The area where the base is located was the site of the original 1907
Jamestown Exposition. In 1915, the Headquarters of the
5th Naval District was established. In April 1917, shortly after the United States entered
World War I, a bill was passed for the purchase of the land, and money was set aside in the amount of $1.6 million for the development of the base. This bill was called the Military Deficiency Appropriation Bill. When the United States entered World War I, the Navy needed a large operations center on the East Coast, which caused the base to expand very quickly. The base established a seaplane airfield in October 1917, and in the following year it was separated and became Naval Air Station Hampton Roads. The Naval Operating Base (NOB) and other facilities were established. By 1918, there were 34,000 enlisted men at the base. When
World War II began in Europe in 1939, the base became more active again. New facilities were built, including new
runways for
aircraft, part of
Naval Air Station Norfolk. It also had ramps built to be used by
seaplanes to be operated by the Navy during the war. In March 1946, the
Chief of Naval Operations ordered the Commandant of the
5th Naval District to place NOB Norfolk and NAS Norfolk as separate installations under the command of Commandant Naval Base, whose title was soon changed to Commander, Navy Region, Mid-Atlantic. Following World War II, NOB Norfolk became the primary base of the Atlantic Fleet. It was one of the largest naval bases in the world. On 1 January 1953, the name of the naval base was officially changed to Naval Station Norfolk (NS Norfolk), after being known as the NOB. located on the base. ==Incidents==