Raising the Rose

Looking back four decades to October 1982, when the Mary Rose was finally raised from its watery grave. As famous warships go, it’s right up there with Cutty Sark, HMS Queen Elizabeth, and the Golden Hind, yet what perhaps makes the Mary Rose so special is not just its age – it was sunk in 1545 off Portsmouth in the Battle of the Solent – but also the fact that despite its deterioration across over 400 years off the south coast saw it split into three pieces, large sections of the hull remained intact. The ship’s demise has always been something of a tale of folly on the part of the captain and crew. Several eyewitnesses described an account where the vessel had reportedly exhausted its gunfire from one side. It attempted to turn so as to utilise the gunports on the other, but a sudden heavy breeze unbalanced it. Water rushed in through the open gunports and sailors found themselves powerless to correct the sudden imbalance, scrambling for safety on the upper deck as the ship began to sink rapidly taking 90% of its 400-strong crew to the depths. Wind forward to 1836, when a group of five fishermen caught their nets on timbers protruding from the bottom of the channel. They contacted a diver to help them remove the hindrance, and on June 10th, Henry Abbinett became the first person to see the Mary Rose in almost 300 years. As a self-contained community on board, the ship was stocked with victuals (food and drink), casks, clothing, games, books, plates, a sundial, musical instruments, a tankard plus countless tools. Animal remains were also found – skeletons of a rat, a frog and a dog – amongst over 26,000 artefacts in total. However, the actual raising of the vessel, in October 1982, was anything but simple. It was decided that the hull would be emptied of its contents and strengthened with steel braces and frames. It would then be lifted to the surface and transferred to a cradle. Sure enough, on the morning of October 11th 1982, the final lift began, with Prince Charles and other dignitaries watching from nearby in boats. The first parts of the boat to reach the surface in over 400 years broke through at 9.03am. The raising of the Mary Rose has since become regarded as one of the most ambitious and expensive projects in the history of maritime archaeology, but also an event that enhances and lengthens the legacy of this iconic vessel.