The Mary Rose

The Mary Rose was Henry VIII's favourite warship and was built in 1509 when he came to the throne. He named it after his favourite sister, Mary, and the Tudor emblem, the rose. It had rows of low portholes from which guns could fire at enemy ships. In a sea battle when the French attacked Portsmouth on 19th July 1545, the Mary Rose turned too sharply in the wind and seawater flooded in through the portholes. Henry VIII watched in horror as his flagship tipped over and sank and most of the crew of 400 drowned. In the 1980s the wreck was brought to the surface along with many of the sailors' possessions, preserved by the water. They included: bows and arrows, guns, swords, knives, games, clothes, cooking pots and compasses.