Photo Album

Visit of the Honorable Robert S. McNamara Secretary of Defense and Party to Units of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Virginia Capes Area. 25 October 1961. N.P., ca. 1961

Oblong 8vo (7 x 9 in.; 175 x 227 mm). 60 photographs reproduced on card stock, one leaf with printed schedule of events. Gold laminated covers in  plastic comb binding; comb defective, lacking 4 teeth.

A U. S. show of strength as the Cold War heats up. While the Berlin Crisis continued unabated (construction on the Berlin Wall had begun in August 1961), Secretary of Defense McNamara visited the Atlantic fleet to view its readiness and naval power in the event of war with the Soviets.  His party included Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Secretary of the Navy John B. Connally, Jr., Deputy Attorney General Byron R. White, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral George W. Anderson, Vice Admiral Herbert D. Riley (Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Operations and Readiness), and Brigadier General George S. Brown, USAF, who was McNamara's military assistant.

The schedule of events began early in the morning with an anti-submarine warfare demonstration aboard the USS Essex, which was followed by a tour of Talos missile spaces aboard the USS Little Rock. Transferring over to the USS Saratoga, the party viewed the USS Dewey's missile shoot. After a tour of the Saratoga, the day ended with an air firepower demonstration.