Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

History

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (Spanish: Base Naval de la Bahía de Guantánamo), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo GIT-moh as jargon by the U.S. military) is a United States military base located on 45 square miles (117 km2) of land and water on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It has been de facto extraterritoriality of the U.S. since 1903 as a coaling station and naval base. It is the oldest overseas American naval base. Since 1974, the U.S. has paid the Cuban government an annual sum equivalent to $4,085 in 1934 dollars (approximately $98,314 in 2025) to lease the bay. The lease was previously $2,000 per year (paid in gold) until 1934, when it was set to match the value of gold in dollars.

Since taking power in 1959, the Cuban government has consistently protested against the U.S. presence on Cuban soil, arguing that the base was imposed on Cuba by force and is illegal under international law. The lease requires either bilateral consent or full U.S. military withdrawal in order to be terminated. Since 2002, the naval base has maintained the Guantanamo Bay detention camp for alleged unlawful combatants captured in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places during the war on terror. Cases of alleged torture of prisoners by the U.S. military and their denial of protection under the Geneva Conventions have been criticized. The base has been a focal point for debates over civil liberties, notably influenced by the landmark 2008 Supreme Court decision in Boumediene v. Bush. This ruling affirmed the constitutional right of detainees to challenge their detention via habeas corpus, highlighting the ongoing tensions between national security and civil liberties.

Text from Wikipedia: Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Wars and campaigns

From Wikidata (CC0).

Key dates

1. 1901
   After initial resistance by the Cuban Constitutional Convention, the Platt Amendment was incorporated into the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba in 1901.
2. 1908
   The warship served as a storeship at Guantanamo until destroyed by fire on 17 March 1908.
3. 1931
   McCalla Field was established in 1931 and remained operational until 1970.
4. 1942
   The cemetery holds over 350 burials, including that of Captain Henry Smith, who died as a result of injuries received during the sinking of his ship, the SS Delmundo, by the German submarine U-600 on 13 August 1942.
5. 1961
   Initially, the mines were laid down by US troops, who also posted signs stating that the landmines were "precautions" and should not be viewed as "aggressive". In response, Cuban troops also laid down their own mines, with both sides completing their minefields in 1961.
6. 1964
   In 1964, the cost was about $14,000 per month for about 2.5 million U.S. gal (9 million L) per day.
7. 2005
   In 2005, the U.S. Navy completed a $12 million wind-power project at the base, erecting four 950 kilowatt, 275-foot tall (84 m) wind turbines, reducing the reliance on diesel fuel to power the existing diesel generators (the base's primary electricity generation).
8. 2006
   On 10 June 2006, the Department of Defense reported that three Guantanamo Bay detainees took their own lives.
9. 2012
   Majid Khan, who pleaded guilty before a Military Commission in 2012, had completed his sentence of 10 years and was released to Belize.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Records that place someone at this base

A base history doesn't name everyone who served. These records do:

• Navy muster rolls, 1939–1949 (National Archives guide)
• Deck logs: how to get them (Naval History and Heritage Command)
• Crew lists research guide (NHHC)
• Search the National Archives Catalog for “Guantanamo Bay Naval Base”

More history

• Wikipedia: Guantanamo Bay Naval Base