Navy’s vast Virginia base reviewing procedures after sailors at sea had cars towed

Norfolk Naval Base is reexamining its parking and other procedures after towing dozens of cars belonging to sailors away at sea, an official said. The amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge transits the Atlantic Ocean during a training exercise June 19, 2026. About 90 USS Kearsarge sailors returned from 10 days at sea in early September to find that their cars had been towed from Naval Station Norfolk during an Aug. 29 concert on base, according to a local news outlet. (Riley Gasdia/U.S. Navy) The Navy’s largest base is reexamining its parking and other procedures after towing dozens of cars belonging to sailors away at sea, an official said Thursday. Some sailors assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge returned to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., earlier this month to discover that their vehicles had been towed from an on-base parking area near the waterfront, according to news reports.

The base is examining lessons learned, including “waterfront notification, command coordination and procedures for addressing personally owned vehicles when temporary parking restrictions overlap with a ship’s scheduled underway period,” said Kelly Wirfel, a base spokeswoman. The base didn’t say how many cars were removed Aug. 28 to clear parking space for a Morale, Welfare and Recreation-sponsored concert the following day featuring Teddy Swims and Miranda Lambert. But Norfolk public media outlet WHRO