My trip to U.S. Naval Station Norfolk & Newport News Shipbuilding
We attended a family reunion in Leesburg, Virginia outside of Washington DC last week. While there, my wife and I decided to take a day and drive down to Newport News and Norfolk, Virginia (about 180 miles) and see the new Ford Class carrier under construction at Huntington/Ingalls Shipyard in Newport News, and then visit the Norfolk Naval Base and see the vessels in port at the largest naval base in the world and largest concentration of US Navy ships in the world.
We had a great time!
NOTE: I am showing only 2-3 pics here per catregory and area...there are a LOT more.
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You will not be disappointed.
OUR VISIT TO NAVAL STATION NORFOLK (NSN) & NEWPORT NEWS JULY 2012
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My wife, Gail, and myself attended her family reunion in Leesburg, VA in mid-July and determined that on one of the days that we were there we would drive down to the Naval Station Norfolk and Newport Ship Building and see the US Navy ships in port at Norfolk, and to see the construction of the first of the new US Class nuclear carriers, the
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Naval Station Norfolk is the largest assemblage of US Navy vessels and the largest Naval Base in the world. 105 US Naval vessels are homeported there and it has over 20 piers to house them. It pricipally serves what was formerly called the US Atlantic Fleet, but is now named
(the 2nd Fleet) which includes the southern Atlantic (4th Fleet), but also supports Mediterannean (6th Fleet), and Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean areas (5th Fleet) as required.
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(Note: Click on any picture for a larger higher resolution picture)
Brief History of US Naval Station Norlfok:
Durig the 1907 Jamestown Exposition, high-ranking naval officers proposed that the site would make an ideal naval base. A bill was passed in the 1908 Congress appropriating $1 million for the purchase of the property and buildings. It died when the Assistant Secretary of the Navy chose to build a new coal ship instead, deeming the coal ship at the time as an absolute necessity.
Immediately after the United States entered World War I in April 1917, the Secretary of the Navy requested Congress to appropriate funds to again buy the property. A bill was passed for the purchase of 474 acres. It also set aside the sum of $1.6 million for development of the base, including piers, aviation facilities, storehouses, facilities for fuel, 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 Fleet Naval Headquarters, the Naval Operating Base (NOB), Naval Training Station Naval Hospital, and Submarine Station. With the establishment of an airfield for seaplanes, by Armistice Day, 1918, there were 34,000 enlisted men at the base.
The airbase for seaplanes was deatached from the Naval Base and became Naval Air Station (NAS) Hampton Roads. It was renamed NAS Norfolk in July 1921.
During WW I the Navy concluded that the available land was insufficient. It was decided to fill a large part of the flats on the west and north by dredging the Elizabeth River to a depth sufficient for large ships to dock. About eight million cubic yards were dredged, moving the northern shoreline from near Dillingham Blvd. to its approximate current location.
In the late thirties and early forties, much construction took place at the Base and Air Station as war loomed. New buildings and piers, new runways, hangars, and ramps were constructed. In December 1942, recruit training at the base was discontinued in order to focus on advanced training for men going directly to the fleet.
The Naval Operating Base and Naval Air Station, then collectively referred to as Naval Base Norfolk continued their role as the home of the Atlantic Fleet after World War II. In January 1953, Naval Operating Base Norfolk was renamed Naval Station Norfolk as an effort to standardize base names. On February 5, 1999, NAS Norfolk was disestablished and became part of Naval Station Norfolk. Today, in addition to being the home for the Navy's largest concentration of naval forces and the largest naval base in the world, Naval Station Norfolk also hosts personnel from the Marine Corps, Army,Air Force, and Coast Guard, and supports significant Joint missions as well.
Our Visit to Naval Station Norfolk:
We arrived at the base and determined quickly that there was no appropriate or good spot to see the vessels from off of the base. We drove up to one of the main gates and asked the NCO on duty if we could enter to see the vessels at the piers and take some pictures. I showed him my US Government ID card for the Department of Interior and he indicated that would work and so we drove in. We were treated to many vessels and though I could organize them by piers, I decided to organize them by vessel type:
Guided Missile Destroyers (DDGs):
Guided misile destroyers are the work horses of the modern US Navy. The US Navy has developed the
which include a very sophisticated vertical launch missile system housing several types of missile loadouts (including Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM), Standard Missiles (SMs), Tomohawk Cruise missiles (LACMs), and Ballistic Missile Defense missles (BMD). The system also includes very sophisticated sensors including Phased Array Radar (PAR) and a sophisticated Battle Management System (BMS) which can coordinate all aspects of the vessels defensive and offensive fire-power, and alos allow for cooperative engagements linking multiple vessels together and using their weapons as if though they were all a single ship. The US Navy nnow has over 60 of these vessels and is building more. They are modular and highly scalable and upgradeable and represent the most powerful destroyer force in the world. We saw 6-8 of these destroyers in port at NSN when we visited: (Note: Click on any picture for a larger higher resolution picture)
Guided Missile Cruisers (CGs):
Guided misile cruisers are the most powerful US surface combatants. Like the AEGIS Destoryers, the US Navy developed
(which were actually developed first) including all of the same weapons (except more of them) that the AEGIS destroyers have. These vessels are the principle escorts and defenders of US Aircraft Carriers and other high value vessels like large Amphibious Assault Carriers. Generally one or two AEGIS cruisers and wo or three AEGIS destroyers will accompany and defend a US Carrier Strike Group (CSG). The US has twenty-two of these vessels, and will soon be building new, interim design vessels to begin replacing them. In all likelihood a newer larger class Burke AEGIS destroyer will be built as an interim or bridge design to the next generation guided missile cruiser. We saw 5-6 of these cruisers in port at NSN when we visited: (Note: Click on any picture for a larger higher resolution picture)
Nuclear Attack Submarines (SSNs):
Nuclear attack submarines are the wolves of the OCeans. They are fast, quiet and carry a significant warload of torpedoes and missiles to attack any land or sea target they are tasked with finding and destroying. The United States has over 60 of these very sophisticated submarines. Most are Los Angeles Class submarines. But they are getting older, having been built in lareg numbers during the cold war. More lately the three Sea Wolf submarines, and now the new nuclear attack submarine class, the
are coming on line. Nine of the new subs have been launched and two more are currently building. They will launch at a rate of about two per year until all of the Los Angeles class boats have been replaced. We saw 2 Los Angeles class attack submarines in port at NSN when we visited: (Note: Click on any picture for a larger higher resolution picture)
Landing Platform Dock (LPDs):
Landing Platform Dock vessels are amphibious assault vessels with a large landing deck n the rear, a well-deck on the back of the vessel where landing craft and air-cushioned vehicles can dock, which carry troops, tanks, armored personnel carriers, and equipment to shore. Helicopters for assault and for close air support fly off of the deck. The newest LPDs in the US Fleet are the
LPDs. The United Sttaes has launched and commissioned nine of the these new ships and is building more. We saw 1 of these LPDs in port at NSN when we visited: (Note: Click on any picture for a larger higher resolution picture)
...continued in next post
