| Landing of theGranma | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theCuban Revolution | |||||||
 Fighters disembarking from theGranma onto the Cuban coast | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 26th of July Movement |  Cuba | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Fidel Castro | Fulgencio Batista | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 82 | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 67 (killed in ambush 3 days later)[1] | |||||||
Granma is ayacht that was used to transport 82 fighters of theCuban Revolution from Mexico toCuba in November 1956 to overthrow the regime ofFulgencio Batista. The 60-foot (18 m) diesel-powered vessel was built in 1943 by Wheeler Shipbuilding of Brooklyn, New York, as a light armored target practice boat, US Navy C-1994, and modified postwar to accommodate 12 people. "Granma", in English, is an affectionate term for a grandmother; the yacht is said to have been named for the previous owner's grandmother.[2][3][4]
In 1953, beginning their first attack against the Batista government, Fidel Castro gathered 160 fighters and planned a multi-pronged attack on two military installations.[5] On 26 July 1953, the rebels attacked theMoncada Barracks inSantiago and the barracks inBayamo, only to be defeated decisively by the far more numerous government soldiers.[6] It was hoped that the staged attack would initiate a nationwide revolt against Batista's government. After an hour of fighting most of the rebels and their commander fled to the mountains.[7] The exact number of rebels killed in the battle is debatable; however, in his autobiography, Fidel Castro wrote that six were killed during the fighting, and an additional 55 were executed after being captured by the Batista government.[8] Due to the government's large number of men, Hunt revised the number to about 60 members taking the opportunity to flee to the mountains along with Castro.[9] Among the dead wasAbel Santamaría, Castro's second-in-command, who was imprisoned, tortured, and executed on the same day as the attack.[10]
Numerous important revolutionaries, including the Castro brothers, were captured soon afterwards. During a political trial, Fidel spoke for nearly four hours in his defense, ending with the words "Condemn me, it does not matter.History will absolve me." Castro's defense was based on nationalism, representation and beneficial programs for the non-elite Cubans, justice for the Cuban community, and his patriotism.[11] Fidel was sentenced to 15 years in the prisonPresidio Modelo, located onIsla de Pinos, while Raúl was sentenced to 13 years.[12] However, in 1955, yielding to political considerations, the Batista government freed all political prisoners in Cuba, including the Moncada attackers. Fidel'sJesuit childhood teachers succeeded in persuading Batista to include Fidel and Raúl in the release. Fidel Castro left Cuba for exile in Mexico.[13]
In Mexico, Fidel Castro soon met withSpanish Civil War veteranAlberto Bayo. Castro informed Bayo he had a plan to invade Cuba but had no money for weapons or a single volunteered soldier. Despite the lack of resources Bayo decided to assist Castro's plan because giving military advice would not cost him anything. With time Fidel would be joined by his brotherRaúl Castro, and his old comrade Antonio "Ñico" López. Lopez would bring Raúl Castro to a nearby hospital where an exiledChe Guevara was working as a doctor. Guevara, who had met Lopez previously in Guatemala was invited to meet withFidel Castro by Lopez. The Castro brothers, Lopez, and Guevara were to be the first volunteers for the expedition. On the evening of July 8, 1954 Guevara and Fidel Castro met in the home of Maria Antonia Gonzalez. The apartment later became a headquarters for the rebels. Castro realised he had little money for his plans and in October travelled toNew Jersey andMiami to raise money fromCuban exiles for his invasion.[14][page needed]
The yacht was purchased on October 10, 1956, forMX$50,000 (US$4,000 in 1956) from the United States–based Schuylkill Products Company, Inc., by a Mexican citizen—said to be Mexico City gun dealer Antonio "The Friend" del Conde[15]—secretly representingFidel Castro.The builder, Wheeler Shipbuiding, then of Brooklyn, New York, now of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, also builtErnest Hemmingway's boatPilar.[16] It is still unknown who removed the light armor and expanded the cabin postwar to convert the navy training boat into a civilian yacht.Castro's26th of July Movement had attempted to purchase aCatalina flying boat maritime aircraft, or a US navalcrash rescue boat for the purpose of crossing theGulf of Mexico to Cuba, but their efforts had been thwarted by lack of funds. The money to purchaseGranma had been raised in the US state ofFlorida by formerPresident of CubaCarlos Prío Socarrás[17] andTeresa Casuso Morín.[18]
Soon after midnight on November 25, 1956, in the Mexican port ofTuxpan, Veracruz,Granma was boarded surreptitiously by 82 members of the 26th of July Movement including their commander, Fidel Castro, his brother,Raúl Castro,Che Guevara, andCamilo Cienfuegos. The group—who later came to be known collectively aslos expedicionarios del yate Granma (theGranma yacht expeditioners)—then set out from Tuxpan at 2 a.m.[19] After a series of vicissitudes and misadventures, including diminishing supplies, sea-sickness, and the near-foundering of their heavily laden and leaking craft, they disembarked on December 2 on thePlaya Las Coloradas, in the municipality ofNiquero, in modernGranma Province (named for the vessel), formerly part of the largerOriente Province.Granma was piloted byNorberto Collado Abreu, a World War II Cuban Navy veteran and ally of Castro.[20] The location was chosen to emulate the voyage of national heroJosé Martí, who had landed in the same region 61 years earlier during thewars of independence from Spanish colonial rule.
A rebellion organized by the26th of July movement and planned byHaydée Santamaría,Celia Sánchez, andFrank País occurred inSantiago de Cuba. The rebellion happened on November 30 and was meant to take place in conjunction with the landing of the Granma, which was expected to land in Cuba five days after departing from Mexico. A reception party was assigned to wait for the rebels during the uprising at the lighthouse at Cabo Cruz, with trucks and 100 men. After this, the plan was that they would raid the towns of Niquero andManzanillo together, after which they would escape into theSierra Maestra to conduct guerilla warfare. However, due to choppy weather, the Granma had landed two days late on December 2, and as a result, the supporting uprising was left isolated and was quickly destroyed. As a result of this, the rebels had lost the element of surprise, and the military was put on high alert in the region.[21]
We reached solid ground, lost, stumbling along like so many shadows or ghosts marching in response to some obscure psychic impulse. We had been through seven days of constant hunger and sickness during the sea crossing, topped by three still more terrible days on land. Exactly 10 days after our departure from Mexico, during the early morning hours of December 5, following a night-long march interrupted by fainting and frequent rest periods, we reached a spot paradoxically known as Alegría de Pío (Rejoicing of the Pious). – Che Guevara[22]
The Granma had approached the Playa las Coloradas in the early morning of December 2, 1956. Trying to spot the Cabo Cruz lighthouse, the navigator had fallen overboard, after which he had to be rescued. With the night quickly departing, Fidel ordered for the ship to land at the nearest point of land. However, they had crashed into a sandbar, a mile short of the intended point of rendezvous, in a mangrove swamp. The reception party had departed from the lighthouse the night prior after waiting for two days. They departed the boat and were forced to leave much of their food, ammunition and medicine behind, landing onto shore in the mid-morning. During the landing, they had been spotted by the Cuban coast guard, after which news of the landing was relayed to the armed forces.
After splitting into two groups upon reaching dry land, the rebels were forced to gradually abandon more equipment as they navigated the bush. During this period, Batista predicted correctly that the landing would occur, and his troops were ready. Consequentially, the landing party was bombarded by helicopters and airplanes soon after landing. Since the terrain on the coastline provided little cover, the party was an easy target. After two days on December 4, the separate groups had found each other and trekked further inland in the direction of the Sierra Maestra with the help of a local peasant guide.[23]
Shortly after midnight on December 5, the rebel column had halted to rest for the night at a sugarcane field, where they had feasted on stalks of cane, leaving behind their presence to enemy forces. During this time, their guide had abandoned them, telling nearby soldiers of the presence and location of the rebels. Passing by the edge of a cane field, the rebels were then ambushed in the afternoon at Alegría de Pío. Caught by surprise, the rebels panicked and milled around as their organization and cohesion were destroyed. Fidel ordered his men to follow him into the forests to escape, however, in the midst of the fighting, many abandoned their equipment, and others who were paralyzed by shock and terror remained where they were.[24]
Many casualties ensued, most of them during battle atAlegría de Pío [es] further inland. The survivors continued to the foot ofPico Turquino in theSierra Maestra to perform guerilla warfare.[25]
Initially, Batista did not know who exactly were among the casualties, and international media widely reported that Fidel had died.[26] This was, however, not the case. Of the 82, about 21 had survived. According to the most credible version, the survivors were Fidel, Raúl, Guevara,Armando Rodríguez,Faustino Pérez [es],Ramiro Valdés,Universo Sánchez,Efigenio Ameijeiras,René Rodríguez,Camilo Cienfuegos,Juan Almeida Bosque,Calixto García,Calixto Morales,Reinaldo Benítez,Julio Díaz,Luis Crespo Cabrera,[citation needed]Rafael Chao,Ciro Redondo [es],José Morán,Carlos Bermúdez, andFransisco González. All others had been either killed, captured, or left behind.[27]
The 82 expeditioners were:[28]
Soon after the revolutionary forces triumphed on January 1, 1959, the cabin cruiser was transferred toHavana Bay. Norberto Collado Abreu, who had served as mainhelmsman for the 1956 voyage,[20] received the job of guarding and preserving the yacht.[citation needed]
Since 1976, the yacht has been displayed permanently in a glass enclosure at the MemorialGranma adjacent to theMuseum of the Revolution inHavana. A portion of oldOriente Province, where the expedition made landfall, was renamedGranma Province in honor of the vessel.UNESCO has declared theLanding of the Granma National Park—established at the location (Playa Las Coloradas)—aWorld Heritage Site for its natural habitat.[29]
The Cuban government celebrates December 2 as theDay of the Cuban Armed Forces,[30] and a replica has also been paraded at state functions to commemorate the original voyage. In further tribute, the official newspaper of theCentral Committee of theCuban Communist Party has been namedGranma. The name of the vessel became a symbol forCuban communism.[31]
23°8′27″N82°21′25″W / 23.14083°N 82.35694°W /23.14083; -82.35694
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