Hampton Roads Naval Museum
Naval Station Norfolk![Location Pin](https://wejunket-comb.b-cdn.net/wp-content/themes/wejunket/assets/images/location_pin.png)
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Hampton Roads Naval Museum
44. Naval Station Norfolk![Location Pin](https://wejunket-comb.b-cdn.net/wp-content/themes/wejunket/assets/images/location_pin.png)
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When the United States entered World War I, the Navy needed swift action regarding a training facility on the East Coast. In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for funds to purchase land on Sewell's Point, on the harbor of Hampton Roads. On June 28, 1917, Wilson issued a proclamation setting aside $1,200,000 as payment for the property, with an additional $1,600,000 for development of the base. The land purchased comprised 474 acres, 367 acres of which were the old Jamestown Exposition grounds, including several buildings, among them the state pavilions. Rear Admiral A.C. Dillingham took charge of the construction of the new facility on July 4, 1917. Dillingham managed thousands of civilian and military workers who cleared the land and then focused their attention on housing, mess halls, and other buildings for naval recruits. The initial purpose of the base centered on aviation, recruit training, a submarine base, and a supply base. The supply center was initially located in an old resort hotel, the Pine Beach. Two permanent warehouse buildings, one for cold storage, were erected and the center began service to the fleet. The submarine base had buildings for torpedo storage, battery storage, and a compressor station to supply compressed air to the submarines' ballast tanks. A major engineering feat was undertaken on the west side of the property, where the flats had to be dredged to allow sufficient depth for ships to berth. The dredged material, 8,000 yards worth, was used to create new land, increasing the size of the station to 793 acres. On October 12, 1917, the Naval Training Station was officially established and thousands of young sailors flooded the new barracks. The name, Naval Operating Base, Hampton Roads, Virginia, was formalized on January 29, 1918. The abbreviation NOB, although long out-of-date, continues to be used by locals and sailors.
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- Puppet Tour of the Museum
- Hampton Roads
- Seaman's Jacket & ECD uniform
- Battle off the Virginia Capes
- Ville de Paris
- Capture of USS Chesapeake
- 18-Pounder Naval Cannon
- USS Chesapeake
- USS Constellation
- US Gunboat 135
- American Musket, 1812
- First American Drydock
- USS Delaware
- USS Norfolk
- Fore and Aft Hat
- USS Pennsylvania
- Intro to the Civil War
- The Anaconda Plan
- Life At Sea
- Confederate Defenses
- USS Monitor
- CSS Virginia
- Duel of the Ironclads
- USS Cumberland
- USS Congress
- USS Minnesota
- Capture of Roanoke Island
- G.W.P. Custis
- USS Roanoke
- USS New Ironsides
- Engine Room Clock
- Gangway Headboards
- USS Onondaga
- Fall of Fort Fisher
- CSS Richmond
- CSS Florida
- The Civil War Final
- Shipfitters' tools, 1800s
- Steel Navy
- USS Maine
- Spanish-American War
- The Great White Fleet
- Jamestown Exposition
- Naval Station Norfolk
- Birth of Naval Aviation
- USS Truxtun (DD-14)
- USS Subchaser 136
- Mines in WWI
- Propaganda Posters
- USS New York (BB-34)
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