The Mary Rose was an English carrack and one of the first to be able to fire a full broadside of cannons. The Mary Rose was well equipped with 78 guns (91 after an upgrade in 1536). Built in Portsmouth, England (1509–1510) she was thought to be named after King Henry VIII's sister Mary and the rose, the Tudor emblem. She was one of the earliest purpose-built warships to serve in the English Navy; it is thought that she never served as a merchant ship. She displaced 500 tons (700 tons after 1536), was 38.5 m long and 11.7 m abeam and her crew consisted of 200 sailors, 185 soldiers, and 30 gunners. Although she was the pride of the English fleet she was accidentally sunk in an engagement with the French July 19th 1545. The surviving section of the ship was raised in 1982 and is now on display in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

In 1545, King Francis I of France launched an invasion of England with 30,000 soldiers in more than 200 ships. Against this invasion fleet — larger than the Spanish Armada forty-three years later — the English had about 80 ships and 12,000 soldiers, with the Mary Rose the flagship of Vice Admiral Sir George Carew. In early July the French entered the Solent channel, between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. On July 19 1545 (See Battle of the Solent) the English came out of Portsmouth and engaged the French at long range, little damage being done on either side. The next day was calm, and the French employed their galleys against the immobile English vessels. Toward evening a breeze sprang up and as Mary Rose advanced to battle she capsized and sank with the loss of all but 35 of her crew. It is theorized that her undisciplined crew had neglected to close the lower gunports after firing at the galleys, so that when she heeled in the breeze she filled with water and turned over.


An attempt was made to raise her in August 1545 — even if she could not be refloated, her timbers and guns were immensely valuable — but with no success.