10 of 16 pages of a single frame exhibit.

1. The U.S. Navy in Key West, Fla.
Lt. Cmdr. Matthew C. Perry planted the first U.S. flag on Key West in February 1822, marking the island United States
property. A year later, Commodore David Porter arrived with a squadron of ships and established the first naval station to
combat piracy.
The Navy has been a part of Key West history since the beginning and the island has played an important part in Navy
history as well. The island’s geographic location provides the nation a strategic military footprint and earned Key West the
nickname: “America’s Gibraltar”. The relationship between Key West and the U.S. Navy continues today.
This one-frame exhibit provides a unique collection of postal history and naval covers from Key West that highlight
significant U.S. Navy historic operations and milestones.
Canceled aboard USS Hannibal during survey operations in Cuba. Shipboard post offices were established in 1908 but
the ship’s name alone did not adequately indicate “place of mailing” by postal regulations. It’s believed placing the
port in the cancels killer bars addressed the concern.
EXHIBIT PLAN
Civil War
The Road to War With Spain (1874)
Key West Navy Milestones (1909-1911)
--Navy Authorizes Shipboard Post Offices
--First Attempt to Fly from Key West to Cuba
Battleship Maine Burial March 16, 1912
Banana Wars
--Cuba’s Little Race War 1912
--Occupation of the Dominican Republic 1914-1924
--Occupation of Vera Cruz 1914
World War I 1917-1919
Neutrality Patrol 1939-1941
World War II (1941-1945)
Cold War
Rare items are bordered in red. In the case of shipboard postmarks, rarity based upon Universal Ship Cancellation Society
Postmark guide

2. The Civil War (1861-1865)
Although Key West sent delegates to the state assembly to vote for secession, Federal troops took control of Fort Zachary
Taylor and Fort Jefferson in the nearby Dry Tortugas for the Union. As the only southern port not controlled by the
Confederacy, Key West played an important role as the headquarters for the East Gulf Blockade Squadron that enforced the
Union blockade of southern ports from Cape Canaveral to Pensacola. During the last year of the war, the Union launched
several raids from Key West into southern Florida at St. Marks. Many Civil War scholars feel the Union seizure of Key West
and the island’s strategic location in the Union blockade shortened the war.
Inbound letter to
officer aboard U.S.
Steamer Huntsville.
The ship arrived in
Key West, May 11,
1861 and seized
more than a dozen
blockade runners.
In 1864, Yellow
Fever claimed the
lives of half the
crew in quarantine
at Key West.
Outbound letter from U.S.
Steamer
Fort
Henry
postmarked with cork
cancel. Navy ships did not
have post offices until 1908
and Sailors used shorebased facilities. The ship
arrived for blockade duty in
Key West on June 2, 1862.
She had a successful career
capturing blockade runners
and in coordination with
other U.S. Navy gunboats,
Sailors and Marines raided
various
ports
along
Florida's coast.

3. The Road to War With Spain (1874)
The Spanish Navy seized the U.S.-flagged ship “Virginius”, a known blockade runner that ran arms and men for Cuban
insurgents, on Oct. 30, 1873. Put on trial, the American and British crewmembers were found guilty of piracy and received
the death penalty. Before diplomacy could take hold, 53 of the ship’s 144 crew were executed. American newspapers
declared the Virginius seizure illegal and demanded the U.S. go to war with Spain to avenge the death of executed
Americans. Key West, already a Cuban exile community, was becoming a more important naval base and coaling station for
an inevitable war with Spain.
Outbound letter from
one of the Navy’s first
chaplain’s aboard U.S.
ship Colorado.
Outbound letter from U.S.
monitor Manhattan
postmarked Jan. 14, 1874
with cork cancel.
Manhattan, a veteran of
the Civil War, was
ordered to Key West with
other monitors in Dec.
1873. She participated in
Caribbean fleet exercises
and local operations until
leaving for Pensacola in
1875.

4. Key West Navy Milestones 1909-1911
Navy Authorizes Shipboard Post Offices June 27, 1908
Until the round-the-world cruise of the Great White Fleet, the U.S. Navy was largely coastal and made use of
local post offices in U.S. ports. With the rise of a global Navy, foreign post offices proved unreliable and with
sailors deployed from home for longer periods of time, the demand for shipboard post offices arose. Today,
more than 40,000 different postmarks from more than 5000 ships have been cataloged using the Locysystem, designed by Dr. Frances E. Locy who published the first serious research in collecting Navy postmarks.
In general terms, naval postmarks can be categorized in approximately 10 different types with different
letters describing variations in the postmark.
An early naval postmark
on a Key West-picture
postcard from the
destroyer tender USS
Prairie (AD-5) dated Feb.
18, 1909. Prairie’s post
office was established
July 29, 1908 and
disestablished for the
last time on Nov. 22,
1922. This is a Type I
postmark and is
considered scarce.
A rare naval postmark
on a Key West-picture
postcard from Patrol
Yacht Hist dated Nov.
23, 1909. The ship was
conducting a
hydrographic survey of
the southern coast of
Cuba between Cape
Cruz and Casilda at this
time. The Hist’s post
office was established
Nov. 27, 1908 and
disestablished June 30,
1911. This is a Type I
postmark and fewer
than 25 are recorded.

5. Navy Milestones Key West 1909-1911
First Attempt to Fly From Key West to Havana, Jan. 30, 1911
In Dec. 1910, four new Navy ships of the Atlantic Torpedo Fleet arrived in Key West: USS Paulding, USS Terry,
USS Roe and USS Drayton. The ships had recently had their engines converted from burning coal to oil: the
first ships in the U.S. Navy to do so. Upon arriving in Key West, Lt. Cmdr. Yates Stirling, group commander of
the torpedo squadron and commanding officer of USS Paulding, received orders from Capt. Irving Chambers,
the officer in charge of research the airplane for Navy purposes, to render any assistance to J.A.D (Douglas)
McCurdy, in his attempt to fly from Key West to Havana. Though McCurdy’s Curtis-built seaplane developed
engine problems and was forced to land in Cuba waters, the attempt provided the Navy not only valuable
information about Naval aviation but developed the procedures for wireless telegraphy communications
between ships and shore stations which was still in its infancy.
A postcard from USS Paulding crewmember to his grandmother informing her of his arrival in Key West. Destroyers like
Paulding, given their size, did not have shipboard post offices. This postcard was postmarked at Key West with the onecent domestic rate for postcards. Postcard was published by W.A. Johnson of Key West, Fla. who ironically was aboard
USS Paulding during McCurdy’s attempt and photographed the aviator ‘s rescue.
Front of Postcard
USS Paulding (DD-22)

6. Battleship Maine Burial, March 16, 1912
Sunk in February 1898, the Maine wreckage became a navigation hazard in Havana Harbor and the wreck had
to be removed. Twelve years later, Congress authorized the salvage of the ship and the recovery of
remaining bodies. The Army Corps of Engineers was directed to supervise the work, which involved the
building of a cofferdam around the sunken hulk, the pumping out of the water, and the removal of the wreck
itself. On March 16, 1912, the wreck was towed to sea and sunk in deep water. USS North Carolina carried
the remains of 36 Sailors back to Hampton Roads, with USS Birmingham as escort. Key West played a support
role for the operation.
USS North
Carolina Type 2
cancel
postmarked Mar.
12, 1912. Post
office opened
Nov. 13, 1908;
disestablished
June 1920.
Written:
Dear Cousin, I
received your
card the day we
left Cuba for Key
West. We will
only be here a
short while as we
are going back to
Cuba, Havana this
time, to bury the
old Maine.
Light cruiser USS
Birmingham Type 1
cancel postmarked
Mar. 9, 1912. Stamp
missing. Post office
opened July 29, 1908;
disestablished Aug. 10,
1923. Birmingham was
part of the Navy flotilla
that celebrated the
arrival of Henry Flagler
the first overseas train
arrival in Key West, Jan
22, 1912.
Written: “…leave
Havana for Hampton
Roads, Va.on 15th with
Maine victims.”

7. The Banana Wars
Occupation of Dominican Republic, 1914-1924.
The Navy was sent to the
Dominican Republic several times to protect U.S. interests. In 1916, the Navy was sent to resolve a coup with
the threat of force. United States Marines landed and took control of the country. Occupation and a military
government restored order. Key West was an important logistics and support base for the Navy.
USS Petrel played a role in
moving U.S. citizens and
diplomatic personnel
who supervised elections
in the Dominican Republic
and elsewhere in the
Caribbean. Postmarked
May 1, 1914, this cancel is
rare (less than 100 copies
recorded). It’s classified a
Type 3 (AC) and “Key
West” is just visible in its
killer bars. The ship’s post
office was established Jun
24, 1910, and
disestablished Jan. 19,
1915.
USS Panther embarked
a Marine force in Haiti
and landed them in
Santo Domino on May
22-23, as part of the
occupation force.
Postmarked Mar. 13,
1916, this cancel is rare
(less than 100 copies
recorded). It’s
classified a Type 3 (AC)
with “Key West” in its
killer bars. The ship’s
post office was
established Jun 10,
1909, and
disestablished Nov. 25,
1921.

8. The Banana Wars
Occupation of Vera Cruz, Mexico, 1914.
U.S. intervention and occupation of
Mexico are related to the same general commercial and political causes but was unique as it was done to cut
off German munitions to a Mexican government the U.S. did not recognize. Key West was an important
logistics and support base for the Navy and an important relay point for wireless communications between
the military and Washington, DC.
The battleship USS North
Dakota stopped in Key West
on her return from Vera
Cruz where she had landed
Marines at Fort San Juan de
Ulloa. Postmarked Oct. 11,
1914, with a Type 3 (N-20b)
and “Key West” in its killer
bars. The ship’s post office
was established May 26,
1910, and disestablished
Nov. 22, 1923. Sailor wrote
on reverse: “As we send a
body ashore at Key West, I
think I will also go ashore.
See, we are all kinds of a
ship; funeral ship, priosn
ship, ship hospital, ship
passenger, and also a
transport for animals and
birds as we have a donkey
and a goat forward and a
bunch of parrots.”
The battleship USS Virginia
was enroute to Vera Cruz
when it stopped in Key
West. Postmarked Apr.
28, 1914, it’s classified a
Type 3 (BC) with “Key
West Florida” in its killer
bars. The ship’s post
office was established
Aug. 11, 1908, and
disestablished Aug. 2,
1920. A Marine writes
home: “We are going to
Mexico and land the firing
party. John and I are in
the same company. It’s
very hard in Mexico just
now. So tell Mae not to
worry about us.”

9. The Neutrality Patrol, 1939-1941
The Neutrality Patrol, organized on Sept. 4, 1939 as a response to the war in Europe, was ordered to track and report
the movements of any warlike operations of belligerents in the waters of the western hemisphere. Key West , which
suffered greatly from a Navy drawdown during the Great Depression , benefited enormously by a the resurgence of
military activity on the island.
This cover was carried aboard a Navy P2Y seaplane of Patrol Squadron 53 (VP-53) from Norfolk to Key West. Very few
were carried. The pilot who carried these letters was Lt. Jesse G. Johnson who was a stamp collector and made other
commemorative covers during his career.
The destroyer USS Sturtevant was one of 77 warships recommissioned for the Neutrality Patrol. Shortly after
leaving Key West on Apr. 26, 1942, she accidently sailed into a mine field and was sunk by three explosions. Fifteen
sailors were killed. Her post office was reestablished Nov. 20, 1939.

10. The Cold War
After World War II, Key West became an important submarine base. The Navy’s Sonar School trained the sonar
technicians of the fleet’s ships, submarines and aircraft. Almost every new submarine visited the city on shakedown
cruise. Defense budget cuts following Vietnam closed Key West’s waterfront and nearly decimated the island’s
economy until tourism became the major industry. The former Navy base was sold to a private developer after the city
declined the Navy’s offer to accept it.
USS Thresher made a brief stop in Key West during sea trials. Considered the state-of-the-art nuclear attack submarine, it
was lost with all hands 10 months later on Apr. 10, 1963 during sea trials. The submarine did not have a post office. This
cover was postmarked in Key West during her brief stop and signed by the commanding officer, Cmdr. Dean Axene.
Surrendered to the allies in May, 1945, the former German U-2513 was commissioned into the U.S. Navy the
following year. Assigned to Key West, the submarine was exploited for it’s engineering and sonar developments.
President Harry S. Truman became the 2nd President to submerge in her to a depth of 450 feet. The sub was
decommissioned in 1951 and sunk as a target near Key West and the Dry Tortugas.