19 July 1545 – The Sinking of the Mary Rose
Posted By Claire on July 19, 2011
New Geoff Hunt painting of the Mary Rose
On this day in history, the 19th July 1545, Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose, sank right in front of his eyes in the Battle of the Solent between the English and French fleets.
We still do not know exactly why the Mary Rose sank, all we know for certain is that the English fleet moved out to attack the French fleet in the late afternoon of the 19th as “a fitful wit sprang up” and that something went wrong as the ship carried out a turning manoeuvre. The Mary Rose sank and along with her the majority of her crew, including Sir George Carew, the Captain.
But why did a ship whose illustrious career had started in 1512 sink to the bottom of the Solent on that fateful day in 1545? Well, there is still speculation over this question today with the following reasons being put forward:-
- Her sinking was caused by a French hit – According to the French fleet, they hit her and she sank after they lured the English ships within range of their main fleet.
- She heeled over in the wind and water entered her gun ports – Van der Delft, the Imperial ambassador, told of how she sank, drowning just under 500 men, and how he “was told by a Fleming among the survivors that when she heeled over with the wind the water entered by the lowest row of gun ports which had been left open after firing.”
- Human Error – According to Sir Peter Carew, brother of the Vice Admiral of the Mary Rose, Sir George Carew, who died when the ship sank, his uncle Sir Gawain Carew had sailed past the Mary Rose as she began to heel and asked Sir George what was wrong. Sir George replied that “he had the sort of knaves whom he could not rule.”
- The Mary Rose had become unseaworthy – Some people believe that modifications over the years had added to the weight of the ship and made her unseaworthy.
The Raising of the Mary Rose
The Secretary of State in 1545, William Paget, ordered a salvage operation within days of the sinking but operations in 1545, 1547 and 1549 only managed to raise some guns and rigging. Nearly 300 years later, on the 16th June 1836, a fisherman snagged his gear on the wreck and John Deane, a diver exploring a nearby wreck, agreed to help the fisherman disentangle his gear in return for a half share of whatever the gear was caught up on. Dean found the Mary Rose and between 1836 and 1840 was able to recover a number of items including iron guns, bows and timbers. The ship, though, was left lying in her watery grave.
Me and a long bow from the Mary Rose
In 1979, The Mary Rose Trust was formed and an archaeological team led by Dr Margaret Rule CBE began to excavate the Mary Rose wreck. This culminated in the raising of the Mary Rose on 11th October 1982 by a team of Royal Engineers. The wreck was placed in a dry dock with a relative humidity of 95% and a temperature of 2-6ºC. A preservation programme then began in earnest.
On the 4th October 1983, just under a year after she was raised, the Mary Rose was put on public display in Portsmouth and a museum was created to display some of the artefacts found in the wreck. However, the ship had to be kept saturated with water for preservation purposes and only a fraction of the 19,000 artefacts could be displayed in the museum. This is why the Mary Rose 500 Appeal is raising money to help with the building of a new purpose built museum to house both the ship and its amazing Tudor artefacts, together for the first time since it was raised.
So far, here at The Anne Boleyn Files, we have raised over £700 for the Mary Rose 500 Appeal and you can help by ordering our Tudor Places Calendar 2012. £1 ($1.50) from the sale of each calendar will go to the Mary Rose 500 Appeal, a very worthy cause. You can see full details of our calendar at http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/products-page/stationery/tudor-places-wall-calendar/
Also on this day in history
19th July 1553 – Mary I is proclaimed Queen. See “19 July 1553 – Mary I Proclaimed Queen” for details.
Ther was a TV documentary here in Britain not so long ago, and as i recall, the answer seems to be a combination of the last three possibilities. Apparently, the ship was overloaded with men and armament, so was low in the water, modifications had made her top heavy and unstable, and forensic tests on the recovered crew showed that as much as 60% (if i remember correctly…) were foreign, from several different countries in fact – presumably captives and mercenaries put into service. This meant that communication may have been slow because several different languages could have been in use, and when the ship turned, the gun ports were still open, so the already unstable and overloaded ship flooded.
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Dawn Reply:
July 19th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
I saw that, Andy, the crew were made up of a lot of non English speaking men and didn’t understand orders as well as being unruly. They made a scale replica of the ship and sailed it in tank of water with the same weather conditions, speed the ship was travelling at, and the angle at which she turned. They seemed to conclude that the most probable cause was because of all the extra weight she was carrying as you said, and the gun ports being left open when she turned, in went the water and over she went, it didn’t need much to tip the balance. Its a crying shame, those poor blokes trapped like that, and very few sailors could swim in those days, well anyone really because it wasn’t a recreational past time then. It most have broke the Kings heart seeing his beautiful ship sink before his eyes. I wouldn’t have wanted to be at the brunt of his mood after that happened….
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Andy Reply:
July 20th, 2011 at 4:02 am
That’s the one, Dawn. It must have been hell for the men below decks – very confined space, water coming up from one side and cannons and cannon balls falling down from the other as the ship rolled. I would suspect that waterlogged sails would drag a ship under pretty quickly too. I think it was very close to this event that Charles Brandon died too, so you’re probably right – Henry would have benn more hellish than usual for a while… It doesn’t appear to be a unique occurrence though. There’s a ship in Stockholm that suffered a similar fate in the 1600′s, but the Swedes managed to raise it virtually whole and in one piece in the 1960′s; so i wonder how common this type of thing actually was.
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Dawn Reply:
July 21st, 2011 at 1:32 pm
I would have thought quite a lot really Andy, as the ‘technology’ of fire power improved, big guns, heavier shot and more men needed to use the weapons. Even though the were some very clever ship designers/builders who understood the mathmatics of building a sea worthy vessel, there were probably a lot that took short cuts or took old ships to be more capable than what there were with upgrades, especially if it was a rush job or to show off to neighbouring countries, I suppose this one was extremely well documented as it happened in front of the King himself….I know life was cheap in those days but it still must have been horrific to stand helplessly by and see and hear those men drowning… chilling.
Wasn’t the Mary rose named after Mary Boleyn…?
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Nancy Reply:
July 19th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
I believe that the Mary Rose was named after Princess Mary Tudor, Henry VIII’s youngest sister (and, apparently, his favorite), who was Queen of France for about 3 months until Louis XII died, and who then became Mary Brandon, Duchess of Suffollk after her marriage to Charles Brandon. I also believe that there was another ship named the “Mary Boleyn”.
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Dawn Reply:
July 19th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
I think I’m right in saying that the ship was named after Mary Tudor, his favourite sister, Elenah.
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Impish_Impulse Reply:
July 19th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
No, it was named after Mary Tudor, the king’s younger sister.
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Love the artifacts that were found on this ship. There seems to be alot that were preserved, amazing!
I like the shoes, they show us what people back in Henry’s time wore.
Oh, just ordered the calendar, can’t wait till it gets to my house!
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For any that are interested littlemisssunnydale posted a wonderful documentary on Youtube. It’s 6 parts and very informative. The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGpJkvC-pQo I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!!!
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The Mary Rose, one of Henry’s greatest and most beloved warships. I can only imagine how he felt on and upon this day when it sank before his eyes at the Battle of Solent. In battle between the English and the French. How he must have felt, to see such a ship that truly loved and genuinely cared about sink before his eyes. Like a previous post said his wrath must have been a tempestuous one on that day and I would of not wanted to be near the King on this day in this particular moment in time. Oh, my. Also i agree due to the circumstances at the time like too many men on board, the weight of them all and everything I agree that is what caused it to sink, plus the weather too it may just have been very windy and blowy that day and that could be another reason why or it could of gotten a blow by and from one its opponents on the opposite side which may have caused its sinking too. Any one of these things or a mixture of it both or all three.
Indeed the Ship was named after his favourite younger sister Mary Tudor even though there has been much speculation about it although as to whom it was named after, was it named after the Kings sister Mary or was it Mary Boleyn the King’s one time mistress. I have heard this speculated oftenly enough.
+R.I.P+ Mary Rose +
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As a Portsmouth girl, I am really grateful to everyone who supports the Mary Rose Appeal and really excited about the new museum.
I have fond memories surrounding the Mary Rose. My Grandmother lived on South Parade, Southsea in the early eighties. I spent many a Sunday afternoon in her flat or on the beach with my cousins watching TogMor, the divers and the yellow cradle being put together.
Alas she was brought to the surface on a Monday, I remember sitting in a science lab at school and watching her top timbers clearing the surface; a mighty cheer from a large group of 13 year olds.
I went to see her at the end of the next year, not long after she had been put on show. Not realising that the view would be obscured by plexiglass as well as plenty of running water. Exciting nonetheless. I have visited many times since and am delighted by the progress each time I visit.
Although the ship is not currently on display, please may I explain a few of the delights you will find in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard once the new hall is complete.
When standing in the dockyard you will be able to look over the water to “Portchester Castle”, a place where Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII and Elizabeth Visited.
You will also be able to visit HMS Victory, Nelson’s warship, the oldest commissioned ship in the Royal Navy (I believe) HMS Warrior, the first iron clad warship.
A short 2 mile walk along the seafront will take you to Southsea Castle where Henry was standing when the Mary Rose went down, a beautiful view of the Isle of Wight, where the Armarda tried to reach in Good Queen Bess’s time.
Any how,
Thanks for the memories
Carol
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Dawn Reply:
July 23rd, 2011 at 11:54 am
You are right Carol, Portsmouth has a lot of history, it has always been one of the main sea ports through history, though it has more than seafaring history. How lucky were you seeing the raising of the Mary Rose. You are quite a bit younger than me seeing the age you were when they raised the ship, but I can remember going on a school trip to see Nelson’s ship in the late 60′s, and what sticks in my memory the most is how small the ship was, the rooms, stairs and height of the decks were so low, even to me as a child. It must have been so claustrophobic, when all the crew was on board especially when in battle, no wonder tempers were high and mutinies happened…. scary.
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TinaII2None Reply:
July 24th, 2011 at 7:10 am
Carol:
I love Portsmouth. I was there for 5 days during the Trafalgar Bicentennial and I had a wonderful time walking about the town and enjoying such sites as the launch spot for Francis Drake’s trip around the world, which I think is also the same location where the ship set sail for the New World and the Carolina colony — the vessel which would have carried the mother of Virginia Dare, the first white baby born of English parents in America. (That’s the whole Lost Colony story). I loved seeing the sites related to Nelson which are now gone — thanks to the Nazis, and those that thankfully remain. As a Patrick O’Brian fan, I got such a thrill being on-board the Victory, and I adore the Warrior.
And I did get to visit the Mary Rose exhibition. I can’t even imagine being witness to such a tragedy; reminded me of the witness stories the night the Titanic sank, the sounds of people screaming, calling for help, dying. For Henry…you do wonder what went through his mind as he watched the loss of that mighty ship, especially when you are the man who has dared Popes, established your own Church, made yourself Supreme Head, and considers yourself God’s representative on Earth. Did it shake him to the core, even a little? Did he feel a bit of mortality in that moment?
Anyway, I’ve got to get back there one day. Well, I was there for a day visit back in 2009, but my friend and I only went aboard the Victory, then visited the maritime museum. Due to transportation problems in 2005, I missed out on Porchester and Southsea, but they’ll be on my list for next time!
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You’re right, Dawn, and having the gun ports low down to keep the weight low would be part of that, which would make crew discipline all the more vital in preventing these types of incidents. In a sense it’s an occupational hazard – but one that could be easily avoided. I guess it’s partly the result of the reluctance of people to join a life at sea; hence the need for foreign captives, mercenaries and converts, and press gangs and the like at various times. As you say, life was cheap and there may have been an attitude of this is the King’s anointed ship – it can’t happen to us… although Carew seemed aware of the possibilities and problems. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find that everyone was too scared to broach the subject of crewing and design with Henry…
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Carol,
I can’t wait to visit Portsmouth when I get to England someday. My husband really wants to see those ships, too as he used to build model ships. It would be awesome to see those artifacts up close and personal!
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Carol Mertens Reply:
July 29th, 2011 at 3:28 am
It is so well worth the visit.
Sometimes I think Portsmouth is considered a poor cousin, however its steeped in History and the surrounding countryside is absolutely Beautiful.
Enjoy the trip.
Carol
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