Posted on 08/19/2003 3:18:52 PM PDT by blam
Divers find piece of Henry VIII's warship
August 19 2003 at 03:45AM
London - Divers may have found the missing front section of the Tudor warship the Mary Rose, marine archaeologists said Monday.
Alex Hildred, the dive's project manager, said that if the find was confirmed it would be "the most important maritime archaeology find in England in the last 20 years."
Experts have been diving to the wreck off Portsmouth on the southern English coast for the past month, and have excavated a five-metre long piece of wood they believe is the front stem of the ship's keel.
The Mary Rose was built in 1511 as King Henry VIII's flagship, but sank inexplicably in 1545 during a skirmish with French ships in the Solent, the area of water between the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth.
'The gem of Tudor maritime history' Most of the 700 ton, 32-metre long galley was raised from the silt of the Solent in 1982, but divers recently began revisiting the remainder of the wreck due to Ministry of Defence plans to deepen the channels to Portsmouth naval base.
Now experts believe they have discovered the ship's bowcastle, the fortified front of the ship which housed archers and cannon and is the last part of the 458-year-old galley to be discovered.
Certifying the find may take some time as experts are not sure what the bowcastle looks like. The earliest picture of Henry VIII's flagship was painted in 1547, two years after the ship sank.
Mike Power, manager for the Portsmouth regeneration project, said a survey of the area is planned to determine the best way to protect the site. Raising the bowcastle may be too expensive.
It is estimated that the raising and preservation of the main section of the Mary Rose has already cost £20-million (about R230-million), the price having increased by the need to spray the ship with soluble wax polyethylene glycol to help preserve it.
Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and president of the Mary Rose Trust, said he was thrilled by the latest find.
"The story of the Mary Rose has intrigued generations of people, and I am confident that this latest discovery will re-ignite people's interest in the gem of Tudor maritime history."
The Mary Rose was the precursor of Queen Elizabeth I's galleons, the ships of the line that were to circumnavigate the world and defeat the Spanish Armada.- Sapa-AP
Something doesn't jive.
"The Mary Rose was built at Portsmouth between 1509 and 1511. Named for Henry VIII's favourite sister, Mary Tudor, later queen of France, the ship was part of a large build-up of naval force by the new king in the years between 1510 and 1515. Warships, and the cannon they carried, were the ultimate status symbol of the 16th century, and an opportunity to show off the wealth and power of the king abroad."
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this ping list.
The only galley recodred as constructed by Henry is The Great Galley
There is some confusion in that the English called "Galleys" what were technically "Galleasses": oared ships carrying heavy cannon.
And further confusion in that Mediterraean galleasses were heavy galleys with a gun deck above the main proplusion oar deck, while English galleasses were lightly built oared ships with a gun deck (with heavier guns) below the axuillary propulsion oar deck. Nost English "galleys" were eventually reconstructed to more successfull galleons.
Indeed there is an argument that the term "galleon" arose to describe a low-charged (ie without high fore and stern castles) ship similair to an Englsh galleasse, but without oars.
Evidently, the notion that it was one of those mysterious space alien - Bermuda Triangle - Elvis sighting things is more credible than the notion that the French managed to actually sink an enemy warship.
|
|
|||
Gods |
Just updating the GGG info, not sending a general distribution. |
||
|
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
|||
They made a movie of it this year, starring Natalie Portman as Anne and Scarrlet Johansson as Mary, with Eric Bana as Henry. Did you see it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.