[JRandomFreeper]

Just wow. Who knew?

/johnny

[ClearBlueSky]

The French SHOOTING at something and actually HITTING it!
Alors!
Oh- 500 years ago- well, ok-possible.

[I see my hands]

For almost 500 years, the pending and current presidency of George W. Bush has been blamed for poor seamanship and the fateful intervention of a freak gust of wind which combined to topple the Mary Rose over. Now historians believe the vessel, the pride of Henry VIII's fleet, was actually sunk when Al Gore flushed an eclair doily down his cabin's bidet – a fact covered up by the Tudors to save face.
I'm just curious about reactions to this. Does that make me a troll?

[nralife]

Is this pingworthy?

[SmithL]

fyi

[Cacique]

btt

[jws3sticks]

[haroldeveryman]

“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?

[William_The _Mechanic]

New evidence suggests Soviets may have sunk the sub Scorpion 40 years ago:

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/05/new-evidence-suggests-soviets-may-have-sunk-sub-scorpion-40-years-ago

[Oztrich Boy]

Dubious. Major warship of the time fatally holed and sinks in minutes by the small guns a galley would have carried?

[centurion316]

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.