The Cuban 3c, stamp of 1966, commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Battle of Giron, shows a scene from an ill-fated revolt against the present Castro regime. A number of Cuban exiles had planned for some years to overthrow the Cuban Government and they decided to invade Cuba by sea and air, and with the help of resident sympathisers in Cuba, to start a full-scale revolt against Castro. The troops in exile were mainly trained in Guatemala, and at the appointed time were assembled at Puerto Cabeza in Nicaragua, where they embarked with all their equipment and ammunition in the transport ships.
The transports, with their escorts, left the port on April 14, 1961, and arrived off the Cuban coast, near Giron, early on the morning of April 17, starting the invasion immediately. According to the planners, the transport Houston was to land her forces in the nearby Bay of Pigs, but as soon as she attempted to enter the bay, she was attacked from the air, one rocket going right through her deck and bottom without exploding. Although taking in water, the vessel was successfully beached, but she was a sitting target for aircraft. Had the rocket exploded, she would have been blown to pieces, loaded as she was with gasoline and ammunition.
The Houston was built by the Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding Company in 1943, one of the American class of standard ships which came to be known as "Baltic-type coasters" or "jeeps". Originally named Freeman Hatch, she later sailed as the Charles M under the British flag, before becoming the Houston under the Liberian flag.
Sea Breezes 5/68 SG1351