Spithead

Great Britain and the English Channel, showing the location of Spithead

Closeup map of Spithead

Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire shore for 5 km (3 miles); and it is 22.5 km (14 miles) long by about 6.5 km (4 miles) in average breadth.

The "Spithead Review of the Royal Navy" is famous, where the Monarch of the United Kingdom reviews a large fleet of warships.

In 1797 there was a mutiny in the Royal Navy fleet at anchor at Spithead.

Spithead has been strongly defended since 1864 by fortifications completing those of Portsmouth.

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