 From the start, the station was very busy, particularly with the carriage of coal and other freight, and initially was also used for passengers travelling to Portsmouth, a short ferry ride across the harbour.The LSWR also opened a locomotive depot next to the station in February 1842 which was badly damaged during a bombing raid in 1941 but remained in use until its demolition in 1953.The station saw the first of many royal visitors in 1843, when Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, greeted Louis Philippe of France at Gosport.