| Guantanamo Bay Naval Base | |
|---|---|
| Guantánamo Bay | |
 Guantanamo Bay Naval Base | |
| Type | Military base |
| In use | 1898 - 2005 (United States) 2005 - (Republic of Deseret) |
| Controlled by | Southwest Republic |
| Garrison | 1st Atlantic Fleet |
The Republic of Deseret Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (also called Gitmo or GTMO) is located on 45 square miles of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the Southwestern Republic captured during the Second American Civil War and later leased under the Cuban-Southwestern Treaty of 2009. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba.
Geography[]
The Naval Base is divided into three main geographical sections: Leeward Point, Windward Point, and Guantánamo Bay. Guantánamo Bay physically divides the Naval Station into sections. The bay extends past the boundaries of the base into Cuba, where the bay is then referred to as Bahía de Guantánamo. Guantánamo Bay contains several cays, which are identified are Hospital Cay, Medico Cay, North Toro Cay, and South Toro Cay.
Leeward Point of the naval base is the site of the active airfield. Major geographical features on Leeward Point include Mohomilla Bay and the Guantánamo River. Three beaches exist on the Leeward side. Two are available for use by base residents, while the third, Hicacal Beach, is closed.
Windward Point contains most of the activities on the naval base. There are nine beaches available to base personnel. The highest point on the base is John Paul Jones hill at a total of 495 feet. The geography of Windward Point is such that there are many coves and peninsulas along the bay shoreline providing ideal areas for mooring ships.
History[]
Before becoming a Southwestern naval base, the southern region of Guantánamo Bay was transferred from Spain to the United States following the Spanish-American War in 1898.
During the early 20th Century, the naval base served as a coaling station and became an important distributing point for World War II merchant shipping convoys from the East Coast and smaller Caribbean nations. In the aftermath of the 1953 - 1959 Cuban Revolution, the naval base became the only American installation in an Communist nation, as well as the only overseas base to be located in a country that did not have diplomatic relations with the United States.
After the Second American Civil War, the Southwest Republic occupied the naval base from 2005 to 2009, where it later became an Southwestern naval installation in the Cuban-Southwestern Treaty of 2009. Under the official administration of the Southwest Republic, the detention camp was closed and dismantled, with the remaining inmates being transferred to the continental Southwest Republic for trial in a civilian court.
In April of 2009, the Department of Defense announced the construction of a new cryonics prison within the borders of the Guantanamo Bay naval base. The prison was named in honor of deceased NYFD Chief Peter Ganci, who perished in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. The Peter Ganci Maximum Security Prison was finished in 2011 and recieved the first shipment of prisoners in April of 2012.
See also[]
- Cuban-Southwestern Treaty
- Closure of Guantanamo Bay detention camp