Scuba Geek

Mary Rose Scuba Diver Marks 40th Anniversary of First Dive June 1, 2006

Posted by Andy Carroll in : Trivia, WreckDiving , trackback

Earlier this month there was a presentation to mark the 40th anniversary of the first dive on the Mary Rose. To commemorate the event John Towse, one of the two scuba divers who performed that first dive presented the original search chart to the Mary Rose Trust.

It was on the 10th May 1966 that Alexander McKee and John Towse went to the Hydrographic Office in London and found the 1841 Admiralty chart that marked the last known position of the Mary Rose. At last they had found a more accurate clue to the site of the wreck and John transferred the position to his latest chart of the ‘Approaches to Portsmouth’. This chart was used on the first dive to relocate the wreck site and on many subsequent occasions. It would be another four years before the survival of the wreck under the mud could be confirmed and even longer to positively identify it as the Mary Rose. Having established the position of the Mary Rose, Alexander McKee and John Towse did the first dive on the site of the Mary Rose on the 14th May 1966.

The Mary Rose was a Tudor ‘great ship’, built in 1509 and had 91 guns when she sank in 1545. Incredibly, it is believed she sank because the crew had neglected to close the lower gunports after firing at the galleys, so that when she heeled in the breeze she filled with water and turned over.