Southampton Naval Works

Centenary Quay (also known as Woolston Riverside) is a new development which has commenced in the suburb of Woolston in Southampton, England. The development is being built on the site of 31 acres, which had been home to Vosper Thorneycroft shipbuilders because of its ideal placement on the eastern bank of the River Itchen.

John I. Thornycroft & Company Limited, usually known simply as Thornycroft was a British shipbuilding firm founded by John Isaac Thornycroft in Chiswick in 1866. It moved to Woolston, Southampton, in 1908, merging in 1966 with Vosper & Company to form one organisation called Vosper Thornycroft. From 2002 to 2010 the company acquired several international and US based defence and services companies, and changed name to the VT Group. In 2008 VT's UK shipbuilding and support operations were merged with those of BAE Systems to create BVT Surface Fleet. In 2010 remaining parts of the company were absorbed by Babcock International who retained the UK and international operations, but sold the US based operations to the American Jordan Company, who took the name VT Group.

The Itchen Bridge is a bridge over the River Itchen in Southampton, Hampshire. It is a high-level hollow box girder bridge. It is located about a mile from the river mouth. The bridge spans 870 yards (800 m), is 92 feet (28 m) at its highest point and weighs 62,000 tons. The bridge connects the A3025 Portsmouth Road to Southampton. It was built to replace the former chain ferry, known as the Floating Bridge, that crossed the river at that point. The bridge's set of blue energy-saving lights can be seen from up to 5 miles (8.0 km) down Southampton Water from the bridge. The bridge has achieved notoriety as a venue for suicide, with over 200 alleged suicides recorded since its opening in 1977, prompting calls for the construction of preventive measures along its length.

The Woolston Floating Bridge was a cable ferry that crossed the River Itchen in England between hards at Woolston and Southampton from 23 November 1836 until 11 June 1977. It was taken out of service after the new Itchen Bridge was opened. Initially there was one ferry, built and owned by the Floating Bridge Company, increased to two in 1881. In 1934 they were sold to Southampton Corporation.In the 1970s two diesel ferries operated side by side during the day with a single ferry late in the evening. There was a bus terminus at both hards on either side of the crossing, connecting foot passengers with the centre of Southampton and the road to Portsmouth. A maintenance slipway and cradle were built to the North of the Woolston hard to enable the ferries (or "Bridges") to be hauled out of the water. The third (or spare) diesel ferry was often to be found moored off the wires on the Southampton side of the river to the North of the hard in later years.

HMS Europa was a Royal Navy Shore establishment active between 1939 and 1946 during World War II as the central depot for the Royal Naval Patrol Service (RNPS). It was established after the commandeering of Sparrows Nest Gardens, a private residence in Lowestoft in Suffolk. Originally named Pembroke X, the base was the headquarters of the RNPS, responsible for protecting coastal Britain and its convoys, in particular undertaking minesweeping duties. Over 70,000 men and 6,000 vessels, many of them small civilian vessels such as armed trawlers, served in the RNPS during the war.The base was decommissioned in 1946. It is now the site of Lowestoft War Memorial Museum.

HMS Abatos was a Royal Navy shore establishment responsible for the planning of Operation Pluto, the construction of the undersea pipeline that supplied the Allied troops with fuel during the liberation of Europe in 1944, after D-Day. There was another Operation Pluto training establishment at Tilbury, under the name HMS Abastor. The Admiralty requisitioned the remains of the Supermarine factory in Woolston, Southampton in 1943. The base was commissioned on 21 September 1943 as a tender to HMS Shrapnel. Just before D-Day, the force established headquarters at 21 Upper Vicarage Road, Woolston The headquarters had shifted to Norfolk House by 1945, and moved again on 26 November 1945 to Rex House. Abatos was paid off in March 1946, though no new appointments had been made in the navy list of October 1945. The establishment had one designated depot ship, the Naval Auxiliary Boat Gondolier Prince.

Itchen Ferry village was a small hamlet on the East bank of the River Itchen in Hampshire. The village took its name from the small fishing boats that were also used to ferry foot passengers across the river. An Ordnance Survey map of 1911 (NC/03/17894) shows the village to be situated in the area roughly bounded by Sea Road, Oakbank Road, the River Itchen and the railway line in modern Woolston, but also extending along Sea Road towards Peartree Green on the other side of the railway, which cut the village in half in 1866. Neighbouring streets on that same map, Defender Road, Britannia Road and Shamrock Road have a more structured layout and are clearly part of the Victorian enlargement of Woolston. The same map clearly shows the housing in Itchen Ferry village to have a more random layout. An even older map, of 1842 pins Itchen Ferry village more tightly to the area between Sea Road and Vicarage Road. Itchen ferrymen were granted permission to ferry passengers and goods across the River Itchen by the lords of the manors of Woolston and Southampton. Lords of the manor of Woolston were paid in cash. Lords of the manor of Southampton received free passage.The village lost a large part of its livelihood when the Floating Bridge was introduced in 1836, but continued to operate a night service until the late 19th century. The inhabitants always remained fishermen and seafarers. A memorial to Richard Parker of Itchen Ferry village can be seen in the graveyard of Jesus Chapel on Peartree Green. The desperate situation that led to his death in 1884 was the subject of a significant murder trial, Regina v. Dudley & Stephens, that changed English law. Already absorbed into its larger neighbour, Woolston, and subsequently into the borough of Southampton in 1920, Itchen Ferry village was destroyed beyond repair by the Luftwaffe on 26 September 1940 due to its misfortune of being a stone's throw from the Supermarine factory and a short distance up-river from the John I. Thornycroft & Company shipyard. There were over 100 casualties in this one raid.But that was not the only raid. The Luftwaffe had targeted the area on a number of previous occasions. An air raid shelter in the lower region of Sea Road near the railway line is reported as receiving a direct hit on 24 September 1940.The area was subsequently used for training troops that would be fighting in similar ruined villages during the invasion of Europe in 1944.

Ocean Village is a mixed-use marina, residential, business and leisure development on the mouth of the River Itchen in Southampton, on the south coast of England. Originally the site of Southampton's first working docks, the "Outer Dock" which opened in 1842, the area was redeveloped in 1986 and became the leisure marina it is today. After experiencing a period of stalled development with the late-2000s recession, Ocean Village underwent another series of major, multimillion-pound redevelopment projects. Current recreational facilities include a cinema, cafes, wine bars and restaurants. The marina is managed and owned by Marina Developments Limited (MDL), a division of British-based Yattendon Investment Trust. The area, formerly used for commercial ships, offers 375 berths and the basin is deep enough to provide mooring facilities for tall ships and large yachts. The Global Challenge yacht races started from here in 1992, 1996 and 2000, and the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race set sail from here in 2011. Ocean Village was also the base for the Royal Southampton Yacht Club until 2018. A number of companies have offices in the complex, including PricewaterhouseCoopers. The marina is home to the historical building, Enterprise House, which was originally a dock warehouse and has now been converted into serviced offices.

Griffon Hoverwork Ltd (GHL) is a British hovercraft designer and manufacturer. It was originally founded as Griffon Hovercraft Ltd in 1976, based in Southampton. The firm set about the development of its own product range, launching its first diesel-powered hovercraft, the 1000TD, in 1983. During 2008, Griffon Hovercraft was acquired by the Bland Group; in the following year, it was merged with two other hovercraft specialists, Hoverwork Ltd and Hovercraft Consultants Ltd; the combined entity was branded Griffon Hoverwork Ltd. The company's primary facility is based along the River Itchen in Southampton. At present, Griffon Hoverwork supplies a range of hovercraft, boats and other specialised marine services to governments, NGOs, and private companies for use in humanitarian, search and rescue, security and commercial roles. Being one of the oldest hovercraft manufacturers, Griffon Hoverwork's products have been used in various parts of the world. By August 2016, the company's existing market share extended into 41 countries while around 180 hovercraft have been delivered to end users. Perhaps its most commercially successful vehicle has been the Griffon Hoverwork 8000TD hovercraft.

Woolston is a suburb of Southampton, Hampshire, located on the eastern bank of the River Itchen. It is bounded by the River Itchen, Sholing, Peartree Green, Itchen and Weston. The area has a strong maritime and aviation history. The former hamlet grew as new industries, roads and railways came to the area in the Victorian era with Woolston formally incorporated into the borough of Southampton in 1920.

Woolston railway station is a grade II listed station serving the suburb of Woolston in the city of Southampton, England. The station is operated by South Western Railway. Just past Woolston station the line rounds the River Itchen giving a view across the city of Southampton, including Southampton FC's ground.

The Southampton University Man Powered Aircraft (or SUMPAC) on 9 November 1961 became the first human-powered aeroplane to make an officially authenticated take-off and flight. It was designed and built by Southampton university students between 1960 and 1961 for an attempt at the Kremer prize, but it was never able to complete the 'figure-of-eight' course specified to claim the prize money.