World War II

World War II. Key West — Florida Keys Historical Military Memorial. World War II . Following the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, President Roosevelt visited Key West and ordered the naval base reopened to support naval operations in the Caribbean. Soon thereafter, destroyers and seaplanes operating from Key West began neutrality patrols to keep German warships and submarines out of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. During the war, the Navy rapidly expanded its property from 50 to 3,200 acres, reopened and expanded the seaplane base, and established the Fleet Sonar School. The submarine basin was deepened, an ammunition depot was built on Fleming Key, a major ship-repair facility constructed, staffed by 3,400 civil-service personnel, and the Naval Hospital was built. The Key West airport and the Boca Chica airfield were turned over to Navy control. Coast artillery batteries manned by Army personnel provided seaward defense for the base. German U-boat attacks in Florida waters reached a peak in 1942 when they sank or severely damaged 102 ships, two of them just 12 miles from Key West. In response, the Navy set up the Gulf Sea Frontier headquarters at Key West, including a convoy control center, responsible for protection of shipping in Florida waters and the Gulf of Mexico. Minelayers planted a minefield north of Key West, the largest on the East coast, to protect ships assembling into convoys. Surface ship and air patrols from Key West reduced sinkings of merchant ships to four in 1943 and none thereafter. During the war, Key West military personnel strength reached 15,000, the convoy control center routed 8,000 ships, and the sonar school trained over 18,000 operators to detect and track submarines. The Navy lost two vessels in the Key West area during the war. The destroyer USS Sturtevant struck a mine in the defensive mine field and sank with the loss of seventeen crewmen. The submarine R-12 sank as a result of an accident on a training dive with the loss of forty-two officers and men. The training and development conducted at Key West contributed greatly to winning the Battle of the Atlantic. (Captions) Merchant ship sinking after being torpedoed by U-boat. German U-boat attacks in Florida waters reached a peak in 1942 when they sank or severely damaged 102 ships, two of then just 12 miles from Key West. The US Coast Guard Cutter Thetis based in Key West, sank a U-boat 20 miles south of the Marquesas Keys. By the end of 1943, surace ship and air patrols from Key West had eliminated sinkings in Florida Waters.