Craney Island is a point of land in the independent city of Portsmouth in the South Hampton Roads region of eastern Virginia in the United States. The location, formerly in Norfolk County, is near the mouth of the Elizabeth River opposite Lambert's Point on Hampton Roads. It is home to the Craney Island US Naval Supply Center, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. History The name "Craney Island" was derived from the fact that the early English settlers on the Elizabeth River in the 17th century were impressed with the great number of what they mistakenly believed to be cranes that inhabited it. Hence the name "Crayne" or "Craney Point." The birds the settlers thought were cranes were actually white and blue herons, still fairly common birds in the Hampton Roads region. Near the entrance to the navigational channel of the Elizabeth River, Craney Island proved to be of strategic significance during the War of 1812 and the American Civil War. War of 1812 During the War of 1812, the federal government built the Craney Island Fort as part of the second system of US fortifications. It was completed in early 1813. The fort had a mile-long earthwork connecting the main seven-gun battery in the southeast with an outer battery and blockhouse in the northwest. A small redoubt was in the fort's center. By June 1813 the fort was armed with two 24-pounder cannon, along with one 18-pounder and four 6-pounders. On June 22, 1813, the Battle of Craney Island took place. During the battle, the fort was manned by 580 Regulars and militia in addition to 150 sailors and marines from the USS Constellation, all under Brigadier General Robert B. Taylor. 81 British troops were killed, wounded or captured of their 2,500-man force in total, with no American losses of their 730-man force. The victory at Craney Island saved Norfolk and Portsmouth from being captured and pillaged by the enemy during the war. However, the British proceeded to burn the nearby city of Hampton, Virginia, which had no forts at the time. The repulse at Craney Island did not deter the British from further operations in Hampton Roads the next year. In 1814 they proceeded up Chesapeake Bay to burn Washington, D.C., and unsuccessfully attack Baltimore, as there were no forts guarding the mouth of the bay at the time. This led to the building of Fort