Southsea has two piers Clarence Pier amusement park and South Parade Pier. Southsea is Portsmouth's seaside resort, which was named after Southsea Castle. The waterfront and Portsmouth Harbour are dominated by the Spinnaker Tower, one of the United Kingdom's tallest structures at 560 feet (170 m). Portsmouth is among the few British cities with two cathedrals: the Anglican Cathedral of St Thomas and the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John the Evangelist. The former HMS Vernon shore establishment has been redeveloped into a large retail outlet destination known as Gunwharf Quays which opened in 2001. The naval base also contains the National Museum of the Royal Navy and Portsmouth Historic Dockyard which has a collection of historic warships, including the Mary Rose, Lord Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory (the world's oldest naval ship still in commission), and HMS Warrior, the Royal Navy's first ironclad warship. The base has long been nicknamed Pompey, a nickname it shares with the wider city of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Football Club. HMNB Portsmouth is an operational Royal Navy base and is home to two-thirds of the UK's surface fleet. Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia was formerly based in Portsmouth and oversaw the transfer of Hong Kong in 1997, after which, Britannia was retired from royal service, decommissioned and relocated to Leith as a museum ship. In 1982, a large Royal Navy task force departed from Portsmouth for the Falklands War. During the Second World War, the city was a pivotal embarkation point for the D-Day landings and was bombed extensively in the Portsmouth Blitz, which resulted in the deaths of 930 people. In the 20th century, Portsmouth achieved city status on 21 April 1926. By 1859, a ring of defensive land and sea forts, known as the Palmerston Forts had been built around Portsmouth in anticipation of an invasion from continental Europe. By the early-19th century, Portsmouth was the most heavily fortified city in the world, and was considered "the world's greatest naval port" at the height of the British Empire throughout Pax Britannica. The world's first mass production line was established at the naval base's Block Mills which produced pulley blocks for the Royal Navy fleet. Portsmouth has the world's oldest dry dock, "The Great Stone Dock" originally built in 1698, rebuilt in 1769 and presently known as "No.5 Dock". Portsmouth was England's first line of defence during an attempted French invasion in 1545 at the Battle of the Solent, famously notable for the sinking of the carrack Mary Rose and witnessed by King Henry VIII of England from Southsea Castle. Portsmouth was first established as a town with a royal charter on. Portsmouth is one of the world's best known ports, its history can be traced to Roman times and has been a significant Royal Navy dockyard and base for centuries. Portsmouth also forms part of the regional South Hampshire conurbation, which includes the city of Southampton and the boroughs of Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, Havant and Waterlooville. Portsea Island has the third highest population in the British Isles after the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. Portsmouth is mostly located on Portsea Island the only English city not on the mainland of Great Britain.
Portsmouth is located 70 miles (110 km) south-west of London and 19 miles (31 km) south-east of Southampton. Portsmouth is the most densely populated city in the United Kingdom, with a population last recorded at 238,800.
The city of Portsmouth is a unitary authority, which is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth ( / ˈ p ɔːr t s m ə θ/ ( listen) PORTS-məth) is a port and city in the county of Hampshire in southern England. HK, HL, HM, HN, HP, HR, HS, HT, HU, HV, HX, HY