Harbor View

The Northwest Bastion overlooks Key West Harbor, with the main ship channel to the south and the main harbor to the north. Key West served as the headquarters of the East Coast Blockading Fleet, which worked to stop the flow of goods and war materials into and out of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and captured blockade runners were brought there by the U.S. Navy. During World Wars I and II, the fort protected submarine and destroyer forces from the nearby U.S. Naval Station. In World War II, two 90mm M1 Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat guns were placed adjacent to and on Battery Adair to provide anti-shipping and anti-aircraft defense for the U.S. Naval Station. In the late 1890s, Key West was the winter home of the North Atlantic Fleet, including the battleship Maine (ACR-1), which lay anchored in Key West Harbor shortly before leaving for Havana Harbor in late January 1898. Three weeks later, on the evening of February 15, 1898, a mysterious explosion sank the battleship in Havana Harbor, helping lead to the declaration of war against Spain in April 1898.

Key West, Florida · United States