Guantanamo Bay Naval Base area surrounding Guantanamo bay was originally inhabited by the Taíno people. On 30 April 1494, Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage, arrived and spent the night. The place where Columbus landed is now known as Fisherman's Point. Columbus declared the bay "Puerto Grande". The bay and surrounding areas came under British control during the War of Jenkins' Ear. Prior to British occupation, the bay was referred to as "Walthenham Harbor". The British renamed the bay "Cumberland Bay". The British retreated from the area after a failed attempt to march to Santiago de Cuba. During the Spanish–American War, the U.S. fleet
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base D. Bulkeley ordered that the pipelines be cut and a section removed. A length of the diameter pipe and a length of the diameter pipe were lifted from the ground and the openings sealed. , the military facilities at Guantanamo Bay have over 9,500 U.S. sailors and Marines stationed there. It is the only military base the U.S. maintains in a socialist country. In 2005, the U.S. Navy completed a $12 million wind-power project at the base, erecting four 950-kilowatt, 275-foot-tall wind turbines, reducing the need for Diesel fuel to power the existing Diesel generators (the base's primary electricity generation).