The Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation (HRPE) was the third largest US Army Transportation Corps port of embarkation during WWII. It served as a hub for the movements of millions of troops between 1942-1946. 

The Civil War introduced many new technologies to achieve victory in a total war.

The Civil War’s second major amphibious operation was the capture of Port Royal Sound on November 7, 1861.

Major General John Bankhead Magruder arrived in Texas in late October 1862 and immediately sought to regain the laurels he had earned on the Virginia Peninsula.

The Sumter’s cruise launched the career of one of the greatest commerce raider commanders in history.

The USS Roanoke was a Merrimack-class steam screw frigate built at the Gosport Navy Yard. When the Civil War erupted, Roanoke captured several blockade runners and fought during the March 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads.

It’s incredibly rare, it’s from the US Navy, it’s a key piece of the origin story for the longest serving, most produced military sidearm in world (not American, WORLD) history… and it’s in the collection of your Mariners’ Museum and Park!

When President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of the entire southern coastline, the US Navy only had 93 warships, and almost half of these were outdated or unusable. So, the US Navy went on a buying spree purchasing every steamer that could mount cannons. One of these vessels was the St. Mary which was soon commissioned as USS Hatteras.

In less than 60 years after the end of the Civil War, the city of Newport News was internationally known as a shipbuilding center with excellent port facilities.