
said that the United States was responsible for the explosion, calling it "the work of those who do not wish us to receive arms for our defense".
[5]
U.S. Secretary of State
Christian Herter
denied that on 7 March in a meeting with the Cuban charge d'affaires in Washington, then delivered a formal note of protest to Cuban Foreign Minister
Raul Roa
on 15 March.
[6]
On 7 March, the
Miami Herald
reported charges made by Jack Lee Evans, an American who had just returned from Havana where he had been working for and living with
William Alexander Morgan
, an American who had commanded rebel forces during the
Cuban Revolution
. He said he had boarded the
La Coubre
on 2 March with Morgan and others to transport machine guns and ammunition to the NIAR. He said he had learned of a plot by an
anti-communist
dockworker to explode the ship, did not think Morgan was involved, and now feared for his life. Morgan denied ever being aboard the ship and said of Evans: "The kid has to be out of his mind to say a thing like that."
[7]
Morgan was arrested seven months later, accused of supporting counter-revolutionaries, and executed in March 1961.
[8]
Alberto Korda
took photos at the March 5 memorial service at Havana's
Colon Cemetery
, including the photo
Guerrillero Heroico
, which has become an iconic image of Che Guevara.
[9]
Fate of La Coubre
[
edit
]
La Coubre
, named for a point of land along the Atlantic coast of France,
La Coubre
, was towed to a dry-dock in
Havana Harbor
where she underwent extensive temporary repairs for five months to make her sufficiently seaworthy to be towed to France.
La Coubre
was towed by the Dutch merchant
Oostzee
to Le Havre, arriving 26 September 1960. Two tugboats moved
La Coubre
to the French port of
Rouen
on the
Seine
. Here she underwent her permanent repairs, completed in April 1961.
When returned to service she continued to be owned and operated by the French
Compagnie Generale Transatlantique
until 1972, when she was sold to the Dorothea shipping company in
Cyprus
and renamed
Barbara
. Later the vessel was renamed
Notios Hellas
and
Agia Marina
until 1979 when she was sold to a Spanish company to be scrapped.
[10]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Father John McKniff, a Roman Catholic missionary priest, was thrown to the pavement by the second explosion. Although stunned, he survived and continued his work. He is under consideration for sainthood by the Catholic Church.
[2]
[
needs update
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Fursenko, Aleksandr; Naftali, Timothy J. (1998).
One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958?1964
. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. p. 40.
ISBN
0-393-31790-0
.
- ^
"El cura de 'La Coubre' a un paso de la canonizacion"
.
Miami Herald
(in Spanish). 18 December 2000. Archived from
the original
on 14 June 2006
. Retrieved
29 November
2006
.
- ^
"04 March 1960".
Che en el tiempo
Archived
2007-09-27 at the
Wayback Machine
, accessed 27 September 2006
- ^
Phillips, R. Hart (5 March 1960).
"75 Die in Havana as Munitions Ship Explodes at Dock"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
8 October
2011
.
- ^
Phillips, R. Hart (6 March 1960).
"Castro Links U.S. to Ship 'Sabotage'; Denial is Swift"
(PDF)
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
21 March
2016
.
- ^
"U.S. Note Is Delivered"
(PDF)
.
New York Times
. 16 March 1960
. Retrieved
21 March
2016
.
- ^
"Dockworker set ship blast in Havana, American claims".
Miami Herald
. 7 March 2016.
- ^
Grann, David (28 May 2012).
"The Yankee Comandante"
.
The New Yorker
. Retrieved
22 March
2016
.
- ^
The Story Behind Che’s Iconic Photo
- ^
Gutierrez Gonzales, Tomas (2017).
La explosion de La Coubre. Frente al terror: Patria o muerte
. La Habana: Editorial Capitan San Luis. p. 112.
ISBN
978-959-211-483-8
.
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