NAVAL Bicentennial IN KEY WEST

The Navy’s history in Key West is 200 years long and proud. In the early 1800’s, naval origins have been traced to combating piracy in the region, subsequently in the 1860s, capturing slave ships and at one point freeing 1,432 captive Africans. During the Civil War, the Navy organized a blockade squadron preventing the import of Confederate war supplies from overseas ports. The Union’s strategic hold on Key West is said to have shortened the war by several years due to the South’s inability to maintain open supply lines.

During the Spanish-American War the entire U.S. Atlantic Fleet moved to Key West for the duration. World War I brought greater expansion to the Navy footprint in Key West with the establishment of a Navy submarine base at what is now Truman Annex. Seaplanes operating from Trumbo Point supported the WWII war effort. Monroe County, also celebrating 200 years in 2023, provided a seldom-used county airport on Boca Chica Key for Army fixed-wing aircraft. Boca Chica Field was eventually transferred to the Navy to become a part of NAS Key West.

Reconnaissance and operational flights began October 22, 1962, in support of the Cuban blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis. President John F. Kennedy visited NAS Key West afterwards to thank service members and their families for their contributions during the crisis.

The superior, year-round flying weather and strategic location of the southernmost air station has allowed NAS Key West to develop into what it is today: a state-ofthe-art training facility for air-to-air combat fighter aircraft of all military services.

JFK visits Key West after the Cuban Missile Crisis; Lt. Matthew Perry arrived in Key West on March 25, 1822, claiming the island U.S. territory.