April 12

The USS Marlin (SST 2), the USS Mackerel (SST 1), and the USS Quillback (SS 424) at the pier at the Naval Station Key West in March 1973.

1837 – J.W. Davis, keeper of a Key West public boarding house, shot and killed tenant Henry Kingsberry during an altercation.

1893 – The Key West Cornet Band was named “Champion of the State.” The officers of the band were: Charles A. Shavers, president; F.W. Adams Jr., vice president; F.E. Welters, secretary; N.F. English, treasurer and Cubel Mickens, leader and director.

1937 – A party from Green Bay, Wisconsin, fishing with charter boat captain Jake Key brought in a Kingfish that weighed 121 pounds.

1949 – General Dwight Eisenhower and the Joint Chiefs of Staff left Key West after three days of meetings. General Eisenhower, who had been recuperating in Key West since March 28, went to Georgia for more rest; the others returned to Washington.

1956 – Adlai Stevenson, candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, spoke to a large crowd at Bayview Park in Key West.

1970 – The USS Quillback (SS 525) was open to the public for tours at Naval Station Key West’s Pier 1. Quillback was a unit of Submarine Squadron 12, commanded by Lt. Cmdr. W.M. Russ, Jr.

1986 – Halley’s Comet was at its peak brightness, and Key West was one of the best places in the U.S. to see it. Boats were offering nighttime “comet cruises,” and astronomers of all levels were gathered along Smathers Beach on the island’s southern shore, where light pollution was at a minimum.

Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.

Image: The USS Marlin (SST 2), the USS Mackerel (SST 1), and the USS Quillback (SS 424) at the pier at the Naval Station Key West in March 1973. From the Ida Woodward Barron Collection. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.