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Spithead

Coordinates: 50°45′05″N 1°08′12″W / 50.75140°N 1.13667°W / 50.75140; -1.13667
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Spurn Head in East Yorkshire.

50°45′05″N 1°08′12″W / 50.75140°N 1.13667°W / 50.75140; -1.13667

Spithead is located in the United Kingdom
Spithead
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Map showing the location of Spithead within the United Kingdom.

Spithead is an eastern area of the Solent and a roadstead for vessels off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast, with the Isle of Wight lying to the south-west. Spithead and the channel to the north is the main approach for shipping to Portsmouth Harbour and onwards to Southampton.[1] Spithead itself is an important naval anchorage.[2] Historically, Spithead was used for assembling Royal Navy ships, including as a formation area for squadrons or fleets at anchor, as well as for the resupply of ships.[3][4]

Geography

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1967 Admiralty Chart of the area (Nab Tower to Spithead)

It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire shore for 5 km (3.1 mi). Spithead is 22.5 km (14.0 mi) long by about 6.5 km (4.0 mi) in average breadth. Horse and Dean Sand lie to the NE side and Ryde Sand and No Man's Land to the South side.[5]

As of 2004, the main channel was reported as being maintained at a dredged depth of 9.5m.[5]

History

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Two Captured Danish Ships Entering Portsmouth Harbour by Turner, 1807.

There are evidence of submerged prehistoric landscapes at Spithead.[2]

The Spithead mutiny occurred in 1797 in some of the ship of the Royal Navy Channel fleet which were at anchor at Spithead.[6]

On 19 July 1545, Mary Rose sank off Spithead.[7] Spithead was the location where HMS Royal George sank in 1782 with the loss of more than 800 lives.[7][6]

In 1836, the artist Clarkson Frederick Stanfield described Spithead as "marked out by buoys at regular intervals, and is often the spot chosen for the assembling of the English fleet. The port is the general rendezvous where all ships homeward or outward bound take convoy, and frequently seven hundred merchantmen have sailed at one time from Spithead."[8]

The Fleet Review is a British tradition that usually takes place at Spithead, where the monarch reviews the massed Royal Navy.[1] The 1937 Coronation Fleet Review and 1953 coronation reviews were two of the largest assembly of warships in history, described by military historian Hedley Paul Willmott as "the last parade of the Royal Navy as the world's greatest and most prodigious navy".[9]

In July 2007, Admiral Alan West, a former First Sea Lord took the name Spithead when he was appointed to the House of Lords, taking the title Baron West of Spithead.[10]

Infrastructure

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Closeup map of Spithead

Spithead has been strongly defended by four Solent Forts, which complement the Fortifications of Portsmouth.[11] The forts were begun in 1865 under Lord Palmerston and completed by 1880.[11]

At the eastern end of the approaches to Spithead lies Nab Tower, which is sunk in place over rocks and replaced an earlier light vessel.[12][13]

In 2016, several new navigational lights on posts were installed by pile foundation into the seabed at Spithead to be used by the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.[14][15]

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In the operetta H.M.S. Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan, the character "Buttercup" is referred to as "The rosiest, roundest, and reddest beauty in all Spithead".

In the book series about the naval officer Horatio Hornblower by C. S. Forester, the main protagonist starts off his career by becoming seasick in calm weather on Spithead.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Royal Reviews at Spithead". History Today. 6 June 1977. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  2. ^ a b Satchell, Julie; English Heritage; Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund; Hampshire And Wight Trust For Maritime Archaeology (2007), England's Historic Seascapes: Solent and Isle of Wight, doi:10.5284/1000315
  3. ^ Macdonald, Janet W. (2010). The British Navy's Victualling Board, 1793-1815. Woodbridge, Suffolk ; Rochester, NY: Boydell & Brewer. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-84383-553-0. OCLC 619635266.
  4. ^ Dunn, Steve (30 January 2021). The Power and the Glory. Seaforth Publishing. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-5267-6905-3.
  5. ^ a b Sailing Directions (Enroute): English Channel - Publication 191. US Goverment. 2004. p. 39. ISBN 9781577855644.
  6. ^ a b Manwaring, G.E.; Dobree, Bonamy (30 May 2004). The Floating Republic. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-1931-3.
  7. ^ a b "The wreck that revealed the Mary Rose". BBC News. 4 September 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  8. ^ Foundation, s Register (13 July 2023). "The Salvage of the Royal George at Spithead". Heritage & Education Centre. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  9. ^ Willmott, H. P. (22 March 2010). The Last Century of Sea Power, Volume 2. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. p. 25. ISBN 0-253-00409-8.
  10. ^ "No. 58391". The London Gazette. 13 July 2007. p. 10139.
  11. ^ a b White, Marcus (19 June 2024). "Solent sea forts each sell for more than £1m". BBC News. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  12. ^ Hamilton, Keith (13 August 2012). "Historic tower to be given a makeover". Daily Echo. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  13. ^ "Nab Tower Lighthouse". Trinity House. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  14. ^ Stickland, Katy (19 August 2016). "New navigational lights for Portsmouth Harbour". YBW. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  15. ^ "Light Towers in The Solent near... © David Dixon". Geograph Britain and Ireland. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
[edit]
  • Media related to Spithead at Wikimedia Commons
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Spithead".
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