You know, ‘at newport news’ is not any less ‘out in the open. Not as far as defense systems.
Also the one you were seeing was probably Enterprise. She is now at NN being defueled prior to decommissioning.
We were tied up at Pier 12 on the side close to the point in 1978 I think it was. A straight line storm came across Hampton Roads. It tore ever ship loose but us and we were the only carrier in port when it hit.
There are several critical considerations about shipyard work. It often means Water Tight Integrity is compromised if it even exist at all. You have holes cut from the Hanger Deck down to 6th deck in some places. You have hoses running in and out of all major passageways and through hatches that can't be closed. There is a high potential for fire as well. The shipyards are geared up to handle all this. N.O.B. is not Norfolk Naval SY or Newport News yards either. There is one other thing. The carriers in that picture all of them are highly visible from I-64. If they can be easily be seen??? Nevermind that too. The International Piers are also about two mile or so upstream.
Pier Ten should have never been built. I think it was possibly built with the idea of an expanded carrier fleet rather than a place to put all the Atlantic Carriers out like sitting ducks. A Three Carrier berth base worked from WW2 up into likely the mid 1980's. During that time we also kept to carrier groups in The MED Sea but still separate from each other.