Fort Eustis-- Part 5: World War II

In 1923, Camp Abraham Eustis became Fort Eustis and operated until 1931.  Then it became a prison camp, primarily for bootleggers during Prohibition, but when that was repealed the number of prisoners dropped drastically.

Afterwards, it was used for a number of different uses, both military and non-military.  It was also a WPA camp at one time.

It reopened as a fort in August 1940, part of the U.S. build up before World War II.  It was an anti-aircraft training base  In 1943, the British Army's Caribbean Regiment trained there.

In 1946, it became the home of the U.S. Army Transportation School.

A portion of the U.S. Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) anchored in the James River adjacent to Mulberry Island.  It was known as the "Ghost Fleet."  There are still some of them there, though deterioration has caused major environmental problems.

--Brock-Perry