Your Noblest Shippe

This volume is concerned primarily with a detailed description of the Mary Rose and how she operated as a functional warship. Commencing with a discussion of the place of the Mary Rose in the development of warships; her recovery and recording are described and the method by which she has been reconstructed on paper. Evidence is presented for how the ship was designed and built and how the timbers were fashioned. The structure of the ship and her rigging as she was in 1545 are described deck by deck and lavishly illustrated, including reconstructed deck plans. Operational aspects such as steering, mooring, anchoring, the ship's boats, navigation and the removal of water are discussed. A summary of the ship's armaments is provided and her fighting capabilities considered. Evidence for how the ship was altered during her use, and how she might be reconstructed as a whole, are examined and the nature of and reasons for her sinking reviewed. The volume concludes with a summary of some principal areas of research that remain to be addressed.

So copiously illustrated that you feel it could have come with a cover sticker declaring Build your own Mary Rose. Peter Marsden and his co-authors have done a brilliant job at setting out what we think we know so far.' -- Current Archaeology Current Archaeology Your Noblest Shippe is essential reading for anyone interested in sixteenth-century maritime history.' -- International Journal of Maritime History International Journal of Maritime History

DR PETER MARSDEN is a professional archaeologist who has excavated numerous Roman, medieval and later sites. He was commissioned to record the Bronze Age (c.1550 BC) boat at Dover, and has excavated the oldest seagoing sailing ship found in northern Europe (of c.150 AD), as well as other Roman and medieval shipwrecks in the River Thames. He is a founder of the Council for Nautical Archaeology that successfully campaigned for a law to protect historic shipwrecks (Protection of Wrecks Act 1973), and in 1986 created the Shipwreck Museum at Hastings in East Sussex. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. While doing all of this he was commissioned by the Mary Rose Trust to compile two of the five major academic volumes about Mary Rose.