Spithead
Spithead is a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, forming part of the Solent. By some reckoning the name attaches to the whole eastern branch of the Solent.
A fine anchorage, Spithead 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 3 miles; and it is 14 miles long by about 4 miles in average breadth.
The presence of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth and the strategic position of Southampton Water to which it gives access, give a vital importance to Spithead, and it has long been defended. Since 1864 it has had fortifications complementing those of Portsmouth.
The Fleet Review is a British tradition that usually takes place at Spithead, where the monarch reviews the massed Royal Navy.
