154519 July 1545 · The Solent, off Portsmouth

Sinking of the Mary Rose

The Mary Rose under sail with Tudor flags and streamers, as drawn in the Anthony Roll of 1546 — Archival image: Anthony Anthony (scan by Gerry Bye). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Henry VIII's warship Mary Rose heeled over and sank in the Solent as she sailed out to meet a French invasion fleet, while the king watched from Southsea Castle. Only a few dozen of the several hundred men aboard survived. Silt preserved half the hull and thousands of objects; raised in 1982, the wreck is now the centre of a museum of Tudor life at sea.

Maritime History
Military & Battlefields
Archaeology
London, United Kingdom

Sites

Site 1: Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth Historic DockyardThe surviving hull and the crew's belongings, from longbows to the ship's dog.Map ↗
Site 2: Southsea CastleHenry VIII's coastal fort, from which he saw the ship go down.Map ↗