Raise the Rose

Mary Rose weighs anchor at last.

The anchor and a section of the bow from Henry VIII's flagship Mary Rose have been raised on the anniversary of the recovery of its hull.  Tuesday's operation was carried out in the Solent, off Portsmouth, Hampshire.  The anchor was raised to the surface just after 1030 BST - 460 years after the warship sank - with part of the bow following just over an hour later.  The operation coincided with the anniversary of the raising of the main section of the hull in 1982.

I remember watching stories on raising the Mary Rose when I was in primary school. The BBC had a children's news program called Newsround, presented by John Craven, and I loved it.  It was news a seven-year-old would want to watch, including how the raised ship would be preserved, and about the artifacts that came up with it.

The Mary Rose was launched in 1510, and in 1545 was on her way to engage the French fleet in the English Channel.  Between four and five hundred men died when she sank, probably from mishandling and not as a result of French cannon.  Royal Engineers blew up part of the ship in the 19th century, claiming it was a hazard to shipping.  She was found in 1966 by historian and diver Alexander McKee, and in 1980 the Royal Engineers started work to recover the ship.  On October 11th 1982, the Mary Rose was raised from 50 feet (15.25m) below sea level.