May 22, 1967 President Kennedy orders the USS "Independence" Carrier Group from Gibraltar toward Israel. Within days, Soviet ships begin to shadow the group. Alexei Kosygin communicates angrily over the Hotline teletype and the White House has the Soviet ambassador come in for a special meeting with Kennedy on the 26th. Kennedy, updated on some of the "close calls" from the Cuban blockade in '62, assures the ambassador that the group is merely there to prevent "an escalation" of the looming war. But tensions remain high throughout the upcoming conflict.