[10] 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.

Portsmouth is the birthplace of notable people such as author Charles Dickens, engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, former Prime Minister James Callaghan, actor Peter Sellers and author-journalist Christopher Hitchens.

[30] Edward II ordered all ports on the south coast to assemble their largest vessels at Portsmouth to carry soldiers and horses to the Duchy of Aquitaine in 1324 to strengthen defences.

[38] Henry VII rebuilt the fortifications with stone, assisted Robert Brygandine and Sir Reginald Bray in the construction of the world's first dry dock,[39] and raised the Square Tower in 1494.

[48] His unpopular military adviser, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, was stabbed to death in an Old Portsmouth pub by war veteran John Felton five years later.

[6][60] The 11-ship First Fleet left on 13 May 1787 to establish the first European colony in Australia, the beginning of prisoner transportation;[61][62] Captain William Bligh of HMS Bounty also sailed from the harbour that year.

[83][84] When the British Empire was at its height of power, covering a quarter of Earth's total land area and 458 million people at the turn of the 20th century, Portsmouth was considered "the world's greatest naval port".

[89][90][91] The fire spread rapidly as there were many old wooden buildings in the area, including the historic semaphore tower which dated back to the eighteenth century, which was completely destroyed.

[112][113] She was decommissioned on 11 December of that year at Portsmouth Naval Base in the presence of Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, and twelve senior members of the royal family.

[114][115] Redevelopment of the naval shore establishment HMS Vernon began in 2001 as a complex of retail outlets, clubs, pubs, and a shopping centre known as Gunwharf Quays.

[116] The Tricorn Centre, called "the ugliest building in the UK" by the BBC, was demolished in late 2004 after years of debate over the expense of demolition and whether it was worth preserving as an example of 1960s brutalist architecture.

[117][118][page needed] Designed by Owen Luder as part of a project to "revitalise" Portsmouth in the 1960s, it consisted of a shopping centre, market, nightclubs, and a multistorey car park.

[131][page needed][138] Portsdown Hill is a large band of chalk; the rest of Portsea Island is composed of layers of London Clay and sand (part of the Bagshot Formation), formed principally during the Eocene.

[194] Redevelopment has created new shopping areas, including the Gunwharf Quays (the repurposed HMS Vernon shore establishment,[195] with stores, restaurants and a cinema) and the Historic Dockyard, which caters to tourists and holds an annual Victorian Christmas market.

[211][212] The government announced before the 2014 Scottish independence referendum that military shipbuilding would end in Portsmouth, with all UK surface-warship construction focused on the two older BAE facilities in Glasgow.

[231] John Cranko's 1951 ballet Pineapple Poll, which features music from Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta The Bumboat Woman's Story, is also set in Portsmouth.

It's a large family-friendly music festival and has featured headliners including Stereophonics, Noel Gallager's High Flying Birds, The Prodigy, and other prominent household names.

[259] The resort is also the setting of the graphic novel The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch by high fantasy author Neil Gaiman, who grew up in Portsmouth.

The Victory was placed in a permanent dry dock in 1922 when the Society for Nautical Research led a national appeal to restore her,[80] and 22 million people have visited the ship.

[299] Britain's first iron-hulled warship, HMS Warrior, was restored and moved to Portsmouth in June 1987 after serving as an oil fuel pier at Pembroke Dock in Pembrokeshire for fifty years.

[308] In the city centre, the Guildhall Square Cenotaph contains the names of the fallen and is guarded by stone sculptures of machine gunners by Charles Sargeant Jagger.

[311] The naval shore establishment HMS Vernon contained the Royal Navy's arsenal; weapons and ammunition which would be taken from ships at its 'Gun Wharf' as they entered the harbour, and resupplied when they headed back to sea.

[315] HMS Vernon was closed on 1 April 1996[316] and was redeveloped by Portsmouth City Council as Gunwharf Quays,[195] a mixed residential and retail site with outlet stores, restaurants, pubs, cafés and a cinema.

[318][319][320] The 560-foot (170 m) tower is visible at a distance of 23 miles (37 km) in clear weather, and its viewing platforms overlook the Solent (towards the Isle of Wight), the harbour and Southsea Castle.

[325] Clarence Pier, opened in 1861 by the Prince and Princess of Wales, was named after Portsmouth military governor Lord Frederick FitzClarence and was described as "one of the largest amusement parks on the south coast".

[55] Although the church's chancel was saved by servicemen shortly after the raid, replacing the roof was deemed impossible due to the large amounts of salt solution absorbed by the stonework.

[371] Portsmouth International Port has links to Caen, Cherbourg-Octeville, St Malo and Le Havre in France,[372][373] Santander and Bilbao in Spain,[374] and the Channel Islands.

[419][420] Portsmouth has been home to a number of famed authors; Charles Dickens, whose works include A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities, was born there.

[421] Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, practised medicine in the city and played in goal for the amateur Portsmouth Association Football Club.

[431][432] His father, Marc Isambard Brunel, worked for the Royal Navy and developed the world's first production line to mass-produce pulley blocks for ship rigging.