Marchwood Military Port
| Marchwood Military Port | |
|---|---|
Marchwood Military Port.
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| Location | |
| Country | UK |
| Location |
Marchwood, Southampton |
| Coordinates | 50°53′36″N 1°25′20″W / 50.893282°N 1.422268°W |
| Details | |
| Opened | 1943 |
| Owned by | HM Government |
| Employees | 150 civilian 600 military |
Marchwood Military Port (MMP) or Marchwood Sea Mounting Centre (SMC) is a military port located in Marchwood, Southampton on the south coast of the UK, and the base of 17 Port & Maritime Regiment Royal Logistic Corps. The port was built in 1943 to aid in the D-Day assault on Normandy in 1944 and has since been used to support the Falklands War.
Marchwood is also the base-port for several Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships.
The port was built in 1943 with the intent that it should be used to aid the Normandy landings in 1944 by shipping men and equipment across to the beaches, the port was also used to support the occupying forces following the success of the landings. At this time the port was relatively small, with just one jetty.
The port now consists of three main jetties.
Falkland Jetty (berths 3 and 4), the largest, is 220m long and 33m wide, with two dolphins and is capable of accepting vessels up to 25,000 tonnes. It has two sophisticated class 100 ro-ro link span ramps facility capable of handling vessels with various ramp configurations. There are two 32 tonne cranes with container handling ability. The two berths are maintained to 8m+ (low water).
Mulberry Jetty (berths 1 and 2), built during World War II, is 190m long, has rail access and is capable of accepting vessels of up to 8k tonnes with limited Ro/Ro facilities. It is named for the mulberry harbours used on the French coast in the post D-Day logistics. The berths are maintained at 4m.
Gunwharf Jetty (berths 5 and 6) is a subsidiary jetty of 117m that is used to berth military landing craft and smaller vessels. The berths are maintained at 4 and 3 m respectively.
There is also a small ship maintenance facility with a boatlift rated 225 tonnes.
The waters are dredged to 8m so the whole complex can accept the majority of ships likely to be used by MoD. Dolphins at the seaward end makes it easier for longer ships to use. The Directorate of Land Service Ammunition (DLSA) has granted the port a licence to handle ammunition/explosive on the main jetty. The port has a limited capacity to handle containerised cargo within the 289 acre estate.
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