ShipWreck CentralWelcome to Shipwreck Central, the home site of The Sea Hunters. Shipwreck Central is the definitive website for shipwreck enthusiasts, containing the most extensive shipwreck video collection available on the web. Shipwreck Central is your site, your place to make contact with shipwreck enthusiasts from every country of the world. We hope it becomes your favorite site for gathering information on our favorite topic, the world's shipwrecks. |
The Mary Rose
The Mary Rose is the only 16th century warship on display anywhere in the world. Built between 1509 and 1511, she was one of the first ships able to fire a broadside, and was a firm favourite of King Henry VIII.
After a long and successful career, she sank accidentally during an engagement with the French fleet in 1545. Her rediscovery and raising were seminal events in the history of nautical archaeology.
The Building of the Mary Rose
The Building of the Mary Rose Faced with the ever present threat of the French Navy, as well as a strong, potentially hostile, Scottish fleet, Henry embarked on a programme of naval building, including the Mary Rose and the Peter Pomegranate. (N.A.M. Rodger suggests in his book, The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain Vol.1, that the threat of the new Scottish ships, including the Michael and the Margaret were the determining factor in Henry's decision to expand and uprate his navy). From a technological point of view, these ships were a radical departure from those of his father. They were carvel rather than clinker built and equipped with heavy guns mounted near the waterline. The introduction of the carvel hull also facilitated the construction of watertight gun-ports.
The Mary Rose had a keel length of 32m and a breadth of 11.66m. Her length at the waterline is estimated to have been 38.5m and her draught 4.6m. The surviving height of the ship is 13m, measured on the starboard side at the aftercastle. The weight of the ship increased during her lifetime, she was rated at 500 tons in 1512 and at 700 tons when she sank. The Mary Rose underwent two recorded major refits, one in Portsmouth in 1527-28 and the other in the Thames around 1536, it is assumed her burden was increased to 700 tons during this last refit. The ship appears to have been skeleton built and carvel planked from her inception. There is no available evidence to suggest that she was converted from a clinker to a carvel built ship during her career. The keel is constructed from three pieces of elm, scarfed together and bolted to the keelson which sits on top of the floor timbers.
Canadian Shipwrecks This site provides an introduction for anyone wishing to conduct first-hand shipwreck research at Library and Archives Canada, with information to assist your investigations into the photographic, cartographic and documentary evidence available at this institution. |
National Underwater Marine Agency Founded by Clive Cussler, the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) is a non-profit, volunteer foundation dedicated to preserving our maritime heritage through the discovery, archaeological survey and conservation of shipwreck artifacts. |
California Shipwrecks Thanks to researchers from the Institute for Western Maritime Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, we have a number of articles about California shipwrecks. |
