OMG.... My cousin and I took his boat there in the mid 1980s. There was literally NOBODY else on the island (as it was before the time it was a national park). it was one of the creepiest days of my life. Very strange vibe while there.
@@csnide6702 that would’ve been so cool. Did it on another little island with canoes about a half mile off islamorada. No one there and it was so cool but obviously not as wild as dry tortugas pre national park setting up
The Dry Tortugas is such an amazing place. Well worth the long boat ride. It fascinates me how they came up with that idea: A fort out in the ocean! Great spot for snorkeling as well!
A great follow up for this would be the literal opposing end of Florida, another fort maintained but not abandoned and a state park, Fort Pickens on Pensacola Beach. There is a tremendous amount of history there, from the bricks, Geronimo,and so much more.
Believe it or not, the Army build over 40 of these types of coastal defense forts after the War of 1812. They can be found as far north as Maine. Even Alcatraz in San Francisco was part of this push to build new coastal defenses.
@@Backroad_Junkie I can believe that. Any sources on a list of them? Pensacola actually has two. There’s another two in Pensacola. Fort Barrancas and Fort Pickens.
@@presmasterflash7555 Sure. Do a search on "The Third System Forts". That's the name given to the set of forts and other seacoast defense sites built to beef up the coastal defense system after the War of 1812.
Fort Jefferson National Park. I did restoration on the Harbor Light back in 98 sandblasted the entire outside we stripped the windows and repainted everything. The parks department is rebuilding the park. That is a National Monument. Just because there weren't a lot of tourists around that particular day. I have seen hundreds in one day when I was working there for months at a time.
Visiting this fort by seaplane is an expensive but great adventure. The fort and surroundings are picturesque. In addition to exploring the grounds, one can snorkel around the outer walls.
Went with my family of 4 several years ago. We had a blast. Snorkeling around the outer walls is like swimming in a giant fish tank. Exploring the old fort was also lots of fun. If you are ever staying in Key West this is a must adventure.
In the year of 1964 I was in the Coast Guard. The ship that I was on USCGC WALNUT took care of the buoys around Ft. Jefferson. That was a nice place to visit. I don't think that will ever forget Dry Tortugas Ft. Jefferson.
My Dad was in the Coast Guard in 1959 & 1960 in Key West. He worked on a light house, 3 weeks offshore, 1 week on shore. My brothers were born in Key West, parents had a travel trailer there, was $25 a month lot rent. After they left the trailer remained for about 47 more years through all the storms etc. Trailer Park is now a hotel, I think.
My uncle was on an experimental NAVY ship in the late 60's early 70's. I heard stories about the dry tortugas, launching torpedos at old ship wrecks, and setting off naval mines while doing shock testing on the ship.
I agree: seaplane is the way to go. I saw a couple of sunken ships from the air (including a submarine), a great view of the sea life, and, since I took the morning flight, got there long before the ferry arrived. Basically had the island to ourselves. The ferry arrived a little bit before it was time for us to head back. Well worth the extra cost (mind you, I was there in the 90's).
I had the good fortune to visit the Fort with friends on a long line fishing boat. We caught grouper on the way down from Marco Island to trade with the shrimp and lobster boats. We were the first boat to tie off of the bouy and we stayed overnight. Ended up with 10 more boats tied off to each other. What a fun time we had visiting the fort and boat hopping. One of the best trips of my life 😅
Good timing considering this is Gasparilla month in Tampa w/ biggest even today, 1/28/23 The Gasparilla Pirate Invasion and Parade. Just 300,000 people celebrating those crazy pirates 🏴☠️
Excellent video. Going here from key West is definitely worth the trip, as you arrive if you don't see a modern item/vehicle you feel like you went back in time. Round trip and tour will definitely be an all day event. You can camp there but anything you bring in you have to take out. When there i wish I had been able to get to loggerhead key. My great grandfather was a lighthouse keeper in the 1910s there. Not sure that one is restored but still nice to see from fort Jefferson. Also the guides there at fort Jefferson are very friendly and very knowledgeable about this place, will definitely tell you things you never knew about this place. Only downside might be in the summer extremely hot place, if that affects you then better off going November to March. And bring a cooler if your boat allows. Not much rain (dry tortugas).
I sail to the Dry Tortugas a couple of times a year it's an amazing place and I hope the government maintains it to preserve our history. It can be dangerous for sailors due to sudden storms and poor holding in the anchorages. I really wish the park service would install mooring balls.
@@bowdezaufa2609 they have a few mooring balls, I think three located at a couple of marked shipwreck Windjammer and one off the east side of Loggerhead Key called little Africa. The holding ground in the anchorages is not the greatest, I always dive the anchor but even that is no guarantee. Absolutely beautiful down there.
I camped in the beach in front of Fort Jefferson in 91 with my highschool class. We took a boat and caught piles of fish and had a great time checking out the fort and snorkeling around the harbor. I saw a snook swimming with tarpon that would have been a world record, over 50 lbs easily. It was longer than my friend who saw it with me. I'd absolutely love to go back and see it again and stay a week camping. The mote around the fort is great to walk around at night with a strong flashlight, you see fish and lobsters and shrimp all in the mote, and there are fish to catch from the mote wall. Very cool place, especially for people who love fishin'.
When I visited Key West, I was going to go out to the first. Unfortunately I didn't have time for the ferry and flights were grounded due to wind. Definitely want to go back to Key West and actually visit the fort though.
I took the plane just last year and I can attest it truly is amazing. I bet it was cool to see the ship wrecks along the way from the perspective of a boat, they looked really cool from above (and some other anomalies) but they went by quick
Our family went there in late 90's. It was awesome. We also took the catamaran . Going over was smooth sailing but coming back we hit tough waters and a lot of folks were really seasick. There was a jail there and Doctor Mudd was sentenced there. The doctor was the one that treated John Wilkes Booth after he shot Abraham Lincoln. Very interesting trip! I would love to go back again.
Navy guy here. I spent 2 years in KW on the USS Howard W. Gilmore 1971/2 I had ample opportunity to go there, both on private boats and tour boats, but I never did. I went back to KW for Christmas and New Years 1996/97 for a 25th reunion with some of the guys that could make it. I never went to fort Jeff either time but knew its History and saw all the post card vendors had a photo of the Fort in their selection of cards. Do I wish I visited the fort? Heck no! KW was a "prison" with history and hot as Hell. The chance to take a boat 60+ miles further away from the mainland to see another "prison" was insane to me The postcards and History were well known to me. Besides they had a fort that was in KW similar in age and construction. The best thing about the Keys is when you are packing up to leave. None the less, thanks for a great video about something that most people never even heard of, very accurate! It seems our Government hasn't learned a thing, we still can't help building White Elephants!
Fort Point, San Francisco, an 1855 fort to secure our new California. A lot smaller fort, interlocking with others, I cluding Alcatraz, which became an Army prison, then a Federal one.
When we visited, the sea was rough. When the captain greets you on the dock and offers to give you your money back, take it. But the fort is well worth seeing if you’ve got the sea legs for it.
The iron Lighthouse shown Atop The Fort is not the first lighthouse built on the island, the first lighthouse built on the island was a traditional brick masonry lighthouse built on what is now the parade ground inside the fort.
I've been to a couple of these post-1812 forts. Fort Pike (just outside of New Orleans, but it may not have survived the hurricanes since I was there), and Fort Pulaski in Georgia. They were all good until a Captain Gilmore test fired the new rifled cannon against Pulaski during the civil war, putting holes right through the walls (and the holes are still there, lol). That was in the early 1860's. It was pretty much all over for these forts after that... If you like to wander these sorts of places, they're very cool.
You can camp with permission from the park authorities. Limited camp slots are available. It's a VERY small campground outside the walls of the fort. Well worth the cost of the boat ride. Bring your snorkel and swim gear with you when you do the day visit. You can swim around the entire fort.
I always loved bastion/star fortresses asthenic. They don't get nearly the love they deserve considering how effective they also were. Some of these could withstand against cannon bombardment during sieges for decades.
Totally agree. Were lucky in Brit-land - we have quite a few. And I often wondered why they weren't adopted for more modern times - a star fortress with machine guns on the bastions would be a formidable defensive structure against small scale local insurgents.
Up until the early 1860's. Then, the rifled cannon was developed, and could put holes right through the walls of forts like this. It made all of these forts obsolete, fairly quickly. They weren't abandoned, but they didn't serve the purpose the government desired when they were built.
@@mrb.5610 if you visit puerto rico, take a tour of the El Morro fort. In one of the stairways you can see a single bullet pierced through the wall during the spanish american war
@@francismarion6400 That's been said about the forts around Portsmouth in the UK - imagine around a *dozen* of fortresses the same size as that one encircling a naval base - and ones even built in the sea like small islands ! Never, ever, fired a shot in anger - or were shot at - but their mere presence may have made the French just think that an attack would be pointless - so why bother ? !
Here in the Netherlands we have a LOT. And I mean a LOT. Most were built during our golden age in the 17th century. But the 19th and 20th century forts are quite amazing to.
The name says it all. The "dry" Tortugas are called such because they have no water sources. Every gallon of drinking water had to be brought in by ship. Not ideal for a fortification.
The first thing that came to mind when I saw the fort was that it was unsustainable unless you have command of the sea around it because of the lack of fresh water.
Interesting presentation - thanks for sharing online. Although, I thought it was odd that you emphasized that each of the commanders had no engineering background... then you also mentioned that an officer requested an engineer (and was denied). Funding was poor. Then stated, that engineering was a challenge. ...Which may have not been that challenging for somebody that knew something about engineering. Haha
We first visited there in 1977. Didnt see anyone, the park rangers must have been napping. Flew there again in 1989 with our kids, one in diapers, and camped. Back twice on the big ferry boat, camping and kayaking. Hours before a big storm hit, we were snooping in the fort looking for numerous ghosts seen there, and had ball lightning come down out of a tree and follow us into a dark room, lighting it up. Pretty weird. The following year the head ranger took us on a ghost tour late at night. He was there seven years, and had a few good stories. As did marine biologists who were stationed there.
Hurricanes winds are not as destructive as people think...Specially on rocks that weigh tons...Some of the Hotels on "Deco Drive" Miami beach were built in the 1920s and are still standing and in use to this day...The devastations you see through hurricanes are mostly the flooding and flying debris...Once the waters recedes, you clean up and repair roofs if needed and the glass...The fort doesn't have any glass soo that part is no problem...
That fort still standing will be there long after we’re gone. It’s one of the key arguments against rising sea levels allegedly caused by Climate Change. It should be under water by now….
Ironically, I’m from St. Augustine Florida (in the NE) and grew up fishing and scuba diving. With all my trips to the Keys, I don’t remember ever coming across this location.
yep, went there Dec '22 and stayed for close to 3 hours, flight took close to an hour. so plan around 6 hours start to finish including going to the airport.
Missing prepositions combined with some incorrect statements concerning the fortress of Gibraltar. Malta is an island south of Sicily, unrelated to Gibraltar.
Tis a really cool place, visit it if you can. Maybe less so to have been stationed there... no shots were ever fired there in anger... but plenty were in boredom!
The place is beautiful even when storms are rolling through. I got hundreds of great pictures camping there a few years ago. Better come prepared, though.
I love the fort and loved snorkeling there. Not sure of your choice of pictures for this video though. Sunset Key (Tank Is.) is right next to Key West and has nothing to do with Fort Jefferson, Marion Cty. Florida is landlocked in the northern central part of the state.
It's worth mentioning that the Coast Guard has a little base on an island a few miles from Garden Key/Fort Jefferson. They have blimps that hold radar and other sensors, crew and boats, and possibly a helicopter.
Take the Yankee Freedom Ferry to the Dry Tortugas out of Key West. A guy named Hollywood gives a generous tour. The fort wasn't abandoned but decommissioned. It was an engineering boondoggle and fiscally a waste yet important to controlling the war effort nonetheless. It is part of the US National Park system and is manned by a Park Ranger every day of the year.
I have been there. Its about 2.5 hour ferry one way trip west of Key West. It also includes a Bird Sanctuary. It's pretty interesting to visit, but more for the nature than for the fort itself. They funniest thing for me is that the US built a lot of these "star" style forts, but did it right before they lost most of their defensive value. The brick work wasn't going to stand up long to the WW1 era artillery.
I used to live in Key West. If you want to visit the fort and are prone to seasickness, take the seaplane - or, if you're taking the ferry, get prescription seasickness medicine (Scopolamine patch - it goes behind your ear and works great; BTW those seasickness wrist bands are complete BS, and Dramamine will make you tired - but if you decide on that, take one the night before the trip, and one the morning of) from your doctor (it's worth it) as the seas between KW and the DT can often be quite rough (turning the ferry into the puke boat from hell). Same thing if you take the ferry from Ft. Myers to KW - it can be a stomach churner, and a 4-5 hour boat ride while being seasick is no fun at all...
I went fishing with my dad when I was a kid. He was in the Navy. They had ships in key west back in 1970. We went fishing on a 50ft. Crew boat. We were out in the open ocean and all of a sudden we came up on a gigantic brick fort out in the middle of nowhere. I remember asking how they got all those bricks way out there back when all they had was wooden ships. I still have not heard a good answer to that question?
This is a cool spot to go. You can also camp with reservations. No fresh water, bring your own (i.e. "Dry" Tortugas). Coral is amazing! Though I had a shark swim right at me within 10' then turn to follow the outer walkway. Nurse shark! Just a nurse shark...still when your 50' from shore in 15' of water with fins on, your heart tends to quicken...not a good thing...in the water.....with a shark!
I don't understand its strategic value either unless things were just vastly different than I would have thought for the age. That it was "dry" just complicates things immensely too even, so just the damn water has to either be desalinated or imported. But it's like "why the heck didn't they realize these things even at the time??"
Always wondered how the 16 million bricks, mortar and building supplies got to the location with such shallow water, storms and hurricanes.......plus food, water and shelter for the people who built it.......
@@Backroad_Junkie they said there is already a Ferry service to the island for people that want to explore it I don’t think it would be that difficult to build a small building in the center of the fort to act as the toilets, gift shop, drink stand and visitor center. You could power it with solar power being that it’s in Florida with a small backup generator and a water tower to collect the rain water. They could probably convert the officer building into said building and if the plumbing is too hard go for porta potties. You could even do what fort Niagara does and have dummy round firing cannon displays. I would pay to see it anyway
@@captaincrazyhat It's a National Park. It already has a visitor's center with a gift shop, and they contract a company to supply very limited food service and beverages. (Even beer! 😁 ) Plumbing is harder, since they're zero feet above sea level. There are supposedly composting toilets, but those are closed most of the day, and are generally only available to the campers. The ferry service is supposed to fill in a lot of those services, like flush toilets. (I did have a plan to go there while I was in Key West, but just didn't have the time...)
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
Mobile (mow-beel) Pensacola (Pen-suh-cola)
I counted up to three mispronunciations then quit.
Well, it's in the south, spanish north america. Yankees shouldn't be drafted for reading our words
@@tomallen8459 I'm from GA and I've heard Southerners mispronounce Southern place names.
Based
I'm from Miami, and we say Moe-bile
OMG.... My cousin and I took his boat there in the mid 1980s. There was literally NOBODY else on the island (as it was before the time it was a national park). it was one of the creepiest days of my life. Very strange vibe while there.
gee i wonder why lol
Same kind of story, me & brother 1981,, working in KCMO, went into Union Station, hundreds of pigeons,very nasty! Now restored
@@csnide6702 that would’ve been so cool. Did it on another little island with canoes about a half mile off islamorada. No one there and it was so cool but obviously not as wild as dry tortugas pre national park setting up
The Dry Tortugas is such an amazing place. Well worth the long boat ride.
It fascinates me how they came up with that idea: A fort out in the ocean!
Great spot for snorkeling as well!
Back when men were men.
The baby boomers currently have humanity upside down.
@@philup6274 OK, Phil.
@@kevinwatts661 you know I'm right. Or you would have just scrolled on. Your one of them huh?
@@kevinwatts661 ok, boomer
Perhaps all of you that dislike “boomers “ should go on a boycott campaign and stop using EVERYTHING that has ever been invented buy boomers.
A great follow up for this would be the literal opposing end of Florida, another fort maintained but not abandoned and a state park, Fort Pickens on Pensacola Beach. There is a tremendous amount of history there, from the bricks, Geronimo,and so much more.
Believe it or not, the Army build over 40 of these types of coastal defense forts after the War of 1812.
They can be found as far north as Maine. Even Alcatraz in San Francisco was part of this push to build new coastal defenses.
@@Backroad_Junkie I can believe that. Any sources on a list of them? Pensacola actually has two. There’s another two in Pensacola. Fort Barrancas and Fort Pickens.
@@presmasterflash7555 Sure. Do a search on "The Third System Forts".
That's the name given to the set of forts and other seacoast defense sites built to beef up the coastal defense system after the War of 1812.
@@Backroad_Junkie nice. I’ll be looking it up tonight. Thanks
Fort mcree is further west than Pickens.
So is barrancas.
I bet you thought the Vax protects too!
Fort Jefferson National Park. I did restoration on the Harbor Light back in 98 sandblasted the entire outside we stripped the windows and repainted everything. The parks department is rebuilding the park. That is a National Monument. Just because there weren't a lot of tourists around that particular day. I have seen hundreds in one day when I was working there for months at a time.
Usually there are many visitors between peak hours of 10 am and 4 pm
I've been there. There were a lot of tourists there that day I was there, so I agree.
It's usually an out-and-back one -day trip from one of the Keys.
Visiting this fort by seaplane is an expensive but great adventure. The fort and surroundings are picturesque. In addition to exploring the grounds, one can snorkel around the outer walls.
Lived in Florida many years, but never heard of this place.. Ryan thx for bringing us along on another adventure.. take care my friend...
Oddly, when I think of Florida, Disneyland never comes to mind.
Considering Disneyland is in California, I can see why, Disney world is in Orlando, an hour from where I live, and it never comes to mind either.
It shouldn't, Disneyland is in California, Disney World is in Florida.
Me either and I live there hahahahaha
@@jmsmeier1113 but both Disneyland and Disney world are located in Orange County
Yeah, tbh I think of murder and crazy people, and clubbing on Miami Beach.
Went with my family of 4 several years ago. We had a blast. Snorkeling around the outer walls is like swimming in a giant fish tank. Exploring the old fort was also lots of fun. If you are ever staying in Key West this is a must adventure.
Thank you for taking the time to make this video im 55 and have never heard of that fort before today
I did the Dry Tortugas tour, and got there by sea plane. It's a little pricey, but so worth it. One of the best things i've ever done .
Ft. Jefferson is one of the best maintained "abandoned" forts that is now a National Park that people visit.
Cat
the place needs more cats because the island is full of rats. You camp in tents there and rats will be climbing all over, chewing up everything.
This is the 1st time I have heard about this place. But I have been dreaming of living there4 a year now. Thk u 4 showing me where it is. Thk u.
Just visited Dry Tortugas 2 days ago. Beautiful.
In the year of 1964 I was in the Coast Guard. The ship that I was on USCGC WALNUT took care of the buoys around Ft. Jefferson. That was a nice place to visit. I don't think that will ever forget Dry Tortugas Ft. Jefferson.
My Dad was in the Coast Guard in 1959 & 1960 in Key West. He worked on a light house,
3 weeks offshore, 1 week on shore. My brothers were born in Key West, parents had a travel trailer there, was $25 a month lot rent. After they left the trailer remained for about 47 more years through all the storms etc. Trailer Park is now a hotel, I think.
I visited Fort Jefferson in about 2010
My uncle was on an experimental NAVY ship in the late 60's early 70's. I heard stories about the dry tortugas, launching torpedos at old ship wrecks, and setting off naval mines while doing shock testing on the ship.
You can camp there and the views of stars at night is amazing.
That's a great idea.
This is a great National park to visit. I went once on the Sea Plane out of Key West and once on my buddy’s private boat.
The sea plane ride was awesome the pilot let me ride next to him up front
@@ericmcballs3894 My son sat there on the way back. He loved it.
I agree: seaplane is the way to go. I saw a couple of sunken ships from the air (including a submarine), a great view of the sea life, and, since I took the morning flight, got there long before the ferry arrived. Basically had the island to ourselves. The ferry arrived a little bit before it was time for us to head back. Well worth the extra cost (mind you, I was there in the 90's).
I had the good fortune to visit the Fort with friends on a long line fishing boat. We caught grouper on the way down from Marco Island to trade with the shrimp and lobster boats. We were the first boat to tie off of the bouy and we stayed overnight. Ended up with 10 more boats tied off to each other. What a fun time we had visiting the fort and boat hopping. One of the best trips of my life 😅
Sailed there twice. Interesting visit. Good snorkeling waters.
Good timing considering this is Gasparilla month in Tampa w/ biggest even today, 1/28/23 The Gasparilla Pirate Invasion and Parade. Just 300,000 people celebrating those crazy pirates 🏴☠️
Fell in love with it from the first picture of it I saw. Great history lesson and overview!
Fort Jefferson is awesome. It is well worth the trip out from Key West
Just went there in November of 2022. I hated the ride. The fort was amazing.
good Morning Phil!! good to catch you today! Thanks for the nice reply about my new projects!!
Excellent video. Going here from key West is definitely worth the trip, as you arrive if you don't see a modern item/vehicle you feel like you went back in time. Round trip and tour will definitely be an all day event. You can camp there but anything you bring in you have to take out. When there i wish I had been able to get to loggerhead key. My great grandfather was a lighthouse keeper in the 1910s there. Not sure that one is restored but still nice to see from fort Jefferson. Also the guides there at fort Jefferson are very friendly and very knowledgeable about this place, will definitely tell you things you never knew about this place. Only downside might be in the summer extremely hot place, if that affects you then better off going November to March. And bring a cooler if your boat allows. Not much rain (dry tortugas).
Florida Man, here... I have never in my life heard of this. Great video!
I sail to the Dry Tortugas a couple of times a year it's an amazing place and I hope the government maintains it to preserve our history. It can be dangerous for sailors due to sudden storms and poor holding in the anchorages. I really wish the park service would install mooring balls.
Aren't there around 6 mooring balls. But they have a few hour time limit?
@@bowdezaufa2609 they have a few mooring balls, I think three located at a couple of marked shipwreck Windjammer and one off the east side of Loggerhead Key called little Africa. The holding ground in the anchorages is not the greatest, I always dive the anchor but even that is no guarantee. Absolutely beautiful down there.
I camped in the beach in front of Fort Jefferson in 91 with my highschool class. We took a boat and caught piles of fish and had a great time checking out the fort and snorkeling around the harbor. I saw a snook swimming with tarpon that would have been a world record, over 50 lbs easily. It was longer than my friend who saw it with me.
I'd absolutely love to go back and see it again and stay a week camping. The mote around the fort is great to walk around at night with a strong flashlight, you see fish and lobsters and shrimp all in the mote, and there are fish to catch from the mote wall. Very cool place, especially for people who love fishin'.
i would honestly like to visit this place! it sort of reminds me of fort sumter and i really enjoyed the ferry ride there and the visit.
Just went there this summer. It was amazing.
When I visited Key West, I was going to go out to the first. Unfortunately I didn't have time for the ferry and flights were grounded due to wind. Definitely want to go back to Key West and actually visit the fort though.
We took the Catamaran there. Went snorkeling. It's awesome.
Can you camp overnight?
@@philup6274
You could then. It's a state park so I believe so.
I took the plane just last year and I can attest it truly is amazing. I bet it was cool to see the ship wrecks along the way from the perspective of a boat, they looked really cool from above (and some other anomalies) but they went by quick
It’s a National Park. You can take everything you need-including water-over on a ferry or your own boat to camp after getting the permits.
Our family went there in late 90's. It was awesome. We also took the catamaran . Going over was smooth sailing but coming back we hit tough waters and a lot of folks were really seasick. There was a jail there and Doctor Mudd was sentenced there. The doctor was the one that treated John Wilkes Booth after he shot Abraham Lincoln. Very interesting trip! I would love to go back again.
Navy guy here. I spent 2 years in KW on the USS Howard W. Gilmore 1971/2 I had ample opportunity to go there, both on private boats and tour boats, but I never did. I went back to KW for Christmas and New Years 1996/97 for a 25th reunion with some of the guys that could make it. I never went to fort Jeff either time but knew its History and saw all the post card vendors had a photo of the Fort in their selection of cards. Do I wish I visited the fort? Heck no! KW was a "prison" with history and hot as Hell. The chance to take a boat 60+ miles further away from the mainland to see another "prison" was insane to me The postcards and History were well known to me. Besides they had a fort that was in KW similar in age and construction. The best thing about the Keys is when you are packing up to leave. None the less, thanks for a great video about something that most people never even heard of, very accurate! It seems our Government hasn't learned a thing, we still can't help building White Elephants!
Not a place for grumpy old men
We took our boats there 2 years ago from Key West. It’s a hell of a long ride, but very cool to see.
Fort Point, San Francisco, an 1855 fort to secure our new California. A lot smaller fort, interlocking with others, I cluding Alcatraz, which became an Army prison, then a Federal one.
When we visited, the sea was rough. When the captain greets you on the dock and offers to give you your money back, take it. But the fort is well worth seeing if you’ve got the sea legs for it.
The iron Lighthouse shown Atop The Fort is not the first lighthouse built on the island, the first lighthouse built on the island was a traditional brick masonry lighthouse built on what is now the parade ground inside the fort.
WOW, awesome place in,FLORIDA HISTORICAL so BEAUTIFULLY BUILT today's, FLORIDA, 👌👍
I've been to a couple of these post-1812 forts. Fort Pike (just outside of New Orleans, but it may not have survived the hurricanes since I was there), and Fort Pulaski in Georgia.
They were all good until a Captain Gilmore test fired the new rifled cannon against Pulaski during the civil war, putting holes right through the walls (and the holes are still there, lol). That was in the early 1860's. It was pretty much all over for these forts after that...
If you like to wander these sorts of places, they're very cool.
The stars are Absolutely amazing at night time there
You can camp with permission from the park authorities. Limited camp slots are available. It's a VERY small campground outside the walls of the fort. Well worth the cost of the boat ride. Bring your snorkel and swim gear with you when you do the day visit. You can swim around the entire fort.
20 years in Florida, stayed in Key West a couple nights, but never heard about this historical site worrh to visit.
You can camp overnight there. I've done this several times. Totally worth it.
The modern stock video is distracting. Gives it a corporate video feel to it. Other than that, it’s an interesting site.
We tent-camped over night at Fort Jefferson with our kid's in 2004. Great experience.
I always loved bastion/star fortresses asthenic. They don't get nearly the love they deserve considering how effective they also were. Some of these could withstand against cannon bombardment during sieges for decades.
Totally agree. Were lucky in Brit-land - we have quite a few.
And I often wondered why they weren't adopted for more modern times - a star fortress with machine guns on the bastions would be a formidable defensive structure against small scale local insurgents.
Up until the early 1860's. Then, the rifled cannon was developed, and could put holes right through the walls of forts like this.
It made all of these forts obsolete, fairly quickly. They weren't abandoned, but they didn't serve the purpose the government desired when they were built.
@@mrb.5610 if you visit puerto rico, take a tour of the El Morro fort.
In one of the stairways you can see a single bullet pierced through the wall during the spanish american war
@@francismarion6400 That's been said about the forts around Portsmouth in the UK - imagine around a *dozen* of fortresses the same size as that one encircling a naval base - and ones even built in the sea like small islands !
Never, ever, fired a shot in anger - or were shot at - but their mere presence may have made the French just think that an attack would be pointless - so why bother ? !
Here in the Netherlands we have a LOT. And I mean a LOT. Most were built during our golden age in the 17th century. But the 19th and 20th century forts are quite amazing to.
On my bucket list!!!
I've sailed there and spent a week at anchor at Fort Jefferson. This is a busy place, with sea planes and tour boats from Key West arriving daily.
i love the fingers going up the stairs made of blocks lol that's hilarious.
Such an amazing fort
The name says it all. The "dry" Tortugas are called such because they have no water sources. Every gallon of drinking water had to be brought in by ship. Not ideal for a fortification.
They built aquifers in the parade grounds that caught rain water as well
The first thing that came to mind when I saw the fort was that it was unsustainable unless you have command of the sea around it because of the lack of fresh water.
They have a rain water collection system on the roof
Interesting presentation - thanks for sharing online.
Although, I thought it was odd that you emphasized that each of the commanders had no engineering background... then you also mentioned that an officer requested an engineer (and was denied). Funding was poor.
Then stated, that engineering was a challenge. ...Which may have not been that challenging for somebody that knew something about engineering. Haha
We first visited there in 1977. Didnt see anyone, the park rangers must have been napping. Flew there again in 1989 with our kids, one in diapers, and camped. Back twice on the big ferry boat, camping and kayaking. Hours before a big storm hit, we were snooping in the fort looking for numerous ghosts seen there, and had ball lightning come down out of a tree and follow us into a dark room, lighting it up. Pretty weird. The following year the head ranger took us on a ghost tour late at night. He was there seven years, and had a few good stories. As did marine biologists who were stationed there.
I'm surprised that hurricanes haven't washed it away after all these years.
Hurricanes winds are not as destructive as people think...Specially on rocks that weigh tons...Some of the Hotels on "Deco Drive" Miami beach were built in the 1920s and are still standing and in use to this day...The devastations you see through hurricanes are mostly the flooding and flying debris...Once the waters recedes, you clean up and repair roofs if needed and the glass...The fort doesn't have any glass soo that part is no problem...
Shifting sands. Like shown in the video of the turtle houses.
That fort still standing will be there long after we’re gone. It’s one of the key arguments against rising sea levels allegedly caused by Climate Change. It should be under water by now….
It’s a great place to visit and camp
Ironically, I’m from St. Augustine Florida (in the NE) and grew up fishing and scuba diving. With all my trips to the Keys, I don’t remember ever coming across this location.
This is a two hour boat ride from key west very isolated
Great snorkeling
yep, went there Dec '22 and stayed for close to 3 hours, flight took close to an hour. so plan around 6 hours start to finish including going to the airport.
i spent 3 days in a tent by the beach there once, twas really cool!
Home of the most Beautiful Stars in America. !
Isn’t it part of the parks system?
Yes. It's a National Park... (I assume you mean the NPS...)
Why do you put pictures of WW2 artillery when talking about civil war canon and mortars?
Fort Jefferson on Dry Tortugas I'm guessing before I even watch the video to see if I guessed right.
Groovy fort
Missing prepositions combined with some incorrect statements concerning the fortress of Gibraltar. Malta is an island south of Sicily, unrelated to Gibraltar.
the whole video is full of errors and general silliness ...
At 8:46 I managed to cross my eyes and focus to get a nice stereoscopic image 😃
Tis a really cool place, visit it if you can. Maybe less so to have been stationed there... no shots were ever fired there in anger... but plenty were in boredom!
The place is beautiful even when storms are rolling through. I got hundreds of great pictures camping there a few years ago. Better come prepared, though.
0:33 it wasn’t the Europeans that built the fort it was Americans just before the civil war
I love the fort and loved snorkeling there. Not sure of your choice of pictures for this video though. Sunset Key (Tank Is.) is right next to Key West and has nothing to do with Fort Jefferson, Marion Cty. Florida is landlocked in the northern central part of the state.
Fort Carrol in Baltimore is similar. Check it out
It's worth mentioning that the Coast Guard has a little base on an island a few miles from Garden Key/Fort Jefferson. They have blimps that hold radar and other sensors, crew and boats, and possibly a helicopter.
Johnny Bravo called and he wants his hairstyle back, just saying
Huh-Hut!
Take the Yankee Freedom Ferry to the Dry Tortugas out of Key West. A guy named Hollywood gives a generous tour. The fort wasn't abandoned but decommissioned. It was an engineering boondoggle and fiscally a waste yet important to controlling the war effort nonetheless. It is part of the US National Park system and is manned by a Park Ranger every day of the year.
*Disney World. Disneyland is in California.
Nobody forgot Fort Jefferson. It continued to be used on and off until just before WW1. FDR made it a national park.
Uh... FDR declared it a National Monument. Congress made it a National Park in the early 1990's...
@@Backroad_Junkie exactly ... it sat empty for years.
Dry Tortugas is a National Park. Far from abandoned. F these clickbait titles.
It's a park. You can camp by it. But the fort is considered dangerous. So, you can only visit during certain hours
I have been there. Its about 2.5 hour ferry one way trip west of Key West. It also includes a Bird Sanctuary. It's pretty interesting to visit, but more for the nature than for the fort itself. They funniest thing for me is that the US built a lot of these "star" style forts, but did it right before they lost most of their defensive value. The brick work wasn't going to stand up long to the WW1 era artillery.
These things are all over the globe and were not built for protection and not when they are telling you but much earlier
Went there 21 yrs ago
Would make a great resort
I hope to scuba dive the Dry Tortugas someday.
Join The Crew
I used to live in Key West. If you want to visit the fort and are prone to seasickness, take the seaplane - or, if you're taking the ferry, get prescription seasickness medicine (Scopolamine patch - it goes behind your ear and works great; BTW those seasickness wrist bands are complete BS, and Dramamine will make you tired - but if you decide on that, take one the night before the trip, and one the morning of) from your doctor (it's worth it) as the seas between KW and the DT can often be quite rough (turning the ferry into the puke boat from hell). Same thing if you take the ferry from Ft. Myers to KW - it can be a stomach churner, and a 4-5 hour boat ride while being seasick is no fun at all...
I went fishing with my dad when I was a kid. He was in the Navy. They had ships in key west back in 1970. We went fishing on a 50ft. Crew boat. We were out in the open ocean and all of a sudden we came up on a gigantic brick fort out in the middle of nowhere. I remember asking how they got all those bricks way out there back when all they had was wooden ships. I still have not heard a good answer to that question?
This is a cool spot to go. You can also camp with reservations. No fresh water, bring your own (i.e. "Dry" Tortugas). Coral is amazing! Though I had a shark swim right at me within 10' then turn to follow the outer walkway. Nurse shark! Just a nurse shark...still when your 50' from shore in 15' of water with fins on, your heart tends to quicken...not a good thing...in the water.....with a shark!
is it for sale?
MO-BEEL, Alabama
Never knew that 🤔
I don't understand its strategic value either unless things were just vastly different than I would have thought for the age. That it was "dry" just complicates things immensely too even, so just the damn water has to either be desalinated or imported. But it's like "why the heck didn't they realize these things even at the time??"
I took a sea plane there once, and did some snorkeling. It was the first time I ever saw a barracuda in person...I had never moved so quickly.
Been to the Dry Tortugas back in 2019 and had a great time snorkeling there. Now, migrants have landed there past couple of weeks.
Always wondered how the 16 million bricks, mortar and building supplies got to the location with such shallow water, storms and hurricanes.......plus food, water and shelter for the people who built it.......
I am sorry to be pedantic here but if you are in Florida, the park is called Disney World. DisneyLAND is in California.
I first learned of this from World War Z, where it was used by survivors as a safe zone and fortification.
Honestly, I thought the same of Key West. If the zombie apocalypse occurs, they just have to raise the bridge on US-1 to cut off the mainland, lol...
In the game Left4dead, the survivors are trying to go to the Florida Keys.
It's a National Park I wouldn't describe it as abandoned
While zooming in on Google Earth I noticed several boat trailers on the north east dock. Why and how?
With what? There’s no vehicles?
Always liked those Vauban stylee forts ...
It would be so cool to have this place turned into a museum of the civil war
Too difficult to get to, and not a lot of resources, like fresh water. There are a few Atlantic side forts that fulfill this.
@@Backroad_Junkie they said there is already a Ferry service to the island for people that want to explore it I don’t think it would be that difficult to build a small building in the center of the fort to act as the toilets, gift shop, drink stand and visitor center. You could power it with solar power being that it’s in Florida with a small backup generator and a water tower to collect the rain water. They could probably convert the officer building into said building and if the plumbing is too hard go for porta potties. You could even do what fort Niagara does and have dummy round firing cannon displays. I would pay to see it anyway
@@captaincrazyhat It's a National Park. It already has a visitor's center with a gift shop, and they contract a company to supply very limited food service and beverages. (Even beer! 😁 )
Plumbing is harder, since they're zero feet above sea level. There are supposedly composting toilets, but those are closed most of the day, and are generally only available to the campers.
The ferry service is supposed to fill in a lot of those services, like flush toilets.
(I did have a plan to go there while I was in Key West, but just didn't have the time...)
Ft Taylor is a nice museum fort at Key West. Was modernized for WW1. I never saw as many civil war canon balls and shells as they have there
@@Backroad_Junkie I will definitely have to plan a visit there then!