Because it flew at such heights, it was thought it would be possible for the planes to pass over the Soviet Union undetected by radar on the ground. Operated through the U. Petersburg took place on July 4, The flights continued intermittently over the next four years. It was later revealed that the Soviets did pick up the flights on radar, and the United States lost a plane over the Soviet Union in , but as long as there was no definitive proof connecting the flights to the United States there was no advantage for the Soviets to raise the issue publicly lest it draw attention to the Soviet inability to shoot down the offending flights.
On May 1, , the situation changed. Near the city of Sverdlovsk Oblast in the Ural Mountains, Powers' plane was shot down by a Soviet surface-to-air missile. Powers ejected and parachuted safely to the ground, where he was captured by the KGB , and held for interrogation. The plane crashed, but parts of it were recovered and placed on public display in Moscow as evidence of American deceit.
Although the capture of Powers provided the Soviets the concrete proof that the United States had been conducting the flights, it was not immediately clear what the impact would be for the Paris Summit. At Manila Bay in the Philippines, the U. Nearly Spanish sailors were killed and 10 Spanish warships wrecked or captured at the cost of only six Americans wounded. After 18 years of Conservative rule, British voters give the Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, a landslide victory in British parliamentary elections.
Inside the Crystal Palace, a giant glass-and-iron hall designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, more than 10, exhibitors set up eight miles of tables. Technological wonders from around the world Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. The myths and fabrications concerning the life of Calamity Jane are so numerous it is difficult to discover her true story.
Legend has it that at various times Jane worked as a Instead, Citizen Kane, now revered as one of the greatest movies in history, made its debut at the smaller RKO Palace Williams enjoyed a successful NBA career with On May 1, , the Battle of Chancellorsville begins in Virginia.
Photographs taken by the spy planes revealed that Soviet nuclear capabilities were significantly less advanced than had been claimed by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev Eisenhower learned that the U.
The Soviets were aware of the reconnaissance flights, because they could spot the spy planes on radar. For nearly four years, however, the U. Flying at an altitude of more than 13 miles above the ground, the U-2 aircraft were initially unreachable by both Soviet jets and missiles.
However, by the spring of , the USSR had developed a new Zenith surface-to-air missile with a longer range. Winging through the thin atmosphere at the edge of space, Powers was carrying out the type of top-secret mission he specialized in: flying a U-2 spy plane over the USSR to photograph military installations.
Unlike previous U-2 missions, however, this one went terribly wrong. As Powers flew over Sverdlovsk present-day Yekaterinburg, Russia , a Soviet surface-to-air missile exploded near his plane, causing it to drop to a lower altitude.
A second missile scored a direct hit, and Powers and his aircraft began to plummet from the sky. The pilot managed to bail out, but when his parachute floated to earth, he was surrounded by Soviet forces. Powers landed in the center of a major diplomatic crisis. On May 5, Khrushchev announced that the Soviet military had brought down an American spy plane, but he made no mention of capturing Powers. The Soviet leader quickly disproved that story, however, by producing a photograph of the imprisoned pilot as well as evidence recovered from the wreckage that conclusively showed it was a surveillance aircraft.
The need was urgent for information about Russian force deployments, the emerging atomic weapons program, and the development of long-range aircraft and missiles.
The shallow penetrations on the periphery provided some data, mostly tactical. US intelligence on matters deep in the Russian heartland consisted of what could be gleaned from World War II German maps and other insubstantial sources.
The Russians refused, and shortly thereafter, Eisenhower approved reconnaissance missions in Soviet airspace by the still-secret U-2, which had made its first flight in August The wingspan was 80 feet, almost twice the length of the aircraft, which was not quite 50 feet. It flew at 72, feet, more than 13 miles high. The tail assembly was attached with only three bolts.
The main wing spar, which in conventional design passes through the fuselage, had two separate panels, fixed to the side with tension bolts. It was not a plane for heavy or drastic maneuvers. Each would be jettisoned on takeoff. Only six knots separated a low-speed stall from high-speed buffeting, which could cause the loss of wings or tail.
Powers in a CIA photo. Photo: CIA. Among the first to be recruited was 1st Lt. He and a dozen others underwent training in the U-2 at a remote base in the Nevada desert. The first five flights into Soviet territory were out of Wiesbaden in July The sixth was in November from Adana, with Powers as the pilot. Gradually, Adana became the mainstay of the program. The CIA called the organization there Detachment 2. To the Air Force, it was Detachment The Adana U-2s occasionally flew their missions out of Pakistan, which was closer to the Soviet Union.
In such instances, the pilots and ground crew were transported to Peshawar a day ahead of time, and the aircraft was ferried in under the cover of darkness. Should takeoff be delayed, the U-2 would return to Adana before dawn for security reasons. Photo: RIA Novosti.
The fundamental assumption was that the high-flying U-2s were beyond the range of Soviet air defenses. There was little guidance to the pilots about what to do if they went down in enemy territory.
A further assumption was not shared with the pilots. In later years, great controversy would arise about the destruction devices Powers supposedly could have used to destroy his airplane and the means he had to kill himself rather than falling into Soviet hands. According to Powers, the destruct mechanism was a two-and-a-half-pound charge to destroy the camera and other equipment in the bays behind the wings. It was not sufficient to blow up the airplane, nor was it intended to do so.
Suicide measures were offered to the pilots, to be used at their discretion if faced with imminent torture. The first such device was a cyanide pill. Powers never carried it, nor did most of the other pilots.
It was replaced with what appeared to be a regular silver dollar with a key chain loop at the end. Inside the loop was a thin needle coated with a deadly poison, curare.
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