On this day – July 19th

1545 – The French threaten

The Pope was against Henry VIII; Emperor Charles V had outmanoeuvred his erstwhile ally and made separate peace with the French; French troops had already landed on the Isle of Wight ; a fleet more than twice the size of the navy Henry VIII could gather, was poised to destroy English sea-power; 50,000 French troops were ready to invade these shores.

The English response

After attacking the French fleet from long-range on July 18 1545, leaving the shelter of Portsmouth, the English ships made for port again, where the following day the more mobile French gun-galleys moved to attack, taking advantage of the lack of wind early in the day. Henry watched on from Southsea Castle . As evening approached the sea-breeze grew, filling English sails, offering an opportunity to fight on better terms.

July 19th – The Mary Rose capsizes

Mary Rose sailed into position to use her cannon, and according to most reports fired the guns on one side, then attempted to turn rapidly to present the ordnance on the other. A gust of wind caught her sails and the ship heeled over; gun-ports which should have been closed remained open, and near the water-line to boot. Water flooded the ship making recovery impossible; even the men who managed to reach the deck were caged there by netting meant to prevent boarding. It is estimated there were more than 400 men on board; only 35 escaped.

In spite of this loss, and the formidable French force, Francis I soon withdrew.

When did the Mary Rose re-emerge from the sea?

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.