Flagship set to surface

Press, 11 October 1982, Page 9

Flagship set to surface

NZPA Portsmouth Diving crews yesterday gingerly moved the wreckage of King Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose, on to a giant underwater cradle, clearing the way for raising the archaeological treasuretrove 437 years after it sank. Working through the night, 12 divers removed tonnes of seaweed from the Mary Rose’s hull, encased in a floating steel frame, and eased the apparatus with a crane on to a specially cushioned cradle that will be used to bring the wreckage to the surface today. Sir Eric Drake, president of the Mary Rose Trust, in charge' of what has been called the most ambitious

underwater archaeological project attempted, told reporters that the crucial transfer operation had been a success. “We are considerably confident that we will make our target for bringing the wreck to the surface. The most difficult stage is accomplished." he said. Prince Charles, patron of the trust who has made nine dives to the wreckage, travelled to Portsmouth from Balmoral Castle in Scotland to be on hand for the completion of the £4 million (SNZ9.2 million) 15year project today. Up to 100,000 spectators will view the lifting along the sea front between Ports-

mouth Harbour and Southsea Castle, where King Henry is said to have watched in horror as his prized warship sank with the loss of 668 of the 700 crewmen on board. Millions of other Britons will be able to watch the historic moment live on television. The 40-metre starboard section of the Mary Rose’s hull is the only remaining portion of the 91-gun ship, which sank on July 19, 1545, during a battle with the French fleet. About 25,000 dives have yielded 17,000 relics, which experts say are a “time capsule” of Tudor life — providing astonishing glimpses of sixteenth century

habits in eating, hygiene, war-making and entertainment.

Margaret Rule. an archaeological director of the project, said that people may be disappointed when the remaining hull is lifted to reveal “a rather disreput-able-looking load of black, wet, smelly woodwork," But she said that even the hull, less than half the original ship, “is a rare and fascinating Tudor relic, which the public deserves to be able to see.” The Mary Rose, like hundreds of its artifacts, has been preserved by the mud 13.7 metres beneath the Portsmouth Solent where it has lain through the centuries.