Mary Rose

The Mary Rose was an exceptional English warship, made with a stout oak hull and constructed in the early 1500’s. It was first built in 1510, and took a little over a year to build. It was known for its strong stout oak construction, and it was the first warship to serve in the Royal Navy of English King Henry VIII to be equipped with 78 guns, and later it was upgraded to have 91 guns in 1536.

It was constructed in Portsmouth, England and believed today to have been named after King Henry VIII’s sister, Mary, and the English House of Tudor symbol, the Rose.

The ship itself displaced about 500 tons, and was 39 meters long and about 12 meters wide at the widest point. It is believed she served solely as a warship, never having served as a merchant ship. The crew that served aboard her was 200 sailors strong, which consisted of about 185 soldiers and between 15 and 30 gunners at any given time.

She was the pride of the English fleet, and had several sister ships during her service in the Royal Navy. She was lost in a battle against the French fleet in July of 1545. It is believed that she was sank by French gunfire.

The shipwreck of the HMS Mary Rose was partly raised from the seafloor where it was discovered in 1982, and it is on display in a museum in the Historic Portsmouth England shipyard region.

One of the most vivid and rich examples of surviving history, the coins, artifacts and materials that have been salvaged from the Mary Rose are in many cases priceless. The Mary Rose has yielded a fairly good supply of coins and valuables from the era.

The wreckage of the Mary Rose was first discovered by fishermen in 1836, and at various times over the last 150 years different items have been salvaged from the wreckage of the proud craft.

Serious salvage of the Mary Rose began in earnest in 1979, and after about three years of serious archeological efforts, and using a support cradle and experts in preservation, the fine old English ship has been placed in a special dry dock for long term preservation.

The Mary Rose was finally lifted from the water in 1982, and continues to be preserved in an ongoing process as a symbol of historical British seagoing history.