Mary Rose

Mary Rose by Geoff Hunt (credit maryrose.org)

Back in November 2016 when I was doing a short refit on Lady S in Southampton I one weekend made the trip down to Portsmouth Naval dockyard and visited the museum. Among all the exhibits, the oldest one, is the Tudor era carrack, Mary Rose. 

Henry Grâce à Dieu, a carrack that was Henry VIII's best-known warship

painting by Henry Mitchell (credit: britannica.com)

The exhibit is made up so that the Mary Rose is on one side and the corresponding rebuilt display on the other side with accompanied sound effects, creaking masts, clanking chains and whatnot that was on a sailing ship in old days. The ambient light is a bit dark so it wasn't very easy to take pictures, the ones below are generally just a overview of the wreck so I focused mostly on enjoying the display as one walked through the decks of the old ship. The wreck contained abt 19000 items that was recovered and many of them are displayed in the displays opposite the wreck where they were found, e.g. carpenters tools, medicine chest etc. etc. on corresponding decks.

Mary Rose, hull remains

Carrack (known as a nau in Portuguese and a nao in Spanish) was a large, three- or four-masted ocean-going sailing ship developed in the 14th and 15th centuries in Europe. The name etymology remains vague but apparently goes all the way to ancient Sumerian/Greek/Akkadian. 

Painting of a carrack attributed to Peter Bruegel the Elder, ca 1558 (credit Wikipedia)

It was the powerhouse of the Age of Discovery, used by explorers like Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama to bridge trade between Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Obviously also the English and other nations took heed of the design and it can be found used all the way to Turkey.

Interior and exterior of a 15th century Portuguese carrack (credit Tall Ships FB)

Key features of a Carrack

The "Castles": Its most distinctive feature was the high, bulky "castles" built into the bow (forecastle) and stern (aftercastle). These served as defensive platforms for archers and later for cannons.

Sail configuration: They typically carried a mix of square sails on the fore and main masts for speed, and a lateen (triangular) sail on the mizzen mast at the back for better maneuverability.

Deep, rounded hull: Designed for long-distance trade, the carrack had a broad, deep hull that provided stability in heavy seas and massive storage for cargo and provisions.

Other famous examples: The Santa María (Columbus's flagship) and the Victoria (the first ship to circumnavigate the globe) were both carracks.

While dominant for over a century, their top-heavy "castles" made them somewhat slow and prone to capsizing in strong winds, leading to their eventual replacement by the sleeker galleon in the late 16th century.

Mary Rose, hull remains

The Mary Rose was the flagship of King Henry VIII’s navy and is now one of the most significant maritime archaeological finds in history.

Mary Rose, hull remains

Tudor Pride (1510–1545): Built in Portsmouth and launched in 1511, she served for 34 years in multiple wars against France and Scotland. She was a revolutionary "carrack" designed to carry heavy guns that could fire through new watertight gunports.

Mary Rose, hull remains

The Sinking (1545): On 19 July 1545, during the Battle of the Solent, the Mary Rose famously capsized and sank in front of King Henry VIII, who was watching from Southsea Castle. It is widely believed she turned too sharply with her gunports open, allowing water to flood the ship. Of the ~500 men on board, only about 35 survived.

Mary Rose, hull remains

Rediscovery and Raising (1971–1982): After being lost for over 400 years, the wreck was rediscovered in 1971. In October 1982, in a massive televised event watched by 60 million people, the surviving hull was raised from the seabed in a giant lifting frame.

Mary Rose, hull remains, digital presentation

Preservation and Museum: For decades, the hull was sprayed with water and wax (Polyethylene Glycol) to prevent the wood from rotting. In 2013, the award-winning Mary Rose Museum opened at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, reuniting the hull with 19,000 artefacts, ranging from massive bronze cannons to the skeleton of the ship's dog, Hatch.