The Location

Fort Lauderdale Naval Heritage

As in Miami, Fort Lauderdale’s naval history reaches back to World War II.  During the war, early settlers Hamilton McLure Forman and his wife, Blanche, provided the Navy with 545 acres of land in Broward County for an air naval training base.  Fort Lauderdale housed the Naval Air Station, the site of the present Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in addition to the Naval Air Station Boat Facility and the Fort Lauderdale Navy Section Base.  In fact, former President George H. W. Bush trained at the Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale. 

Present-day luxury yacht manufacturer, Broward Yachts, resides on the property originally known as Dooley’s Basin & Dry Dock, a manufacturer of PT boats during World War II.  After the war, as Broward Marine, the company continued as a defense industry contractor, building wooden-hulled Navy minesweepers including ships used in the Korean War.  It was one of the first facilities to manufacture 145-foot minesweepers.

The USS John F. Kennedy was the first supercarrier to dock in Port Everglades, rather than offshore, and made port calls here on numerous occasions.  Naval ships continue frequent visits to Port Everglades.

Presently, the south side of Port Everglades inlet houses the South Florida Testing Facility (SFTF), an active, continuously operating Navy range for over forty years.  SFTF is the only ship, submarine and mine-effectiveness test range with simultaneous air, surface and subsurface tracking capability.  The facility came under the direction of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD) in 1994.

In addition, several Navy submarines operate off of Fort Lauderdale’s coast to calibrate and test at an offshore telemetry range.

Oct. 8, 1999 — USS George Washington (CVN 73) enters Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Brian Fleske.

Today, recognized as the Navy’s favorite “Liberty Port,” Fort Lauderdale hosts its Annual Fleet Week at the end of April and early May.  The area welcomes over 7,000 Navy servicemen and women for a week of activities highlighted by its Air and Sea Show the first weekend in May.  JFK CV-67 Memorial Foundation Board Member, Joe Millsaps, is the Senior Director of Fleet Week USA Relations and the Chairman of Broward Navy Days.