Timeline of Guantánamo Bay

Last updated February 02, 2026

Noteworthy events of Guantánamo Bay.

Timeline

30 April 1494 – Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage of exploration, sailed into Guantánamo Bay ^[1] and remained overnight. He called the bay "Puerto Grande".
18 July 1741 – Vice Admiral Edward Vernon, with 3,000 British troops under General Wentworth, arrived at Guantánamo Bay to begin an unsuccessful campaign to capture Santiago.
December 1760 – Boats from the frigates HMS Trent and HMS Boreas cut-out the French privateers Vainquer and Mackau hiding in the bay. The French were also forced to burn another, the Guespe, to prevent her capture.
10 June 1898 – A battalion of Marines landed at Fisherman's Point and made camp on McCalla Hill, the first U.S. troops ashore in Cuba in the Spanish–American War.
23 February 1903 – President Theodore Roosevelt signed original lease agreement with Cuba for a naval base at Guantánamo Bay. See Platt Amendment.
3 March 1903 – U.S. Congress appropriated $100,000 for "necessary expenditures incident to the occupation and utilization of the naval station at Guantánamo, Cuba ..."
10 December 1903 – Cuba turned over the Naval Reservation to the United States.
27 April 1904 – An appropriation of $385,500 was made for an emergency repair installation at Guantánamo Bay, including a dry dock to be built on South Toro Cay.
1906 (exact date unknown) – Work on dry dock on South Toro Cay was discontinued.
29 September 1906 – Roosevelt sent U.S. troops to Cuba to crush a revolt, thus bringing about the second U.S. occupation of Cuba, which lasted until 1909.
1908 (Spring) – Station ship USS Monongahela burned.
10 March 1913 – LT John H. Towers (later Admiral and Chief of Bureau of Aeronautics) flew from Guantánamo Bay to Santiago in a Curtiss flying boat in 46 minutes.
10 December 1913 – The Naval Station was officially opened at its present location, the main activities having been moved from South Toro Cay.
1924 (Winter) – First concentration of Atlantic and Pacific Fleets in Caribbean.
7 August 1928 – Naval Station damaged by hurricane, whose center passed 50 miles (80.5 km) to the south.
1938 (late in year) – Hepburn Board visited Station and made recommendations for expansion.
20 February 1939 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Guantánamo Bay in USS Houston.
1 July 1939 – Station started receiving water from pumping station at Yateras River via new pipeline.
4 December 1940 – President Roosevelt visited Guantánamo Bay in USS Tuscaloosa.^[2]
12 July 1940 – Contract signed with Frederick Snare Corporation to begin a vast construction program for build-up of the Station.
1 April 1941 – Naval Operating Base, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, established.
25 February 1948 – President Harry S. Truman visited Base.
18 June 1952 – Title of Naval Operating Base changed to Naval Base.
8 June 1993 – US detention of HIV-positive refugees at Guantánamo Bay declared unconstitutional.

In addition to two presidents, many other distinguished people have visited the Naval Base. At one time General John J. Pershing was a visitor on board USS Utah. Charles A. Lindbergh was a visitor during his goodwill flight around the Americas in the "Spirit of St. Louis". Before and during the World War II years, visitors included: members of Congress, Cabinet officers, ambassadors, Harry Hopkins, Eleanor Roosevelt and others.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Butler (from Havana), 21–22 December 1950
Admiral and Mrs. Forrest P. Sherman, 31 December 1950 – 1 January 1951
Vice Admiral R. V. Symonds-Tayler, RN, 8–15 January 1951
Carlos Hevia, former President of Cuba and Cuban Minister without portfolio (graduate of U.S. Naval Academy, class of 1920) in 19 October 1951
U.S. Ambassador and Mrs. Howard Travers (from Haiti), 4 December 1951 on two occasions subsequently
Peruvian Minister of Marine Roque A. Saldias, 20–22 May 1952
Cuban Minister of National Defense Nicolas Perez Hernandez 17 June 1952
U.S. Ambassador and Mrs. Willard L. Beaulac (from Havana) 19–20 June 1952
The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral W. M. Fechteler, 18 December 1952.

References

↑ Murphy, Marion Emerson (1953). The History of Guantanamo Bay. United States Naval Base, District Publications and Print Office, Tenth Naval District. p. 59.
↑ Murphy, Marion Emerson (1953). The History of Guantanamo Bay. United States Naval Base, District Publications and Print Office, Tenth Naval District. p. 59.

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[1] Murphy, Marion Emerson (1953). The History of Guantanamo Bay. United States Naval Base, District Publications and Print Office, Tenth Naval District. p. 59.

[2] Murphy, Marion Emerson (1953). The History of Guantanamo Bay. United States Naval Base, District Publications and Print Office, Tenth Naval District. p. 59.

[1]

[2]

v t e Timeline of the Americas
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Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States
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v t e Cuba–United States relations
Diplomatic posts	Embassy of Cuba, Washington, D.C. Ambassadors of Cuba to the United States Embassy of the United States, Havana Ambassadors of the United States to Cuba Villa Paula United States Interests Section in Havana Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
Diplomacy	Cuban–American Treaty of Relations (1903) Hay-Quesada Treaty Cuban–American Treaty of Relations (1934) Good Neighbor policy Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance El Diálogo Cuba–United States Maritime Boundary Agreement Tripartite Accord (1988) Cuban thaw JetBlue Flight 387
Conflicts	Spanish–American War Ostend Manifesto USS Maine Monument to the Victims of the USS Maine (Havana) United States Senate Committee on Cuban Relations The Paquete Habana Army of Cuban Occupation Medal Propaganda United States Military Government in Cuba Second Occupation of Cuba Cuban Pacification Medal (Army) Banana Wars Negro Rebellion Sugar Intervention Cuban Revolution Aftermath La Coubre explosion Cuban exodus Cuban exile Golden exile Bay of Pigs Invasion Brigade 2506 Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front Cuban Revolutionary Council Operation 40 Operation Mongoose Operation Northwoods Operation Ortsac Operation Peter Pan JMWAVE Polita Grau José Antonio Llama Bay of Pigs Monument Bay of Pigs Museum Jamaican political conflict United States invasion of Grenada United States embargo against Cuba
Incidents	Cubana de Aviación Flight 493 Matthew Edward Duke Cuban Missile Crisis Crateology Banco Nacional de Cuba v. Sabbatino Zemel v. Rusk Cuba–United States aircraft hijackings Pan Am Flight 281 Trans World Airlines Flight 106 Southern Airways Flight 49 Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 Leyla Express and Johnny Express incidents Mariel boatlift Garcia-Mir v. Meese Cuban boat people Sandy Pollack Regan v. Wald 1994 Cuban rafter crisis Operations Safe Haven and Safe Passage Bill Gaede 1996 shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue aircraft Cuban Five Elián González Ana Montes Carlos Alvarez Elsa Alvarez Kendall Myers Alan Gross Havana syndrome American fugitives in Cuba Assassination attempts on Fidel Castro
Legislation	Teller Amendment Platt Amendment Cuban Assets Control Regulations Cuban Adjustment Act Wet feet, dry feet policy Helms–Burton Act Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act Cuban Democracy Act Trade Sanction Reform and Export Enhancement Act
Related	Americans in Cuba Cuban Americans Little Havana Cuban migration to Miami Havana on the Hudson Cuban–American lobby Guantánamo Bay Timeline Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Guantanamo Bay detention camp 1999 Baltimore Orioles–Cuba national baseball team exhibition series Alpha 66 Antonio Maceo Brigade Brothers to the Rescue Balseros Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations Cuban American National Foundation Cuban dissident movement Cuban Liberty Council CubaOne Foundation Cuban Power Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil Engage Cuba Fair Play for Cuba Committee Friends of Democratic Cuba Havana Jam Omega 7 Radio Free Dixie Radio y Televisión Martí US-Cuba Democracy PAC Varela Project Venceremos Brigade ZunZuneo Cuban football players who defected to the United States Filibuster (military) NOAAS Oregon II (R 332) Silver certificate Troika of tyranny Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame Boquerón, Cuba Straits of Florida Third Border Initiative State Sponsors of Terrorism United States and state-sponsored terrorism Luis Posada Carriles Orlando Bosch Cuba–OAS relations United Nations Security Council Resolution 144 Overthrow The Cuba Wars Balseros 638 Ways to Kill Castro
Category:Cuba–United States relations

Timeline of Guantánamo Bay

Timeline

Contents

See also

References