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Mary Rose sunk by French cannonball

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Bianca
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« on: November 17, 2008, 03:43:05 pm »











                                              Mary Rose sunk by French cannonball






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.



 
By Jasper Copping
Last Updated: 15 Nov 2008

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.

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: "The trigger that made the whole situation uncontrollable was the French getting a cannonball through the side of the ship.

"Those watching onshore would not have known anything about flooding in the hull and it would have appeared as though she had been caught by a freak gust of wind and blown over.

"It would have been embarrassing enough for Henry that the ship sunk in front of him, but it is not unreasonable that if he discovered what had happened he would not have wanted to have it credited to the French."

Dr Fontana believes the ship was holed close to the water line by a cannonball fired from a group of fast, oar-powered French galleys, which mounted a series of raids on the becalmed English fleet.

According to his research, the fatal shot was fired when the Mary Rose was unable to return salvos, either when she was still at anchor, or shortly after that, when she was forced to set sail as the tide turned and threatened to leave the English fleet increasingly exposed to the French fire.

Once she set off, more water flooded into the hull, making the vessel increasingly unstable and low in the water.

"The water in her hold would have had a significant effect on her handling and her stability would have been severely compromised," he said.

"The additional weight of water would also have pushed her open gunports closer to the waterline than they should have been, making disaster inevitable once the sea flowed rapidly in through them."

Dr Fontana, who worked as part of original Mary Rose project as a photographer before becoming an academic geographer, said: "She would have quickly taken quite a quantity of water into her hull before she manoeuvred to bring a broadside of guns to bear on the attacking French galleys."

That manoeuvre, to put her in a position so that her guns could be unleashed on the French, was her undoing because the sudden movement of water in the hold caused her to capsize and sink with the loss of more than 400 lives.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2008, 03:56:57 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #1 on: November 17, 2008, 03:56:14 pm »








To support the new theory, the academics also point to possible shot damage discovered on the muzzle of one of the Mary Rose's big guns as well as finds of a large cannonball made of French granite found within the ship and fragments of lead shot found outside the vessel.

When the wreck was raised, skeletal remains were found in the hold, along with carpentry tools, indicating they may have been trying to carry out repairs to damage in the hull moments before the ship sank.

Dr Fontana believes the fatal hole was blasted in the port side, probably near towards the stern – a part of the vessel that has eroded away.

"The ship had sailed successfully for 34 years before sinking. It wouldn't have come to grief without cause," Dr Fontana said. "The ship wasn't behaving as she should have done and a hole caused by the French seems to be the logical reason."

The new research involved studying the 'Cowdray Engraving', a large picture of the battle which was originally a wall painting in the dining parlour of Cowdray House, in Midhurst, Sussex.

It was lost when Cowdray House caught fire in 1793 but the team used a detailed engraving made shortly before the fire and applied advanced Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology to reveal the positions of each of the ships involved in the action. They then integrated this data with tidal currents hour by hour over the period of the battle.

"Changing currents are crucial to our understanding of the tactics which may have been employed by both the French and the English. The GIS brings all of this information together so that it becomes possible to determine the potential movements of individual vessels.

"The engraving is not a snapshot. It is more of a narrative, with all the elements to tell you what happened on the day and the fate of the Mary Rose.

"If you combine the engraving with the geography of the area, the tide tables and our knowledge of the wind on the day, it makes it possible to read the written accounts by eye witnesses and work out what path the Mary Rose and other vessels took during the action."

The engraving shows four French galleys, one of which is firing at the Mary Rose, located at a shallow point of The Solent called No-man's-land. Larger warships were unable to traverse this area.

Christopher Dobbs, archaeologist at the Mary Rose museum, added: "As an archaeologist, I have studied the remaining evidence from the ship. But as we have nothing left of the port side, it is helpful for people from other fields to contribute their own theories and ideas."



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3462882/Mary-Rose-sunk-by-French-cannonball.html



The new findings feature in a new documentary,

"What really sunk the Mary Rose?",

to be screened on the History Channel,
on November 24.
« Last Edit: November 17, 2008, 03:58:08 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #2 on: November 17, 2008, 04:00:38 pm »





               

                The only known representation of the "Mary Rose"
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Bianca
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« Reply #3 on: November 17, 2008, 04:02:16 pm »




             

              "The Mary Rose"
              The remains of the ship are on public display in Portsmouth
« Last Edit: November 17, 2008, 04:04:14 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
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