Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads, natural harbor and port in southeast Virginia formed by the confluence of 3 rivers—the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth—that flow into Chesapeake Bay. The Virginia cities of Newport News and Hampton face the channel on the north shore, Norfolk and Portsmouth on the south. The area is the headquarters of armed forces installations that make up the world's largest naval complex. Hampton was one of the earliest English settlements in the country, founded in 1610. During the Civil War Hampton Roads was the scene of the naval battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack, the first ironclad warships.