The ship
The ship Granma was a 60-foot yacht designed to accommodate 12 people. In 1956 it was filled with 82 Cuban exiles who wished to start a revolution against Fulgencio Batista, under the leadership of Fidel Castro. Also on the boat were Che Guevara and Raúl Castro. They sailed from Mexico and clandestinely landed in the Oriente provence of Cuba. In addition to the rebels, known as expedicionarios del yate Granma, the crowded ship also contained a large stock of weapons.
It is nowadays exhibited in the Granma Memorial adjacent to the Museo de la Revolución in Havana. A portion of old Oriente provence was renamed Granma Province in honor of the ship.
The newspaper
The newspaper is named after this ship. It is the main newspaper of the Marxist government of Cuba.