We saw the tank Fidel Castro used during the CIA's failed Bay of Pigs invasion

castro tank bay of pigs cuba

(Amanda Macias/Business Insider)

Sitting in Havana's Revolution Square is the original Soviet-made SAU-100 tank Fidel Castro used during America's failed Bay of Pigs invasion.

Shortly before midnight on April 16, 1961, a brigade of 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles attempted to overthrow Castro's revolutionary government by attacking Playa Giron near the mouth of the Bay of Pigs.

bay of pigs map

(Google Earth/Amanda Macias/Business Insider) Map showing Playa Giron and the Bay of Pigs.

Castro's rebels were informed of the covert US attack and successfully defeated the brigade in three days.

The CIA later called the Bay of Pigs the "perfect failure."

In Cuba, the battle is referred to as the "invasion de Playa Giron."

Castro directed a counterattack from a tank that reportedly shot the US vessel Houston with a 100 mm cannon.

Here is a photo of Castro directing his tank during the Bay of Pigs.

castro tank bay of pigs

(AP) Cuban leader Fidel Castro, lower right, sits inside a tank near Playa Giron, Cuba, during the Bay of Pigs invasion, in this April 17, 1961.

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