SPACEPHOTOS

This near-vertical photograph shows the area of Hampton Roads, Norfolk, and Newport News in southeastern Virginia. Hampton Roads, with one of the finest natural harbors in the world, has a deep water channel (near the center of the photograph) 4 miles (6 kilometers) long and 40 feet (12 meters) deep, through which the waters of the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth Rivers pass into Chesapeake Bay. The Hampton Roads harbor was the site of the Civil War battle between the ironclad ships, Monitor and Merrimack, in March l862. Southeast of Hampton Roads is Norfolk, a port of entry and major commercial, industrial, shipping, and distribution center. Its industries include shipbuilding; meat and seafood processing; automobile assembly; and the manufacture of fertilizers, farm implements, chemicals, textiles, and peanut oil. Norfolk, along with the city of Portsmouth to its west, forms an extensive naval military complex. As the largest operating military base in the United States, this complex includes a major naval air station, a supply center, and numerous training and operational facilities. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (barely discernible near the east edge of the photograph) links Norfolk with the Delmarva Peninsula (not within the photograph) to the north. West of Hampton Roads at the mouth of the James River is Newport News, a major port for transatlantic and intracoastal shipping and one of the largest shipbuilding and repair centers in the world. Major products manufactured in Newport News include building materials, textiles, metal products, and radar and electronic equipment. Other industries include oil refining, railroad shops, and seafood processing plants.