Naval Weapons Station Yorktown is one of the multiple military facilities owned and operated by the United States Navy in Virginia. The installation spreads over two different counties – James City and York – and is in the immediate proximity of Camp Peary. It is surrounded by amazing natural landscapes and benefits from a huge colonial history.
The mission of NWS Yorktown is clear and simple. It is responsible for storing huge deposits of ammunition and weapons. It also loads or unloads all the ships that require such operations and only supports the Atlantic Fleet. The base works under the Department of Defense, but through the United States Navy. This means that it will support these two institutions regardless of their missions and operations.
The local facilities also aim to become one of the primary priorities on site. The welfare of those who inhabit the base is an important responsibility for the officials. Everyone is treated alike, whether they are military troops or civilian individuals. Aside from the military personnel, the base also hosts their families and a wide variety of civilian contractors and workers. The facilities are among the most modern ones. The people can benefit from society clubs, community centers, a professional health care system, schools and many other entertainment solutions, such as dining facilities, snack bars or recreational areas. Those who like sports can go to a gym or a fitness club, while the sports lovers may always kill their time on one of the multitude of courts. Kids usually spend their time around skating parks.
The history of NWS Yorktown dates back to the colonial era, in the 17-th century. The place has always been considered to be very useful for the military forces that inhabited it. However, the actual connection with the United States Navy began in the summer of 1918. The place was used by a private company to test various types of dynamites. In 1918, the authorities took over the place in an attempt to strengthen the United States of America as World War I was quickly gaining popularity in Europe. When the improvement was done, the facility became the largest one of its kind in the world. The primary mission of the site was to deal with mines and to train people in handling and using them accordingly.
What helped NWS Yorktown grow so much over the years was the immediate proximity to plenty of other installations, such as the ones in Norfolk or Hampton Roads. More than 10,000 troops were employed and worked on site during World War I. Most of them were coming from the surrounding human communities. As World War I reached to an end, the base lost some of the activity and plenty of workers left the area. It also gave up its initial objective to deal with mines only. Some of the communities were completely abandoned and became ghost towns.
As time passed by, NWS Yorktown got to deal with the Atlantic Fleet only and slowly adopted its current mission in time.