Editing Portsmouth (section)

=== {{anchor|Post-war}}1945 to present ===

Much of the city's housing stock was damaged during the war. The wreckage was cleared in an attempt to improve housing quality after the war; before permanent accommodations could be built, Portsmouth City Council built [[Prefabs in the United Kingdom|prefabs]] for those who had lost their homes. More than 700 prefab houses were constructed between 1945 and 1947, some over bomb sites.<ref name="history2"/> The first permanent houses were built away from the city centre, in new developments such as Paulsgrove and [[Leigh Park]];{{sfn|Hewitt|2013|p=160}}<ref name="Leigh Park history">{{cite web |url=http://www.localhistories.org/leigh.html |title=Leigh Park history |publisher=Localhistories.org |access-date=8 March 2011}}</ref> construction of council estates in Paulsgrove was completed in 1953. The first Leigh Park housing estates were completed in 1949, although construction in the area continued until 1974.<ref name="history2"/> Builders still occasionally find [[unexploded ordnance|unexploded bombs]], such as on the site of the destroyed Hippodrome Theatre in 1984.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hind |first1=Bob |title=Last bomb of the war found in Guildhall Walk |url=http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/last-bomb-of-the-war-found-in-guildhall-walk-1-4648626 |publisher=Portsmouth City Council |access-date=25 July 2016 |date=3 January 2013 |archive-date=13 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813034641/http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/heritage/last-bomb-of-the-war-found-in-guildhall-walk-1-4648626 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Despite efforts by the city council to build new housing, a 1955 survey indicated that 7,000 houses in Portsmouth were unfit for human habitation. A controversial decision was made to replace a section of the central city, including Landport, Somerstown and Buckland, with council housing during the 1960s and early 1970s. The success of the project and the quality of its housing are debatable.<ref name="history2"/>

[[File:The Royal Yacht Britannia in Portsmouth - geograph.org.uk - 1702549.jpg|thumb|left|[[HMY Britannia|Her Majesty's Yacht ''Britannia'']] in Portsmouth Harbour during the 50th anniversary of the D-Day Landings in 1994. The masts of {{HMS|Victory}} can be seen in the background.|alt=Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia is docked in Portsmouth Harbour for the 50th anniversary of the D-Day Landings in 1994. More modern Royal Navy ships are docked in behind her, and the masts of the HMS Victory can be seen in the far background.]]

Portsmouth was affected by the decline of the British Empire in the second half of the 20th century. Shipbuilding jobs fell from 46&nbsp;per cent of the workforce in 1951 to 14 per cent in 1966, drastically reducing manpower in the dockyard. The city council attempted to create new work; an industrial estate was built in Fratton in 1948, and others were built at Paulsgrove and Farlington during the 1950s and 1960s.<ref name="history2"/> Although traditional industries such as brewing and corset manufacturing disappeared during this time, electrical engineering became a major employer. Despite the cutbacks in traditional sectors, Portsmouth remained attractive to industry. [[Zurich Insurance Group]] moved their UK headquarters to the city in 1968, and [[IBM]] relocated their European headquarters in 1979.<ref name="history2"/> Portsmouth's population had dropped from about 200,000 to 177,142 by the end of the 1960s.{{sfn|Hewitt|2013|p=161}} Defence Secretary [[John Nott]] decided in the early 1980s that of the four home dockyards, Portsmouth and [[Chatham Dockyard|Chatham]] would be closed. The city council won a concession, however, and the dockyard was downgraded instead to a naval base.{{sfn|Hewitt|2013|p=92}}

In 1956, the Soviet cruiser Ordzhonikidze docked in Portsmouth harbour on a diplomatic mission that had taken head of state Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin to Britain. Naval intelligence was interested in the design of the ship and [[MI6]] recruited diver [[Lionel Crabb]] to collect intelligence on the ship particularly its propulsion. After diving into the harbour Crabb was never seen again. This led to a diplomatic incident with the Soviet Union and scandal in British domestic politics.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-16 |title=True Crime: Mysterious case of spy Buster Crabb last seen in Portsmouth |url=https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/crime/true-crime-case-of-british-spy-buster-crabb-last-seen-in-portsmouth-is-one-of-uks-most-mysterious-disappearances-4186178 |access-date=2025-01-26 |website=The News |language=en}}</ref>

On 2 April 1982, Argentine forces invaded two British territories in the South Atlantic: the [[Falkland Islands]] and [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands]]. The British government's response was to dispatch a [[British logistics in the Falklands War|naval task force]], and the aircraft carriers {{HMS|Hermes|R12|6}} and {{HMS|Invincible|R05|6}} sailed from Portsmouth for the South Atlantic on 5&nbsp;April. The successful outcome of the war reaffirmed Portsmouth's significance as a naval port and its importance to the defence of British interests.{{sfn|Hewitt|2013|p=93}} In January 1997, [[HMY Britannia|Her Majesty's Yacht ''Britannia'']] embarked from the city on her final voyage to oversee the handover of Hong Kong; for many, this marked the end of the empire.{{sfn|Brendon|2007|p=660}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Duke of Edinburgh slams move to decommission the Royal Yacht Britannia |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/duke-of-edinburgh-slams-move-to-decommission-180047 |work=Daily Mirror |access-date=20 July 2016 |date=15 May 2011}}</ref> She was decommissioned on 11 December of that year at Portsmouth Naval Base in the presence of [[Elizabeth II]], the [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Duke of Edinburgh]], and twelve senior members of the royal family.<ref>{{cite web |title=Learn About The Decommissioning of the Royal Yacht Britannia |url=http://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/about-the-royal-yacht/royal-residence/decommissioning/ |publisher=The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust |access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Alderson |first1=Andrew |title=Queen blamed Major for royal yacht fiasco |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1427992/Queen-blamed-Major-for-royal-yacht-fiasco.html |newspaper=The Telegraph |access-date=11 August 2016 |date=20 April 2003}}</ref>

Redevelopment of the naval shore establishment {{HMS|Vernon|shore establishment|6}} began in 2001 as a complex of retail outlets, clubs, pubs, and a shopping centre known as Gunwharf Quays.<ref name=history2>{{cite web |title=A History of Portsmouth |url=http://www.localhistories.org/portsmouth.html |publisher=Local Histories |access-date=29 October 2015}}</ref> Construction of the {{convert|552|feet|m|adj=mid|-tall}} [[Spinnaker Tower]], sponsored by the [[National Lottery (United Kingdom)|National Lottery]], began at Gunwharf Quays in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcdoa.org.uk/Millennium_Spinnaker_Tower.htm |title=Construction of the Spinnaker Tower |publisher=Mcdoa.org.uk |access-date=8 March 2011}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news |title=R.I.P. Britain's Ugliest Building |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3561069.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=26 July 2016 |date=24 March 2004}}</ref>{{sfn|Clark|2009}}{{page needed|date=May 2020}} 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]].{{sfn|Hewitt|2013|p=164}} Portsmouth celebrated the 200th anniversary of the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] in 2005, with Queen Elizabeth II present at a [[fleet review]] and a mock battle.<ref name=history2/> The naval base is home to two-thirds of Britain's surface fleet.<ref name="RN1">{{cite web |url=http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/where-we-are/naval-base/portsmouth |title=HMNB Portsmouth |publisher=Royal Navy |access-date=1 April 2015}}</ref> The city also hosted international commemorations for 50th, 75th and 80th anniversaries of the D-Day landings, these were attended by international leaders and remaining veterans.