Hospital Cay - War of Jenkin's Ear - Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Posted by: 
hzoi
N 19° 56.821 W 075° 08.685
18Q E 484853 N 2205625
Site of former British field hospital, set up during the British invasion of Spanish Cuba in 1741.
Waymark Code: WM15XKG
Location: Cuba
Date Posted: 03/18/2022
Views: 3
Hospital Cay is located about 2 miles from the cantonment area of US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But it didn't get its name from the Americans.
In 1741, British troops invaded Spanish Cuba during the War of Jenkin's Ear, a 9-year conflict between the British and Spanish throughout the Caribbean. They set up a field hospital here on Hospital Cay to support their operations in Cuba, which lasted less than a year.
Over 100 years later, the British were back. HBMS (His Britannic Majesty's Ship) Buzzard had a yellow fever outbreak and anchored at Hospital Cay to quarantine the sick. Of the dozen or so quarantined sailors, all but one recovered. Paymaster E.N. Harrison died and was buried on the southern end of Hospital Cay, where he remained until he was disinterred and moved to the US Navy cemetery near Cuzco Wells.
Nothing today remains of the British field hospital. The largest remains today are a large pier and concrete foundations from old US Navy coaling works, and a concrete bunker on the hill overlooking the bay. Today, Hospital Cay has rough cabanas with picnic tables for day trips or overnight stays, as well as a cinderblock structure that has proven popular with graffiti artists.
Sources:
US Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay History
Log of HBMS Buzzard