Naval Station Norfolk

Naval Station Norfolk (NS Norfolk) is the world's largest naval station, located on the Hampton Roads peninsula known as Sewell's Point in Norfolk, Virginia. Though administratively situated within the City of Norfolk, the installation forms the strategic and operational heart of the broader Hampton Roads military complex, a region of which neighboring Virginia Beach is an integral part. Naval Station Norfolk serves as the headquarters and home port of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Forces Command. Covering more than 4,300 acres of land, NS Norfolk ranks among the largest military facilities in the world. Since its founding in 1917 on the grounds of a former world's fair, the installation has grown from a wartime emergency base into an enduring symbol of American sea power, shaping the economy, culture, and identity of the entire Hampton Roads region for more than a century.

Origins and the Jamestown Exposition

The land on which Naval Station Norfolk stands was originally the site of the 1907 Jamestown Exposition. During this exposition, high-ranking naval officers were consulted and favored the idea that the site was ideal for a naval base. The Jamestown Exposition, also known as the Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition of 1907, was one of the many world's fairs popular in the United States in the early part of the 20th century. Commemorating the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, it was held from April 26 to December 1, 1907, at Sewell's Point on Hampton Roads in Norfolk, Virginia.

The Exposition closed on December 1, 1907, as a financial failure, losing several million dollars, with attendance at 3 million — a fraction of the numbers promised by the promoters. In 1908, the Norfolk-based Fidelity Land and Investment Company was given the task of finding a buyer for the grounds from the bankrupt Jamestown Exposition Company. After many rejections by the Navy and Congress, President Woodrow Wilson personally endorsed the idea of purchasing the Exposition grounds with the entry of the United States into World War I in 1917.

On June 28, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson set aside $2.8 million for land purchase and the erection of storehouses and piers for what was to become the Navy Base. The government was then able to take title to 474 acres, 367 coming from the former Jamestown Exposition site and 100.8 acres from the adjacent Pine Beach area of Norfolk. Some of the land, particularly in Pine Beach, was still owned by private citizens. Claiming the Navy was not paying enough for their property, many refused to move. Using eminent domain provisions, the Navy condemned the land and seized their property.

A bill also set aside funds for development of the base, including piers, aviation facilities, storehouses, facilities for fuel and oil storage, a recruit training station, a submarine base, and recreation areas for fleet personnel. The next six months saw the establishment of the Fifth Naval Headquarters, the Naval Operating Base (NOB), Naval Training Station, Naval Hospital, and Submarine Station. By Armistice Day, 1918, there were 34,000 enlisted men at the base.

World War II and Renaming

An airfield for seaplanes was established at the Naval Operating Base in October 1917. In August 1918, it was detached from the NOB and became Naval Air Station (NAS) Hampton Roads. It was renamed NAS Norfolk in July 1921.

During the late 1930s and early 1940s, much construction took place at the Naval Operating Base and Naval Air Station as war loomed on the horizon. New buildings and piers were constructed, and new runways, hangars, and ramps were built for the various types of aircraft flown by the Navy in World War II. In December 1942, recruit training at the base was discontinued in order to focus on advanced training for men going directly to the fleet.

A notable and tragic event occurred during this period. In 1943, a vehicle carrying depth charges mysteriously exploded. The explosion killed several sailors, including Elizabeth Korensky, the only Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVE) to die in action during the war. The sound of the explosion was heard more than twenty miles away.

In 1968, the Naval Air Station was given a major role in the vision of putting a man on the moon. The air station became Recovery Control Center Atlantic, providing command, control, and communications for the ships and aircraft that participated in recovery operations of Apollo 7.

Following World War II, NOB Norfolk became the primary base of the Atlantic Fleet. On January 1, 1953, the name of the naval base was officially changed to Naval Station Norfolk (NS Norfolk), after being known as the NOB. This renaming was part of a broader Navy effort to standardize base names across the service.

The base continued to be a major facility throughout the Cold War and had to expand again to accommodate larger ships and a rebuilt fleet in the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, the Navy purchased 494.8 acres of land from the Norfolk and Western Railway at a cost of $17.4 million. The new $60 million construction program resulted in new piers along the waterfront, as well as beautification and improvements to Hampton Boulevard leading to the main gate.

Consolidation, Post-Cold War, and the Modern Installation

As part of the Navy's response to the post–Cold War drawdown of the 1990s, many new initiatives were implemented at Navy shore installations to reduce operating costs. In 1998, the Navy began a major realignment of shore command organizations throughout Hampton Roads in a process known as "regionalization." The separate Naval Station and Naval Air Station merged into a single installation called Naval Station Norfolk, and this consolidation became official on February 5, 1999.

On February 5, 1999, NAS Norfolk was disestablished and Chambers Field became part of Naval Station Norfolk. Today, Chambers Field continues to function as the aviation component of the installation, supporting naval air forces operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean.

Following the attack on USS Cole in October 2000 and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the base underwent major upgrades to its security gates, costing more than $12.5 million.

In January 2017, Naval Station Norfolk celebrated its centennial at the Pennsylvania House, one of the historical structures built for the Jamestown Exposition that still stands on the base.

Operational Scale and Military Units

The installation occupies about 4 miles of waterfront space and 11 miles of pier and wharf space of the Sewell's Point peninsula. It is the world's largest naval station, with the largest concentration of U.S. Navy forces — 75 ships alongside 14 piers, and 134 aircraft and 11 aircraft hangars at the adjacently operated Chambers Field.

Port Services controls more than 3,100 ships' movements annually as they arrive and depart their berths. Air Operations conducts over 100,000 flight operations each year, an average of 275 flights per day or one every six minutes. Over 150,000 passengers and 264,000 tons of mail and cargo depart annually on Air Mobility Command (AMC) aircraft and other AMC-chartered flights from the airfield's AMC Terminal.

Naval Station Norfolk is home port of four carrier strike groups and their assigned ships. In addition, the Naval Station plays host to several Military Sealift Command ships, as well as the submarines of the Atlantic Fleet. It serves as the hub for Navy logistics going to the European and Central Command theaters of operations, and to the Caribbean.

Today, in addition to being the home for the Navy's largest concentration of naval forces, Naval Station Norfolk also hosts personnel from the Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard, and supports significant joint missions as well.

Historic Architecture and Admiral's Row

Naval Station Norfolk retains a remarkable collection of historic structures that predate the base itself. The station is rich with historic architecture. It is the site of the second-oldest brick baseball stadium in the United States, where major league baseball players competed during World War II. It is also the location of numerous structures from the 1907 Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition, including thirteen models of the state capitols that the United States had constructed at Jamestown. Many of the commands located at NS Norfolk are also housed in historic buildings dating from the World War I through World War II eras.

The seventeen remaining buildings of the 1907 Jamestown Exposition form a unique collection of early exposition pavilions. Erected for the celebration of the tricentennial of the founding of the first permanent English settlement in the New World, the complex originally contained twenty state pavilions, a history pavilion, an auditorium, and other structures. Among those remaining are the Pennsylvania Pavilion, a copy of Independence Hall; the Maryland Pavilion, a copy of Homewood; and the Ohio Pavilion, a copy of Adena.

The Jamestown Exposition Building complex was purchased by the federal government in 1917, and the site was made into a naval base and naval air station. Most of the pavilions have since been converted to officers' quarters, and today they are known collectively as Admiral's Row.

Each of the 19 historic homes along Dillingham Boulevard was originally part of the 1907 Jamestown Exposition, with each home representing the architecture of the state that contributed funding during the event. After the establishment of Naval Station Norfolk, the homes were eventually converted to house flag officers from various commands. Admiral's Row has produced 15 Chiefs of Naval Operations, 4 Commandants of the Marine Corps, 1 Chief of Staff of the Army, and 1 Commandant of the Coast Guard.

In 1975, the 20 remaining exposition buildings were included on the National Register of Historic Places as a national historic district.

Economic Impact on Hampton Roads and Virginia Beach

Naval Station Norfolk is the economic engine of the Hampton Roads region, with direct consequences for every surrounding city, including Virginia Beach. With over 80,000 active duty military personnel stationed in the region, including Naval Station Norfolk, plus approximately 60,700 federal civilian workers, the military's economic impact reaches into every corner of Hampton Roads life.

According to information released by the U.S. Navy in December 2019, the Navy's direct economic impact to the region in Fiscal Year 2018 was more than $16 billion. There were approximately 52,958 Navy civilian and Navy contracted employees in Hampton Roads in FY 2018, of whom 36 percent worked at Naval Station Norfolk.

Defense spending in Hampton Roads increased in 2024, a trend expected to continue, though economists have noted that if the federal government were to decrease defense spending, the region would be particularly vulnerable. The U.S. Navy's presence across Hampton Roads also encompasses Naval Air Station Oceana and Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, both located within Virginia Beach, underscoring the deep integration of military activity throughout the region.

From the development of Gosport Shipyard (now Norfolk Naval Shipyard) through the Civil War and the Great White Fleet in 1907, the sea service has always been part of the fabric of the Virginia port city. In the 20th century, it was the Navy's development of the world's largest naval station on Sewell's Point that transformed Norfolk forever.