Today marks the 40th anniversary of the October 11, 1982 recovery of the wreck of the Mary Rose from the Solent.

The Mary Rose was a Carrack-type warship belonging to King Henry VIII. She was launched in July 1511 and then served for 33 years in many wars with France, Scotland and Brittany.

Initially, the ship was able to carry 500 tons worth of cargo, but after a major rebuild in 1536, she had a capacity of 800 tons. Powered by sails, the Mary Rose could carry 200 sailors, 180 soldiers and 30 gunners, and had some 80 guns on board, including anti-personnel weapons.

When Henry VIII inherited the small navy from his father, it consisted of only two ships; the Regent and the Sovereign. Only a few months after his accession, two larger ships were ordered. One was the Mary Rose and the other was the Peter Pomegranate. It is not actually known which king ordered the Mary Rose to be built, but the building process began during the reign of Henry VIII. He oversaw the entire project and also ordered more large ships to be built. Within a decade of King Henry VIII's reign, the British Navy had grown from a minuscule battalion of medium-sized ships to the ancestor of today's Royal Navy.

It is believed that the ship was named the Mary Rose after one of King Henry VIII's sisters, Queen Mary Tudor of France. However, this is unconfirmed. The rose was a symbol of the Tudor dynasty.

In terms of design, the Mary Rose is made in the common carrack style. It is high in the front and rear and very low in the center. It takes advantage of its tumble shape as this allows it to carry more guns in the center above the waterline. This design also makes boarding incredibly difficult.

Mary Rose's hull consists of four levels separated by three decks. Only part of the hull has survived, so by looking at the wreckage and depictions in the art, it is easy to guess the entire shape, but impossible to visualize it accurately.

The Mary Rose's first battle took place in 1512 during a joint naval operation with the Spanish against the French. This was during the First French War, and she would continue to serve during the Second French War in 1522.

After this, the Mary Rose remained in service until 1545. This followed extensive repairs in Portsmouth, but there is not much documentation on this. In fact, there are very few historical artifacts that mention the Mary Rose during this period. Nevertheless, Thomas Cromwell wrote a document stating that the Mary Rose had been "made" of new woods and materials, making it stronger and more stylish.

It was during the Battle of the Solent, during the Third French War, that the Mary Rose was sunk. On July 19, 1545, the English were trapped in the harbor unable to escape. The French kitchens advanced and immediately threatened to destroy the 13 smaller kitchens, as these were the only ships that could retaliate without wind.

The wind did pick up, so the Mary Rose and God's Henry Grace began to lead the attack on the French in the Solent. Fortune was short-lived as the Mary Rose had problems early in the battle. Suddenly, the Mary Rose heaved against her starboard side. Water began to pour in through the open gun ports, and rapid water ingress rendered the crew obsolete. As the Mary Rose began to sink, they all fled to the upper decks for safety, and as she bore down, equipment, ammunition, and other supplies began to fall to starboard. The heavy guns came across and crushed some of the men, while those who weren't trapped or crushed had no time to escape and drowned in the chaos. To make matters worse, the anti-boarding nets came loose, so any crew members lucky enough to reach the upper decks were trapped under them.

Of the 400 crew members, only 35 survived. The death rate was upwards of 90%.

To this day, only one eyewitness account of the sinking still exists. A testimony written by a Flemish crew member. Apparently, the crew tried to fire over the side and then it suddenly turned into a strong gust of wind, which was the cause of the sinking.

A salvage attempt was ordered a few days after the sinking, and they did manage to recover some rigging and guns, but were unable to lift any part of the hull. Several more attempts were made in 1546 and 1547 but were unsuccessful. By 1549, all the guns had been recovered, but hopes of salvaging the entire wreck were dashed.

The small boat was finally rediscovered by a group of fishermen in 1836, but by this time, the ship had seriously deteriorated. Thanks to the recent invention of rubber suits and metal diving helmets, professional divers were able to salvage more items from the wreckage and, thanks to an inscription on a bronze gun, they were able to identify the wreckage as the Mary Rose.

One of the divers, John Dean, returned in 1840, but used a more destructive method. He attempted to penetrate the outer layers of the hull with bombs that had sealed off the Tudor levels. He managed to retrieve a bilge pump, but only managed to access the remains of the now defunct aft castle. Fortunately, the Mary Rose escaped destruction, unlike other unfortunate ships found in the Solent, such as the Royal George.

In 1965, the British Sub-Aqua Club initiated a modern search for the Mary Rose, and six years later, at 5th Mary 1971, the first structural details of the buried hull were discovered.

The discovery has since become public knowledge, and as a result restrictions have been imposed to prevent intruders and potential free divers. However, the public attention did help to finance the new equipment and by 1982 it was ready to raise funds. On the morning of October 11, 1982, the final lifting of the entire combination of cradle, hull and frame began. It was watched by the entire team as well as King Charles III himself, who was of course Prince Charles at the time.

If lift-off is delayed any further, the wreckage may be irreversibly damaged and decayed.

Today, the Mary Rose is located in the Portsmouth Historic Shipyard, just five minutes from the main harbor. The new Mary Rose Museum is open to visitors, and people can go on tours of the ship as well as many artifacts such as longbows, musical instruments, cannons, guns, and more. As of 2018, the new museum has welcomed over 1.8 million visitors.

Mayflower Modeling offers two variants of this excellent ship; a kit for the expert and a high quality ready-made model. The kit is constructed in 1 to 80 scale and uses double planked frame construction. Both models make excellent replicas of their real-life counterparts.

The ship itself is of great historical significance, so preserving it in one of the UK's most important marinas is a wonderful way to pay tribute to the crew and all those involved in its construction.

Morioka Mayflower Models is an artisan boat model manufacturer dedicated to boat modeling, with 32 years of boat modeling history, countless display boats for major shipyards, and will treat the boat modeling business with the same spirit of craftsmanship in the future. Please contact us by phone if you need any help!