We saw the tank Fidel Castro used during America's failed Bay of Pigs invasion

Amanda Macias/Business Insider

Shortly before midnight on April 16, 1961, a brigade of 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles attempted to overthrow Castro's revolutionary government by attacking Playa Giron near the mouth of the Bay of Pigs.

Google Earth/Amanda Macias/Business Insider

Castro's rebels were informed of the covert US attack and successfully defeated the brigade in three days.

The CIA later called to the Bay of Pigs' as the "perfect failure." In Cuba, the battle is referred to as the "invasion de Playa Giron."

Castro directed a counterattack from a tank that reportedly shot the US vessel Houston with a 100 mm cannon.

Here is a photo of Castro directing his tank during the Bay of Pigs.

AP

Cuban leader Fidel Castro, lower right, sits inside a tank near Playa Giron, Cuba, during the Bay of Pigs invasion, in this April 17, 1961.