The port of Southampton, which has almost amalgamated with Portsmouth into a conurbation, lies on a peninsula between the mouths of the River Test in the west and the River Itchen in the east.
Although the town suffered much destruction in World War II, it has preserved a number of old buildings,
including parts of the medieval town walls and two Tudor houses with their characteristic black and white half-timbering. There are excellent shopping facilities both in and out of town. This university town proves a good base for visits to the New Forest and the Isle of Wight.
Thanks to its favorable position, Southampton is one of the world's best natural harbors. It was used by the Romans during their occupation. The tide rises only 13ft/4m in Southampton Water, which is of great benefit for shipping. The position of the Isle of Wight not only protects entry to this deep water harbor, but also causes high water in the 9mi/14km-long mouth of the delta four times a day. This phenomenon occurs thus: the further the water from the Atlantic floods into the English Channel the more the tide spreads out, causing a time delay on the coast - on the south coast of the Isle of Wight of two to three hours. Through this delay the first high tide flooding from the west into the bay is followed two to three hours later by a second high tide from the east.
Its branches of industry include cable works, mechanical engineering, precision engineering, the production of chemicals and synthetic materials, shipbuilding and the service sector.
Until the 1930s Southampton was England's largest port dealing in trans-Atlantic passenger travel. Giant ocean steamers, such as the Queen Mary, were built in the local shipyards, while hundreds of thousands of emigrants departed the country on ships sailing from here. The "Titanic", whose maiden voyage to New York ended in disaster, was launched here in 1912. Since the 1970s numbers of passengers have steadily declined in the face of competition from cheaper and faster charter flights. Today mainly cruise ships use the port including the two ocean giants P & O's "Canberra" and the "Queen Elizabeth II" belonging to Cunard.
There was already a harbor here in Roman times, situated a little way inland at Bitterne on the River Itchen. In 1017 Canute was chosen as king here by the Saxons. In 1189 Richard the Lionheart and his knights set sail from here on their way to the third Crusade; and from here Edward III set out in 1345 and Henry V in 1415 for their campaigns in France. On August fifth 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from here in the "Mayflower". Many troopships departed from this important marine base in both world wars, the reason for the heavy enemy bombing raids of 1940/41.
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