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The world watched as the Mary Rose shipwreck was brought to the sea’s surface, off the coast of England, in 1982.
An estimated audience of 60 million people tuned in to see live pictures of the 16th century wreck emerging from the sea - the first ever live underwater broadcast.
The Mary Rose was a flagship of King Henry VIII of England’s military fleet and was one of the country’s earliest purpose-built warships. She carried 91 guns at the time of her sinking, measured 38.5 metres in length and could hold over 400 crew members and soldiers.
She sank in the Solent channel, off the southern coast of England, on 19th July 1545, while advancing to battle with the French fleet. Experts are divided on the cause of her loss, but mishandling, overloading and negligence have all been cited as possible reasons for the ship’s sinking.
Although past attempts had been made to discover the exact position of the wreck, the Mary Rose was finally located on the sea-floor during the 1960s and raised to the surface in 1982. The wreck is now conserved in Portsmouth, England, where it can be viewed alongside a treasure trove of artefacts that were also discovered at the wreck site.
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