Russian ships near Florida? A brief history of military conflicts here.
From Teddy Roosevelt visiting Tampa Bay during the Spanish-American War to the Cuban Missile Crisis, here’s a history lesson. After Russian ships and a nuclear-powered submarine were deployed for naval exercises near South Florida, the U.S. Navy responded by sending aircraft and warships to monitor the whereabouts of the Russian fleet. This isn't the first time the US military has kept an eye on Florida for foreign operations. During the Spanish-American War, Tampa Bay was transformed by the construction of nearly 30 military buildings on Mullet Key and a military hospital. During World War II, Nazis attempted to bring terror to Florida during Operation Drumbeat, which resulted in the loss of 157 German crewmen. After Soviet missiles were discovered in Cuba, Florida became a focal point for a possible invasion of Cuba. The conflict and aftermath of the conflict had a significant impact on Tampa.
Опубликовано : 2 недели назад от Gabrielle Calise в
After Moscow deployed several ships and a nuclear-powered submarine for naval exercises less than 30 miles from South Florida’s coast, the U.S. Navy has responded by sending aircraft and warships of their own.
While U.S. officials say the Russian vessels have not “posed a direct threat,” the American vessels have been tasked with monitoring the whereabouts of the Russian fleet, according to the Miami Herald.
It’s not the first time the U.S. military has kept an eye on Florida when it comes to foreign operations. In 2018, Vladamir Putin showed a video rendering of a new intercontinental ballistic missile raining down on Tampa Bay during a state of Russia speech.
Here, we remember several other examples in history.
When the USS Maine exploded in Cuba’s Havana Harbor, the United States entered the Spanish-American War. Tampa was forever transformed.
“By late spring 1898, more than 30,000 troops were bivouacked in and around the city, and nearly 17,000 of them sailed for Cuba in mid-June,” the St. Petersburg Times wrote in 1998. “It was the largest expeditionary force assembled by the United States for combat on a foreign shore.”
The war efforts had a ripple effect across Tampa Bay, from new construction to international press coverage. Teams constructed nearly 30 military buildings on Mullet Key, including Fort De Soto. According to the Times archive, Egmont Key also became home to a military hospital and additional defenses.
In Ybor City and West Tampa cigar factories, Cuban cigar-rollers were inspired with “revolutionary fervor.” In St. Petersburg, Mirror Lake provided the fresh water that troops desperately needed when Tampa’s was found to be too brackish.
“Mirror Lake was considered vital enough that guards were posted there to prevent Spanish sympathizers from poisoning the water,” a St. Petersburg Museum of History archivist named Midge Laughlin told the Times.
Many of the folks who were waiting to go to Cuba enjoyed their time in the area and ended up returning later. Even Theodore Roosevelt, then a Rough Riders lieutenant colonel, “hunted in Pinellas and fished in Boca Ciega Bay.”
To read more on how the Spanish-American War shaped the region, read this story.
During World War II, Nazis “sought to bring terror to Florida,” during Operation Drumbeat, wrote Times reporter Paul Guzzo.
German U-Boats carried out the operation in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The goal was to mess with merchant shipping and harm Americans. The mission was short, spanning May 1942 to April 1943. But the impact was significant. Nazis sunk close to 70 vessels — several of which were traveling to and from Tampa — and killed roughly 700 people.
“The Nazis were so bold that they risked coming to shore,” Guzzo wrote. “When some were arrested, they had movie tickets in their pockets.”
Operation Drumbeat wasn’t as successful as the Germans hoped, historian Rodney Kite-Powell told the Times in 2020.
“There were never enough U-boats to pose a serious threat to American shipping, and difficulty in repairing and resupplying the German submarines continually hampered the German navy’s efforts,” Kite-Powell said. “Four out of the 15 U-boats assigned to the Gulf were sunk and, unlike the merchant seamen, there were no survivors when a submarine sank. In all, 157 German crewmen lost their lives in the Gulf during World War II.”
Explore more of the history here.
After Soviet missiles were discovered in Cuba, Florida became a focal point.
“More than 100,000 troops were sent to Florida for a possible invasion of Cuba,” wrote Prologue Magazine in 2002. “The navy dispatched 180 vessels into the Caribbean for a planned amphibious exercise involving 40,000 marines. B-52s loaded with nuclear weapons were in the air at all times.”
The conflict and its aftermath had a big impact on Cubans who were living in Tampa. In 2017, Paul Guzzo wrote about a brother and sister on both sides of the confrontation.
While Florida schoolchildren practiced duck-and-cover drills, some wealthy Central Floridians teamed up for a mega-bomb shelter in Mount Dora, Orlando Weekly reported in 2015. Twenty-five rich families worked together in secrecy to build the largest privately owned bomb shelter in the country, now called the Mount Dora Catacombs.
Information from the Tampa Bay Times archive was used in this article.
Темы: Russia-Ukraine War