HRPE

HRPE (Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation)

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Red Cross Volunteers Serve Coffee to Soldiers on Pier 6, Newport News, VA March 20, 1945 E13070

1st Lt. Chetlain Sigmen and Company K, 3rd Battalion, 91st Division aboard HR-103 before Sailing Overseas, April 1, 1944 L7175

Welcome Home, Homeward Bound Veterans Marching through Victory Arch August 8, 1945 F15082

A natural harbor, Hampton Roads had served the nation as a military port in the Spanish-American War and World War I. During World War II the port headquarters was established in Newport News, Virginia. During this time, the port ranked third in total tonnage after the ports of New York and San Francisco, California. The number of ships that left port during that time numbered 3,294. An astounding 12.5 million measured tons of supplies and equipment and more that 1.6 million troops would move through the facility at the wars end. Brigadier General John R. Kilpatrick, former commanding officer of the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation, donated more than 150,000 negatives and photographs to The Mariners' Museum. Created by the United States Army Signal Corps, these images of Hampton Roads' role in the war have become a poignant visual diary of a nation in time of war.

For more information, e-mail collections@MarinersMuseum.org.