Naval Station Norfolk Naval Station Norfolk , in Norfolk , Virginia , is a base of the United States Navy , supporting naval forces in the United States Fleet Forces Command , those operating in the Atlantic Ocean , Mediterranean Sea , and Indian Ocean . NS Norfolk , also known as the Norfolk Naval Base , occupies about four miles ( 6 km ) of waterfront space and seven miles ( 11 km ) of pier and wharf space of the Hampton Roads peninsula known as Sewell ' s Point . It is the world ' s largest naval station , supporting 75 ships and 134 aircraft alongside 14 piers and 11 aircraft hangars , and houses the largest concentration of U . S . Navy forces . 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 . History . The land on which the naval station is located was originally the site of the 1907 Jamestown Exposition . During this exposition , high - ranking naval officers agreed that this site was ideal for a naval activity . A bill was passed in 1908 proposing that the U . S . Congress allow $ 1 million for the purchase of the property and buildings , but it died when the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was given a choice between this property and a new coal ship . He replied that a new ship was an absolute necessity . However , immediately after the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , the Secretary of the Navy was persuaded to buy the property . A bill was passed for the purchase of 474 acres ( 1 . 9 km² ) ; it set aside the sum of $ 1 . 2 million as payment for the property and an additional $ 1 . 6 million for the development of the base , including piers , aviation facilities , storehouses , facilities for fuel and oil storage , a recruit training station , a submarine base and recreation grounds for fleet personnel . Rear Admiral Dillingham was assigned the task of coordinating the area ' s development . Construction of the training camp began on Independence Day 1917 , and within the first 30 days housing for 7 , 500 men had been completed . The next six months saw the establishment of the 5th Naval District Headquarters and the Naval Operating Base , which included the Naval Training Center , Naval Air Station , Naval Hospital and Submarine Station . By Armistice Day 1918 , there were 34 , 000 enlisted men at the base . When the available land became insufficient , a large part of the flats on the west and north were filled from dredging done to allow large ships to dock . During the fall and winter of 1917 , approximately 8 million cubic yards ( 6 , 000 , 000 m³ ) of dredging took place . NAS Norfolk . Important historical events were taking place on the air side of the station as well . November 14 , 1910 marked the birth of naval aviation when Eugene Ely , a pilot employed by the Curtiss Exhibition Company , slowly accelerated toward the end of a 57 - foot ( 17 m ) wooden ramp constructed on the bow of the cruiser . The heavy cruiser was anchored in the James River , not too far from the site of the Civil War ' s famous ironclad Battle of Hampton Roads between the and " Merrimac " . NAS Norfolk started its roots training aviators at Naval Air Detachment , Curtiss Field , Newport News , on May 19 , 1917 . Approximately five months later , with a staff increasing to five officers , three aviators , ten enlisted sailors and seven aircraft , the detachment was renamed Naval Air Detachment , Naval Operating Base , Hampton Roads . The aircraft , all seaplanes , were flown across the James River and moored to stakes in the water until canvas hangars were constructed . The new location offered sheltered water in an ice - free harbor , perfect for seaplane landings , good anchorage on the beach front , accessibility to supplies from Naval Station Norfolk and room for expansion . Its mission was to conduct anti - submarine patrols , train aviators and mechanics and run an experimental facility . World War I . When the United States became involved in World War I , the size of the Navy ' s air component was rapidly expanded . In the 19 months of U . S . participation , a force of 6 , 716 officers and 30 , 693 enlisted served in naval aviation . The training of mechanics to support the aircraft began in January 1918 at the Norfolk detachment and the first patrol was conducted five months later . By then , the air detachment was recognized as one of the most important sources of trained naval aviators . In recognition of its importance , on August 27 , 1918 , the detachment became Naval Air Station Hampton Roads , a separate station under its own commanding officer , Lt . Cmdr . Patrick N . L . Bellinger . 1920s – 1930s . As World War I came to an end , the former NAS Hampton Roads saw erratic growth , growing to nearly 167 officers , 1 , 227 enlisted men and 65 planes . But , it was after the war that demobilization had threatened the future of naval aviation . Within seven months of the war ' s end , Navy manpower fell to less than half its wartime highs . The Republican party rose to power in 1920 , promising fiscal austerity . Congress cut naval appropriations by 20 % and manpower Navy - wide was reduced . The carriers which Congress had authorized were impossible to man . After the 1929 stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression , President Herbert Hoover favored more naval limitation through international conferences , but the air operations in Norfolk continued . On July 12 , 1921 , the name was changed again under the command of Capt . S . H . R . Doyle , to Naval Air Station Norfolk , with direct reporting to the Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington , D . C . Using the same theories of Eugene Ely ' s flight nearly 13 years earlier , another milestone was achieved . The air station developed an arresting device to train pilots for deck landings aboard the fleet ' s first aircraft carrier , . At the same time , the station also began work on the development of the catapult . In January 1923 , the Secretary of the Navy ordered a detailed study of the capacity of the bases and stations during war and peace . In comparing the development of the fleet and shore establishments , only Hampton Roads met the requirements . Lighter - than - air operations , important for off - shore patrols during the war , ceased in 1924 . In an effort similar to base closure struggles the military has today , civilian employees of the Assembly and Repair Department ( forerunner of the former Naval Air Depot ) joined the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce in successfully fighting the planned suspension of aircraft overhaul work . The training of air groups from newly commissioned aircraft carriers such as " Langley " , and demanded expansion , but appropriations were meager for shore establishments . During the 1920s and ' 30s the Naval Station operated at a reduced operating tempo . The training component processed only 1 , 600 individuals by the late 1920s . By 1927 , the Naval Training Station , whose primary mission was to operate 12 service schools and train new recruits , had been reduced considerably from its wartime status , training only 560 recruits at a command with triple that capacity . During the late 1930s , major construction took place at Naval Station Norfolk . At this time , building K - BB ( Naval Station headquarters ) , the galley , and many barracks were built . As the 1930s came to a close , the station also began to prepare for total war . By 1939 , when the Atlantic Fleet returned to the East Coast , the Naval Station was clearly the biggest naval installation on the Atlantic coast . In April 1939 , in something of a test , the Naval Station refueled , restocked , and returned to service 25 ships in one week . This force was but the prelude to about 100 ships converging on Norfolk at the time . It included the battleships , and and the carriers , " Lexington " , , and . The expansion of shipboard aviation in the 1930s brought renewed emphasis to Naval Air Station Norfolk . Reverting to its experimental roots , development and testing of catapult and arresting gear systems took the highest priority at the Air Station . The commissioning of the aircraft carriers " Ranger " , " Yorktown " , , and increased the tempo of routine training in navigation , gunnery and aerial bombing as new air wings formed prior to World War II . This demanded expansion , but appropriations for shore activities were meager . Although congressional approval was gained in 1934 for the purchase of land that would expand the airfield by 540 acres ( 2 . 2 km² ) , the matter was dropped . At the outbreak of war in Europe on September 1 , 1939 , NAS Norfolk encompassed 236 acres ( 1 . 0 km² ) with two small operating areas , Chambers Field and West Landing Field . During World War II , the Naval Air Station had a direct combat support role in the area of anti - submarine patrols . President Franklin D . Roosevelt ' s response to the start of the war in Europe was the National Emergency Program of September 8 , 1939 . It resulted in fantastic growth for all Navy activities in the Norfolk area . The combat support role began on October 21 , 1939 , when a - wide Neutrality Zone was declared around the American coast . Four Norfolk - based patrol squadrons , VP - 51 , US VP - 52 , VP - 53 and VP - 54 were among the first units to enforce the zone . World War II . World War II profoundly changed the appearance of the Naval Station . With the eruption of war in Europe in September 1939 , the station began to vibrate with activity . By December , the Navy had over $ 4 million in projects underway on the station . By the summer of 1940 the Station employed some 8 , 000 personnel , a number larger than any time since the end of World War I . The Hepburn Board had made recommendations to Congress earlier in the year that would also double the size and workload of the station . Since Chambers and West Fields were encroaching on the activities of the former Naval Operating Base , it was decided to expand to the east . East Camp , with an area of about 1 , 000 acres ( 4 km² ) between the east side of Naval Station and Granby Street , had been sold off by the Army at the end of World War I . Congress authorized its repurchase in early 1940 . On June 29 of that year , a contract was signed with the Virginia Engineering Company of Newport News for the expansion of the station . The cost of expansion and construction was to reach more than $ 72 million . Hangars , a new dispensary , three runways , magazine areas , warehouses , barracks and docking areas were patterned after similar existing airfields . The plan was revised and approved by Captain P . N . L . Bellinger , returning as commanding officer 20 years after first holding the job . Bellinger insisted that as many structures as possible be permanent ones . The air station was still largely composed of temporary hangars and workshops left over from World War I . Many were unsafe and costly to maintain . The last permanent structure added had been the administration building , constructed in 1930 . Special attention was paid to control facilities . Prior to the expansion , operations from Chambers Field had no traffic control system except for a white placard inserted through a slot on the roof to indicate the direction of the runway in use . Some 353 acres ( 1 . 4 km² ) were eventually reclaimed at a cost of $ 2 . 1 million . Two large hangars and ramps for seaplanes , barracks , officer quarters and family housing were built . This construction cut off Mason Creek Road and the Navy compensated the city by improving Kersloe Road between Hampton Boulevard and Granby Street . Norfolk responded by renaming the road , Admiral Taussig Boulevard , in honor of the retiring commander of the Naval Operating Base . In July 1940 , the Federal government began dredging Willoughby Bay and the Naval Air Station seaplane operating area at Breezy Point , Virginia was constructed from reclaimed marshlands at the mouth of Mason Creek , Virginia . By the time President Roosevelt visited at the end of July , the station was clearly reaching the point where it could support ships engaged in war overseas . In 1941 , the possibility of U . S . involvement in the war looked more likely . Construction of more new facilities was pushed forward to match increased requirements . Directives from Washington meant facilities had to be developed to operate five aircraft carrier air groups , seven to nine patrol squadrons , the fighter director school and the Atlantic Fleet operational training program for 200 pilots prior to their fleet assignment . Further requests were made to provide training and maintenance facilities for British aircrew from and . In June 1941 , the personnel count at the Naval Station dramatically increased once again . There were now about 10 , 000 new recruits at the Naval Training Station , 15 , 559 officers and enlisted on station , and 14 , 426 sailors assigned to ships homeported in Norfolk . After Pearl Harbor , another $ 4 million was put into the receiving station to elevate its capacity by some 5 , 500 individuals . The Navy planned to double hospital capacity , as well as adding a full range of indoor and outdoor athletic facilities to go along with the construction of a new auditorium . In all , these new requirements led to enlarging the construction project to five times its original scope . At the completion of the first round of construction , East Field was estimated to have the capacity for 410 land planes while Breezy Point ' s capacity was estimated at 72 seaplanes . From a manpower viewpoint , NAS Norfolk grew from an average of 2 , 076 officers and enlisted in December 1940 to 16 , 656 active duty in December 1943 . For the first six months of 1943 , the flight operations department recorded an average of 21 , 073 flights per month and an average of 700 flights per day . This represents a take - off or landing every two minutes , 24 hours a day . The increased pace of operations made it necessary to further physical plant growth . In order to extend runways and provide more parking areas , an additional 400 acres ( 1 . 6 km² ) including the old Norfolk airport were acquired . Finally , by 1943 , the Naval Air Station had become the hub for a series of outlying airfields . Facilities were commissioned at Chincoteague , Whitehurst , Reservoir , Oceana , Pungo , Fentress , Monogram , and Creeds , Va . , as well as Elizabeth City , Edenton , Manteo , and Harvey Point , N . C . A new command , Naval Air Center , had been formed October 12 , 1942 under Captain J . M . Shoemaker , the 15th and 18th commanding officer of NAS Norfolk , to coordinate operations within the Norfolk area . The outlying fields were used for training , patrol plane operations , practice bombing and aerial gunnery . The assembly and repair ( A & R ) department also offers an excellent example of expansion at the Naval Air Station . In 1939 , A & R occupied four World War I hangars and a few workshops . It employed 213 enlisted men and 573 civilians in the overhaul of aircraft engines and fuselages . In 1940 , the naval aircraft program passed Congress with a production goal of 10 , 000 new planes later increased 15 , 000 . To support this effort , A & R , after Pearl Harbor , went to two 10 - hour shifts per day , seven days a week for a work force that now numbered 1 , 600 enlisted and 3 , 500 civilians . Women , who had been employed only as seamstress for wing and fuselage fabric , began working in A & R machine shops as labor shortages became acute . During the summer of 1942 , the apprentice school was opened to provide training in nine trades . By war ' s end , assembly and repair had developed into a Class " A " industrial plant with peak employment of 3 , 561 civilians and 4 , 852 military workers . After war was formally declared following Pearl Harbor , Germany began a U - boat offensive , " Operation Drumbeat " , against shipping along the Atlantic coast . The Eastern Sea Frontier , a command headquartered in New York , directed the American response . Locally , Fleet Air Wing 5 units flew under its operational command of the 5th Naval District . Wing 5 units involved consisted of scouting squadrons , 12 OS2U Kingfisher seaplanes and VPs 83 and 84 equipped with PBY - 5A Catalina s . By 1942 , NAS Norfolk was home to 24 fleet units . In this early phase of the war , the U - boats had the best of it . With a peacetime mindset still prevalent , valuable ships sailed independently — backlit by the lights of seaside towns . From January through April 1942 , the Eastern Sea Frontier recorded 82 sinkings by U - boats . During the same period , only eight U - boats were sunk by U . S . forces . Eventually , coastal convoys were instituted and more aircraft became available . German U - boats moved elsewhere and sinkings decreased . To move closer to their patrol areas and free up space for the training of new squadrons , NAS Norfolk - based patrol squadrons transferred their operations from Breezy Point to Chincoteague and Elizabeth City . NAS Norfolk ' s biggest contribution to the winning of World War II was in the training it provided to a wide variety of allied naval air units . At the start of the war , training activities at NAS did not fall under the direction of a single overseer . This changed on January 1 , 1943 with the creation of Commander Air Force Atlantic Fleet with Rear Admiral ( later Vice Admiral ) Bellinger in charge . The former NAS commanding officer was tasked with providing administrative , material and logistic support for Atlantic Fleet aviation units . AIRLANT also furnished combat - ready carrier air groups , patrol squadrons and battleship and cruiser aviation units for both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets . To complete this task , Fleet Air Wing 5 in Norfolk turned over its operational commitments for the Eastern Sea Frontier to Fleet Air Wing 9 at NAS Quonset Point , Rhode Island . In December 1942 , recruit training at the base was abolished since the base was now more suitably equipped for advanced training for men going directly to the fleet . With the change in the training station and the declaration of war , the mission became that of a pre - commissioning training station . Three 1 , 000 foot ( 300 m ) piers , which were used as convoy escort piers , were built during World War II . On September 18 , 1943 , FAW - 5 assumed the primary mission of providing training under the direction of AIRLANT . The aviation service school offered courses in metalsmith work , engine repair , radio repair and ordnance . Aviation machinist ' s mate A school consisted of two months of training and two months of practical experience in A & R department shops . The advanced base aviation training unit helped sailors develop the skills necessary to maintain all types of aircraft at advanced bases in combat area . The aircraft they completed went to the fleet pool for distribution to squadrons in the process of commissioning . A similar service for maintenance crews in squadrons awaiting the commissioning of new carriers was provided by the carrier air service unit . Among the earliest schools at NAS was the fighter director school , which taught fleet communications and tactics , radar operations and direction of aircraft from ships before moving to Georgia . The celestial navigation training unit instructed pilots being assigned to patrol squadrons . The aerial free gunnery training unit was originally located at Breezy Point , but moved to Dam Neck in 1943 to be able to carry out range work without restricting airspace . Carrier qualifications training unit provided for field carrier landing practice , simulated carrier search techniques and qualification landings . Any carriers available in Hampton Roads were used to deck - qualify pilots , but the bulk of the load went to . For most of the war , " Charger " acted as school ship both for squadrons in training and for flight deck personnel assigned to newly commissioned carriers . The air station ' s impact on winning World War II was more extensive than most people think . With only a few exceptions , all Navy air squadrons that fought in the war trained in Norfolk . The air station also trained numerous British fighter squadrons and French and Russia n patrol squadrons . From 1943 to the end of the war , a total of 326 U . S . units were commissioned and trained under the control of AIRLANT . Undoubtedly , the loudest noise heard and one of the most devastating Navy accidents in Hampton Roads during World War II occurred at 11 AM September 17 , 1943 . A NAS ordnance department truck was pulling four trailers loaded with depth charges on the taxiway between NAS and the NOB piers . Each trailer was designed to carry four aerial depth charges . To save time , two additional charges were loaded on top of each trailer . Compounding the problem , the charges on top were not properly chained down . One of the charges slipped loose and became wedged between the trailer and the ground . The friction of being dragged against the road caused the charge to begin smoking . An alert Marine sentry spotted the smoke and notified the driver who immediately stopped the truck and ran to a nearby fire station . Assistant Fire Chief Gurney E . Edwards hurried to the scene and attempted to cool down the charges with a fire extinguisher . As soon as he started his attempt , the first depth charge exploded , killing him instantly . For several minutes , charges continued to explode . The blasts shattered windows up to seven miles ( 11 km ) away ( 10 km ) and were heard in Suffolk , 20 miles ( 30 km ) distant . In the center of the explosion was a group of old enlisted men ' s barracks opposite the dispensary , the vicinity of the current location of V - 88 . A total of 18 buildings were destroyed by the blast . They were so badly damaged that they had to be razed . Thirty - three aircraft were also destroyed with a monetary damage of $ 1 . 8 million . According to official histories , the shock of the explosion found people scaling fences that had been considered man - proof and impossible to climb . Other persons found themselves some time later with shoes in hand , waiting for street cars , with no memory of the event . The casualties amounted to 426 , including 40 dead . Among them was Seaman 2nd Class Elizabeth Korensky , the only woman killed and the first WAVE to die in the line of duty in the war . NAS Norfolk responded to the tragedy by building six new brick barracks to house the troops and added industrial space by building R - 80 , the largest airplane hangar in the world . Winning the war was a full - time effort . Post war . Postwar period developments underscored the capacity of the Naval Station to change . The station at first stored inactive aircraft carriers , other reserve vessels , and finally submarines and destroyers . Fire fighting and salvage control now became specialties . The Atlantic Fleet Command came ashore in 1948 and placed its headquarters with a staff of 165 officers and 315 enlisted in an abandoned hospital . At the same time , the station rendered service to military as well as scientific pursuits . Known officially as Naval Operating Base until 31 December 1952 , on January 1 , 1953 the name of the installation was changed to Naval Station Norfolk . After the Second World War , the air side of the station continued to operate at near peak levels as well . It served as operational headquarters for the Fleet Air Command , and with the emergence of NAS Oceana as a Master Jet Base in the late 1950s , the tandem formed the nucleus of the biggest air base on the East Coast . The airfield was renamed as Naval Air Station Norfolk ( Chambers Field ) and would remain so throughout the postwar period through the end of the Cold War . In 1967 it came under the control of Commander , Naval Air Force , Atlantic ( COMNAVAIRLANT ) . The Norfolk facility remained the chief supplier of aircraft parts and a major rework plant . Classified as " industrial " , the station employed about 7 , 500 civilians in 1946 . In one postwar year the Navy invested $ 36 million in the overhaul and repair plant alone . The average annual payroll in the last had of the 1950s came to nearly $ 45 million . By 1976 , the air rework plant covered 174 acres ( 0 . 7 km² ) and included 175 buildings . In the 1970s and 1980s its workers restored or repaired , among other craft , F - 14 Tomcat s , A - 6 Intruder s , and F - 8 Crusader s . From June 1980 until June 1981 , the air station handled over 135 , 478 aircraft operations , 29 , 832 tons of air cargo , and 132 , 000 passengers . In 1996 , as part of the Congressional " Base Realignment and Closure " ( BRAC ) process this plant , known by this time as the Naval Aviation Depot Norfolk , closed its doors . The air station , at one time , was host to more than 70 tenant commands , including several carrier groups , a carrier airborne early warning wing and associated squadrons , a helicopter sea control wing and associated squadrons , and various Naval Air Reserve units , primarily the wing headquarters for Reserve Patrol Wing Atlantic , the local headquarters for Naval Air Reserve Norfolk and Reserve E - 2 Hawkeye , C - 9 Skytrain II and various helicopter squadrons . A Marine Corps Reserve medium helicopter squadron with CH - 46 Sea Knight aircraft was also assigned . In addition , the air station rendered support in photography , meteorology , and electronics to the fleet commands of the Hampton Roads naval community . Naval Air Station Norfolk also responded to national times of stress , such as Operation Sincere Welcome in 1994 , when 2 , 000 civilian workers , dependents , and non - essential military personnel were evacuated to Norfolk from Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba . This influx of people was an instance of history repeating itself , as the station also welcomed evacuees during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 . One other milestone in NAS ' s history occurred in 1968 when the station assumed a major role in putting a man on the moon . The air station became Recovery Control Center Atlantic , providing command , control and communications with all the ships and aircraft involved in the recovery operations of Apollo 7 . 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 their operating cost , improve their efficiency , and better match their capacity to the reduced size of the Navy . In 1998 , the Navy began a major realignment of shore command organizations and processes throughout Hampton Roads in a process known as " regionalization " . One of the biggest steps and efficiencies in this process was the merger of separate Naval Station and Naval Air Station ( which were directly adjacent to each other ) into a single installation to be called Naval Station Norfolk . The former naval air station organizational structure became the Air Department of NAVSTA Norfolk while the actual airfield became known as Naval Station Norfolk ( Chambers Field ) . This consolidation became official on February 5 , 1999 . Naval Station Norfolk supports Defense Depot Norfolk Virginia ( DDNV ) .