Which state is home to the largest naval base in the world?

We're in a military frame of mind today - this question comes straight off of our Pocket Trivia: US History game. What state is home to the largest naval base in the world?  Is it California, Hawaii, Virginia or Massachusetts?


The answer is Virginia.  Some interesting comments here about the psychology of this question too, since some of these answers have elements of being trick question-like.  I went with Hawaii as a possible answer because just about everyone likely thought of Pearl Harbor when they saw that.  Nope - though I think you can make the case that Pearl Harbor is the best known U.S. naval base.  I also went with California since its one of the biggest states in America and would seem like a safe guess.  Wrong again.

Virginia is the correct answer, and the largest naval base in the world is Naval Station Norfolk, located in Norfolk, Virginia.  It serves as the garrison of the 2nd naval fleet, conducts over 100,000 flight operations a year, 150,000 passengers and 264,000 tons of mail.  That's a lot of mail.