United States

Virginia: Newport News

Virginia: ° Alexandria ° Jamestown ° Newport News ° Plymouth ° Richmond

July 17, 1882, The New York Times, New York, New York

A NEW SOUTHERN SEAPORT
The City of Newport News, Virginia
A Commercial Centre with an Unrivaled Harbor -
Rapid Growth of a New Enterprise.

NEWPORT NEWS, Virgina, July 13.--Those who have studied the natural features and possible future of Virginia's sea-shore have long regarded with interest that point of land at the eastern extremity of the Virginia peninsula, which projects into the waters of the York and James Rivers and Chesapeake Bay and reaches out like a huge key toward the very gateway of the Old Dominion, where these great bodies of water are discharged through the capes into the open sea beyond.

Since about the beginning of the seventeenth century, when Capt. Newport landed on the north-eastern shore of the James River bringing with him from England tidings that had long been expected and were gladly welcomed by the colonists, this spot, where he first set foot on Virginia soil, has been known as Newport News.

By the extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway from Richmond, hitherto its eastern terminus, 75 miles down the peninsula to its apex, the new city of Newport News has become now the ocean terminus of the railway system, and promises to play an important part in the future of Virginia.

Already the machinery of business has transformed the place into a scene of activity. Where only two years ago an occasional footprint betrayed the rare infractions of the solitude that reigned, the loading of ships, the landing of railway freight and passengers, the coaling of foreign steamers, and the hammer of the carpenter now form the elements of a continuous bustle and stir. . . The wonder that this natural seaport was not long ago utilized grows with reflection. Here, surely, is a harbor in which the navies of a half-dozen great powers might find ample elbow room. There is nowhere in the world a place that seems better fitted by nature to be the centre of an extensive commerce, where the largest ships can float at wharves of ordinary length. Only a dozen yards from the shore, opposite the point, the natural depth is sufficient for vessels of 1,000 tons burden, and it increases rapidly in advancing toward mid-channel, while at the wharves there is a depth of 28 feet of water at low tide, so that vessels may approach them under sail at any hour of the day or night.

Owing to the indentation of the Atlantic coastline at this point, Newport News is at the same time nearer to the open sea on the one hand, and to the interior centres of population and production on the other, than any of the other principal Atlantic ports. It is 150 miles nearer to ocean navigation than Baltimore, 85 miles nearer than Philadelphia or Boston, and 15 miles nearer than New York itself. Its roadstead and harbor are sheltered and safe for all classes of vessels in all conditions of wind and weather. Hampton Roads, in point of fact, has been for years the favorite refuge and rendezvous for incoming vessels seeking harbor or consigned to await orders for loading at the various Atlantic ports, and there is probably no other one spot on the coast in sight of which so large and numerous fleets of ocean tonnage can be found within a given time. Between the open sea and Newport News there has never been any obstruction from ice within the memory of man; no dangerous rocks or shoals, and vessels of all kinds, from the smallest coaster to the largest steamship, coming in from the open sea can disdain services of tow-boat or pilot at all seasons of the year by day or night, a species of independence which, as a vessel Captain has grimly remarked, they cannot afford to indulge in at any other port . . .

The noted City of Rome, which may be taken as a type of this new departure in vessel construction, draws over 25 feet of water and registers over 5,500 tons. She cannot enter New York Harbor except at high tides, while her difficulties in this respect are considerably increased at Liverpool and London. In fact, the delays incident to the navigation of the Thames are so seriously felt that deep and capacious docks to meet the requirements of modern vessels are now in couse of construction at Tilbury Port, near the mouth of the river.

Col. Warburton closes his interesting discussion of this subject by saying that "large steamers will find at Newport News advantages which cannot fail to attract them--cheap coal for steam purposes, which can be delivered on the wharf at $3 to $3.25 per ton; a free port, a sheltered and capacious harbor, with deep water at all tides."

Since the organization of the new steamship line to Brazil, in which leading houses in the South American trade are financially interested, the additional life and activity given to the place has greatly increased its apparent importance. Starting from New York, the steamers stop at Newport News, and will probably concentrate at this point exports from Richmond, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. They are of 3,500 tons capacity, are built of iron, with water-tight compartments, and contain excellent accommodations for saloon passengers..

Newport News itself proposes to bear a hand in supplying less fortunate regions with the necessaries and luxuries of life, for it is surrounded by the great fisheries and oyster beds for which the waters of Virginia are celebrated, and by lands peculiarly adapted for the fruit and market gardens from which the supplies of early fruits and vegetables for the Northern cities are largely drawn, for this, it will be remembered, is the centre of the renowned truck-farming district of tidewater Virginia.

---

1899. World's Fleet. Boston Daily Globe

Lloyds Register of Shipping gives the entire fleet of the world as 28,180 steamers and sailing vessels, with a total tonnage of 27,673,628, of which 39 perent are British.

Great Britain	10,990 vessels, total tonnage of 10,792,714
United States	3,010 vessels, total tonnage of 2,405,887
Norway	2,528 vessels, tonnage of 1,604,230
Germany	1,676 vessels, with a tonnage of 2,453,334, in which are included her particularly large ships.
Sweden	1,408 vessels with a tonnage of 643, 527
Italy	1,150 vessels
France	1,182 vessels

For Historical Comparison
Top 10 Maritime Nations Ranked by Value (2017)

	Country	# of Vessels	Gross Tonnage (m)	Total Value (USDbn)
1	Greece	4,453	206.47	$88.0
2	Japan	4,317	150.26	$79.8
3	China	4,938	159.71	$71.7
4	USA	2,399	55.92	$46.5
5	Singapore	2,662	64.03	$41.7
6	Norway	1,668	39.68	$41.1
7	Germany	2,923	81.17	$30.3
8	UK	883	28.78	$24.3
9	Denmark	1,040	36.17	$23.4
10	South Korea	1,484	49.88	$20.1
Total		26,767	87.21	$466.9