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The Mary Rose: celebrating three decades of research
On the 11 October 1982 a pioneering campaign of underwater excavations culminated in the raising of Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose. That was only the beginning of a programme of research and conservation that continues to this day. Thirty years on, Christopher Dobbs of the Mary Rose Trust explained what has been learnt to Matthew Symonds.
The Mary Rose’s final voyage was not a long one. After 34 years service, she sailed from Portsmouth for the last time to intercept a French invasion force larger than the Spanish Armada. The French king Francis I, stung by the recent capture of Boulogne, had sent a fleet to land a 30,000-strong army on English soil. On 19 July 1545 the French galleys entered the eastern mouth of the Solent, the channel between the mainland and the Isle of Wight. All that stood between them and a successful landing was a handful of the King’s Ships, the forerunner of the Royal Navy.
Watching from Southsea Castle, Henry VIII saw his fleet becalmed and immobile. The situation was serious. At the head of
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