The Sinking of The Mary Rose & The Unknown Seaman
Why was July 1545 a particularly bad month for Henry VIII? Henry and his court were on Southsea Common watching the English Fleet sail out to attack the French who were already setting fire to settlements on the Isle of Wight. Suddenly off Southsea Castle, having fired its starboard guns, the Mary Rose, was coming about to fire a portside salvo, when something went terribly wrong.
Model of the Mary Rose in Portsmouth Cathedral, within containing a piece of the original ship and order of service from the funeral of the unknown seaman.
Raising the Mary Rose from the seabed of the Solent
An unforgiving gust of wind ruffled the waters, the ship which was leaning too far to starboard was unable to handle this unexpected change in weather. The King looked on from the land as his flagship vessel keeled over and sank in the Solent. Few onboard could swim, with the situation made far worse due to the ship being prepared for war with anti-boarding netting covering means for escape and trapping most aboard. At least 450 died onboard the ship with the tragedy witnessed by many including the King.
The Mary Rose in its new purpose built museum at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
Now resting on the seabed of the Solent, fast forward almost 500 years to October 1982, when the Mary Rose was successfully raised. You’ll find the magnificent flagship in a new purpose-built museum at Portsmouth Dockyard. During the salvage of the ship, almost 30,000 dives were conducted to prepare the wreck for raising, during this time divers were able to reclaim around 19,000 artefacts and 92 almost complete skeletons.
On 19 July 1984, the token remains of an unknown member of the ship’s company were interred in a medieval styled coffin of Hampshire oak, crafted by the Cathedral carpenter Michael Spreadborough. You’ll find this grave in the Navy Aisle, the stone marking the grave is of Welsh slate and is the work of John Skelton. The catafalque burial party, drawn from Royal Navy ships, stood guard over the coffin overnight at the High Altar, before the service of burial the next day.
Each year since, a service has been held in the Cathedral on the Sunday nearest to July 19, dedicated to all those lost at sea with no marked grave.
