Shipwrecked!: Chapters Four–Five

His Majesty, is the handsomest potentate I have ever set eyes on; above the usual height,…his complexion very fair and bright, with auburn hair combed straight and short, in the French fashion, and a round face so very beautiful that it would become a pretty woman, his throat being rather long and thick.

This addition of tonnage and weaponry was not, however, the main outcome of this second refitting. The revolutionary overhaul endowed the Mary Rose with the greatest naval military innovation of its time: hinged gunports.

With this innovation, the Mary Rose made the historic transition from a vessel that was capable of carrying guns on its deck to a warship expressly built to permanently house a battery of cannons.

An enormous French fleet was attempting to invade England by sailing up the Solent Strait and overpowering the British fleet and the naval facilities at Portsmouth.

An enormous French fleet was attempting to invade England by sailing up the Solent Strait and overpowering the British fleet and the naval facilities at Portsmouth.

The French armada was not simply a huge naval force.

It was the largest invasion fleet the world had ever known, made up of at least thirty thousand soldiers and approximately two hundred ships.

As the French fleet made its approach, King Henry and a huge entourage gathered in front of one of his castles on a hillside on the banks of the Solent, prepared to watch his beloved Mary Rose lead a successful effort to beat back the invaders.

And, after waiting for a favorable wind, the flagship, commanded by Vice Admiral George Carew, sailed proudly out of its berth, prepared for battle.

And, after waiting for a favorable wind, the flagship, commanded by Vice Admiral George Carew, sailed proudly out of its berth, prepared for battle.

According to later reports, the spectators on the hillside flinched and covered their ears as the Mary Rose fired a broadside from its starboard side at one of the French vessels.

As the Mary Rose turned, preparing to fire another salvo from her port side, she listed with her starboard side low in the water.

Despite the tragic sinking, the Mary Rose and its crew were the only casualties of the invasion.

As the battle turned into a deadlock, it became clear that although the French ships outnumbered the English, some two hundred vessels to eighty, the English had a huge advantage.

I was given to rhapsodizing on the potential of the Solent area, stressing its importance as a focal point for shipping of some sort for at least five thousand years.

And yet she had been the first English battleship to have gunports and to mount complete batteries of siege artillery—a really key ship in the development process at a time of rapid technological change.

Thanks to his infectious enthusiasm and the lure of adventure and discovery that the project presented, he was able to recruit a small but totally dedicated group of divers and searchers that affectionately became known as “Mad Mac’s Marauders.”

Valuable as it remains for the evidence it supplies about clothing and other aspects of everyday life during the reign of Henry VIII, and for the information it imparts through its depiction of the layout of the vital port of Portsmouth, England, in 1545, it provides little help in determining where in the Solent the Mary Rose went down so many years ago.

Centuries of shifting currents, tides, and sands were bound to have altered the exact spots indicated on the chart, but at least the team now had a legitimate clue as to where to concentrate their search.

Further removal of tons of silt disclosed that even after almost 450 years beneath the sea, most of the Mary Rose had not broken apart.

The ship itself and the artifacts constitute a stunning time capsule, giving us a unique record of maritime and everyday life in Tudor England.

Among these instruments were two fiddles; a bow; a shawm, which was an early predecessor to the oboe; a tabor, which was a small drum used to accompany oneself on a pipe or fife; a drumstick; and several three-hole pipes.

Unlike almost any other underwater endeavor of its kind, 92 nearly full skeletons associated with specific individuals were assembled. Comprehensive study has revealed that the Mary Rose’s crew was all male and that more than 80 percent of the crew was under thirty years of age, some between eleven and thirteen years old.

The studies also disclosed that many had a medical condition called “os acromiale,” which affected their shoulder blades, an affliction brought about by stress that occurs on the arm and shoulder muscles when shooting an arrow.

Further analysis of the skeletons revealed that many of these crew members had suffered from such ailments as malnutrition, rickets, and scurvy, conditions commonly associated with those who spent most of their time working on early merchant or naval vessels.

Further analysis of the skeletons revealed that many of these crew members had suffered from such ailments as malnutrition, rickets, and scurvy, conditions commonly associated with those who spent most of their time working on early merchant or naval vessels.

There was a carefully conceived plan in place for the raising of the ship.

The first step was the laborious process of completely surrounding the hull of the Mary Rose with a 117-foot-long and 49-foot-wide steel framework.

Then, the once-pride of the British Navy was placed on a huge barge for the short journey into the harbor and to the dry dock.

Isotope analysis of the man previously identified as one of the ship’s carpenters not only confirmed his role on the Mary Rose but also revealed that he came to England from Spain, a possibility that had been previously suggested by the Spanish-style tools found in a chest containing items that strongly indicated this was his cabin.

When that process was completed, the ship was slowly air-dried to remove any remaining moisture that had saturated the wood after having been immersed in seawater for so long.

Sometimes sunken vessels can go beyond revealing what has gone on before; they can cause us to reflect seriously upon what has been lost, strayed, or stolen in our history and can motivate us to take steps to rectify the situation.

There had been more studies of [ships] in bogs in Ireland at that time and…Civil War ships, and Viking ships.

Also contained in his report was Captain Perreira’s description of the bars that the vessel was carrying as ballast to keep the ship steady while transporting such a large human cargo to Brazil.

Dr. Paul Gardullo, historian and curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, one of the collaborating partners of the Slave Wrecks Project, agrees that the tumultuous waters that surround the São José shipwreck site have made excavation terribly difficult.

The museum’s founding director, Lonnie G. Bunch III has said he believes that the exhibition will undoubtedly help Americans “do something they don’t do well,” which is to reckon with the legacy of slavery in American history.

Impressed with the way in which the finding of the São José has led to the search for other slave ships, he says, “I think the value of these kind of discoveries is that they are being undertaken by people from all over the world…in a concerted international effort to understand, and reveal, and respond to, and even take a kind of responsibility for, what was an international form of depravity.”

Once forced aboard the ships, the enslaved people were restrained with shackles and branded with hot irons.

When we are documenting ships involved in the global slave trade, this is consecrated ground.

“A lot of our history lies beneath the waves. If we do not retrieve our history ourselves, it will be ‘discovered’ and downplayed or be disregarded and continue to dissolve into nothing.”