Foreign relations of Cuba needed oil. Relations between the countries deteriorated rapidly. In April 1961, following air attacks preparing for the Bay of Pigs Invasion by CIA-trained Cuban exiles, prime minister Fidel Castro declared Cuba to be a socialist republic, and moved quickly to develop the growing relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union. In 1962, Cuba was expelled from the Organization of American States. Shortly afterwards, many nations throughout Latin America broke ties with Cuba, leaving the island increasingly isolated in the region and dependent on Soviet trade and cooperation. Following the establishment of diplomatic ties, and after the Cuban missile crisis in
USS Invade (AM-254) by Savannah Machine & Foundry Co., Savannah, Georgia; launched 6 February 1944; sponsored by Miss Thayer C. Allen; and commissioned 18 September 1944, Lt. H. H. Silliman in command. After shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, "Invade" steamed to Casco Bay, Maine, for training 24 November 1944. Following these operations and additional drills out of Norfolk, Virginia, the minecraft assumed duties there as towing ship for aircraft targets and as an experimental minesweeper. She remained on this important duty through the end of the war and reported 21 September 1945 to the Mine Warfare School at Yorktown, Virginia, as a training ship.