What is "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 ; and it is long by about in average breadth. Spithead has been strongly defended since 1864 by 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.

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

Category:Solent Category:Roadstead