Editing Portsmouth (section)

=== 1913 terrorist attack ===
{{see also|Suffragette bombing and arson campaign}}

[[File:Portsmouth Semaphore Tower.jpg|thumb|right|A fire started by [[suffragettes]] at the [[semaphore tower]], [[Portsmouth dockyard]], in December 1913, killed two men.]]
A major [[terrorist]] incident occurred in the city in 1913, which led to the deaths of two men. During the [[suffragette bombing and arson campaign]] of 1912–1914, [[militant]] [[suffragettes]] of the [[Women's Social and Political Union]] carried out a series of politically motivated bombing and arson attacks nationwide as part of their campaign for [[women's suffrage]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Suffragettes, violence and militancy |url=https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |website=British Library |access-date=8 October 2021 |date=6 February 2018 |archive-date=10 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910203912/https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |url-status=dead }}</ref> In one of the more serious suffragette attacks, a fire was purposely started at [[Portsmouth dockyard]] on 20 December 1913, in which two sailors were killed after it spread through the industrial area.<ref name="Portsmouth">{{Cite news |last=New York Times |date=22 December 1913 |title=Big Portsmouth Fire Loss; $1,000,000 Damage and Two Deaths – Suffragettes Suspected |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/12/22/archives/big-portsmouth-fire-loss-1000000-damage-and-two-deaths-suffragettes.html |access-date=8 October 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="Webb">{{Cite book |last=Webb |first=Simon |title=The Suffragette Bombers: Britain's Forgotten Terrorists |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0xrVzQEACAAJ |year=2021 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=978-1-78340-064-5 |language=en |pages=133–135}}</ref><ref name="Bearman">{{Cite journal |last=Bearman |first=C. J. |year=2005 |title=An Examination of Suffragette Violence |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3490924 |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=120 |issue=486 |page=383 |doi=10.1093/ehr/cei119 |jstor=3490924 |issn=0013-8266|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Webb"/> The damage to the dockyard area cost the city £200,000 in damages, equivalent to £23,600,000 today.<ref name="Webb"/> In the midst of the firestorm, a battleship, {{HMS|Queen Mary}}, had to be towed to safety to avoid the flames.<ref name="Webb"/> The two victims were a pensioner and a signalman.<ref name="Webb"/>

The attack was notable enough to be reported on in the press in the [[United States]], with the ''[[New York Times]]'' reporting on the disaster two days after with the headline "Big Portsmouth Fire Loss".<ref name="Portsmouth"/> The report also disclosed that at a previous police raid on a suffragette headquarters, "papers were discovered disclosing a plan to fire the yard".<ref name="Portsmouth"/>