The Mary Rose

Intro

Before my trip to London, my Dad told me about a famous English battleship called the Mary Rose and that there was a museum dedicated to it in Portsmouth.  He told me that if I truly loved him, I would visit the museum and take lots of pictures (he didn’t say those exact words but they were implied). So as any devoted daughter would do, I bought a round-trip ticket to Portsmouth and headed to see the Mary Rose. 

Background

When Henry VIII came into power, he was seventeen years old. His inheritance from his father included England at peace, a large fortune, and five ships. Within his first year of ascending onto the throne, Henry VIII had authorized the building of two new warships using his own private funds. The order for these two warships would produce the Mary Rose and the Peter Pomegranate. The Mary Rose was built in 1510 and was named after Henry VIII’s favorite sister, Mary Tudor. During her life, the Mary Rose underwent a series of renovations.  In 1536, she was substantially rebuilt, altering her weight from 500 tons to 700 tons. The additions to the Mary Rose included an extra tier of broadside guns that allowed her to fire cannons at longer ranges. 

After 35 years of serving in the King’s royal fleet, the Mary Rose sank in the Battle of Solent. On July 19, 1545, a French fleet of 225 ships carrying over 30,000 men arrived in Solent, England with the intent of invasion. The English, aware of the French’s journey, had assembled land forces in Portsmouth and had a fleet of ships waiting in the harbor.  During a small skirmish with four French ships, the Mary Rose sank with 500 men aboard and Henry VIII watching from land.  The cause of the Mary Rose’s sinking is still uncertain. Out of the 500 men aboard, only 35 survived. The most common theory behind the tragedy is that the gunports on the lowest tier of the ship were left open after firing and when the Mary Rose went to turn, the open gunports dipped below the water, sinking the ship immediately. 

At the time, the sinking of the Mary Rose was a large human and financial loss for the English crown. Located about a mile offshore, the British navy made efforts to salvage the ship and bring her upright but they failed and were only able to salvage some of the larger objects aboard.  After a couple of years, the Mary Rose was forgotten and left at the bottom of the sea. 

It wasn’t until 1836 when the Mary Rose was rediscovered. In June of 1836, two divers were diving trying to salvage the wreck of the Royal George (another English warship) when they were asked to investigate what was snagging a local fishermen’s net.  It was caught on a piece of wood and right next to it was a bronze cannon. A cannon that belonged to the Mary Rose. Over the next four years, many items from the Mary Rose were excavated including longbows, grapnel, large bronze guns, etc. When the cost of salvaging the items outweighed their value, the project was abandoned. 

It wasn’t until the 1960s when a group of hobby divers led an expedition called “Project Solent Ships” was the Mary Rose rediscovered. After years of searching, in 1971, strong storms uncovered four timbers of the ship. The Mary Rose had been found. Using private funds and donations, the Mary Rose Trust was formed and in 1978, the decision was made to raise the ship. 

The ship was positioned on the seafloor tilted on her side. Over the years, the tides moved over the ship, depositing silt across the body of the ship. The silt deposits sealed the ship and its objects within a reduced oxygen environment, effectively preserving it.  The discovery of the Mary Rose was essentially a discovery of a time capsule from the age of Henry VIII. 

From 1979 to 1982, it took over 27,000 dives to complete the process of peeling away the layers of silt, cataloging all of the contents of the ship and their location on the ship, and the final excavation of the ship onto land. The process was tedious to say the least. On October 11, 1982, the Mary Rose was raised; 437 years after she had sank. 

Because the water and silt of the ocean had protected the ship for so long, once she was raised and subjected to air, it was important to not let the ship’s timbers dry out to quickly. To combat this, the Mary Rose was sprayed with chilled fresh water all but several hours a day for twelve years. This washed the salt out of the timbers, kept them from drying, and prevented any bacterial growth from forming. Before the ship could be dried, she was sprayed with a polyethylene glycol solution for several years.  Finally in 2013, the sprays were turned off and the hull was dried. 

The Mary Rose Museum was built around the ship during her spraying/drying phase. The museum allows viewers to see the ship and it highlights the different tiers of the ship and how they were used. The museum also has impressive galleries dedicated to the ship’s contents.  Out of the 500 men onboard the Mary Rose at the time of her sinking, we only know the names of two people. However, based on where bodies were found in the ship, historians were able to identify key crew members – such as the cook who was found in his galley. Crew members were also identified based on objects that were found with them – the archers were found with their bows. The large amount of personal possessions found and preserved on the Mary Rose gives us an unprecedented glimpse into the lives of men during this time period. 

For My Dad: 

Because one of my Dad’s hobbies is woodworking, he was pleased to hear that the largest cabin found and preserved was that of the carpenters. The ship’s carpenters were the engineers of the 16th century. Their cabin was on the main deck and during the excavation, over 200 tools were found – including mallets, planes, augers, rulers, axes, handsaws, chisels, etc. The amount of tools found indicates that there may have been 6 carpenters aboard. The chest belonging to the master carpenter contained some of the most expensive and beautiful possessions recovered. See pictures of tools and other objects found aboard below. 

My thoughts

The Mary Rose Museum is one of the most fascinating museums I have been to. The museum is very well done, easy to follow, and is the perfect size to keep your attention focused. The museum does a wonderful job highlighting the different stories of the crew and the purpose of the objects found on the ship. The room that houses the actual ship is remarkable and we are very fortunate to have this ship on display and in such good shape.