1961 Shallo Pictorial Map of Asia Highlighting America's Nuclear Response Capability

Published less than four months after the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion, this 1961 Andrew Shallo graphic map of Asia illustrates U.S. nuclear response capabilities and strategies. Based in the doctrine of 'Mutually Assured Destruction', Shallo's map illustrates a world on the the edge of destruction. Before the proliferation of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), which emerged in the late 1950s, the U.S. relied on airplane-based response systems. A fleet of B-52s (still flown by the U.S. Air Force) and B-47s, both illustrated to the right of the globe, acted as launch platforms for missiles armed with nuclear warheads. The B-52s flew out of bases in the United States and would be refueled midair, while the B-47s were based in Guam and western Europe. In the 1960s, 1/3 of Strategic Air Command's bomber force was permanently on 24-hour alert, with those crews not already airborne ready to take off within fifteen minutes.

The Snark

An SM-62 Snark missile is illustrated in the lower left corner. The Snark was a ground-launched intercontinental missile deployed by Strategic Air Command between 1959 and 1961. These missiles would have been armed with thermonuclear warheads and had an operational range of 5,500 miles, the only high-range surface-to-surface cruise missile ever deployed by the U.S. Air Force. The Snark was rendered obsolete by the development of ICBMs.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Andrew Shallo and published by The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday, August 6, 1961. This piece is uncatalogued in the OCLC and we are aware of only one other instance when it has entered the private market.