Academics have found that the Mary Rose may have been sunk by a French warship
Posted on 11/15/2008 8:50:59 PM PST by bruinbirdman
For almost 500 years, the sinking of the Mary Rose has been blamed on poor seamanship and the fateful intervention of a freak gust of wind which combined to topple her over.
Now, academics believe the vessel, the pride of Henry VIII's fleet, was actually sunk by a French warship – a fact covered up by the Tudors to save face.
Academics have found that the Mary Rose may have been sunk by a French warship
The Mary Rose, which was raised from the seabed in 1982 and remains on public display in Portsmouth, was sunk in 1545, as Henry watched from the shore, during the Battle of The Solent, a clash between the English fleet and a French invasion force.
Traditionally, historians have blamed the sinking, not on the intervention of the French, but on a recklessly sharp turn and the failure to close gun ports, allowing water to flood in.
To exacerbate the situation, the craft, already overladen with soldiers on the top decks, was also struck by a strong gust of wind.
But new research, carried out by academics at the University of Portsmouth, suggests the ship was fatally holed by a cannonball fired from a much smaller French galley.
They have analysed a remarkably detailed engraving of the battle, created shortly after the event, and used modern mapping techniques to create a virtual 3D account of the battle.
Calculating the tides on the day, and using primary sources about the prevailing wind patterns and movement of the ships, they have been able to establish the limited manoeuvres that each ship could have taken.
It shows how the Mary Rose would have found herself directly in the firing line of the French galleys.
Dr Dominic Fontana, who led the research, said:
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
/johnny
The French SHOOTING at something and actually HITTING it!
Alors!
Oh- 500 years ago- well, ok-possible.
Now this, a French rowboat sank the Mary Rose. Looks like anti-Brit historical deconstruction. What is the motive? UK hasn't switched to the euro?
yitbos
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Is this pingworthy?
fyi
You can flush a bidet ?
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btt
escort?
“The Mary Rose, which was raised from the seabed in 1982 and remains on public display in Portsmouth, was sunk in 1545, as Henry watched from the shore, during the Battle of The Solent, a clash between the English fleet and a French invasion force. “
The French attempted an invasion of England 43 years before the Spanish Armada? What was that about?
Attack Skiff, if that was the question.
I remember the first time I saw a bidet... “Hey, mom, there’s a water fountain in the john !” Good thing I got grabbed away a split second later before I took a sip...
Think of it like a hole in one. Sometimes the lucky strike isn't due to skill as much as the ball simply has to go somewhere on the field and the hole just happened to get in the way. Only our own arrogance tempts us to think it went there, due to our own intentions.
New evidence suggests Soviets may have sunk the sub Scorpion 40 years ago:
Dubious. Major warship of the time fatally holed and sinks in minutes by the small guns a galley would have carried?
A single cannonshot at the waterline would be extremely unlikely to sink a vessel of this size. As the article points out, skeletons with carpenter’s tools were found low in the ship. This is because this was their battle station for hundreds of years in the Royal Navy - they were placed there to make emergency repairs to the ship’s hull and would have been hard at work if such a hole had appeared.
Naval battles of this era were usually indecisive because neither side had the firepower or tactical skills to destroy an enemy’s fleet. Ships frequently were dismasted or had their rigging cut to pieces, but sinking - not so much. I think that the traditional explanation remains more likely, absent better evidence than has been presented here.
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