The remains of the hull of the Mary Rose in Portsmouth museum. Photograph: PA
Plans have been announced for a final archaeological dive on the wreck site of Henry VIII's flagship the Mary Rose, writes Elisabeth Ukanah.
Built between 1510 and1511 but lost in the Solent off Portsmouth in 1545, the Mary Rose was the pride of Henry's navy and one of the first warships which could fire a broadside.
Sunk during a ferocious sea battle between Henry's fleet and a huge French armada of 235 vessels that had sailed from Le Havre, the Mary Rose continues to be source of fascination.
The only 16th century warship on display anywhere in the world, more than six million people have visited the Portsmouth museum where her hull has been preserved in a controlled dry dock since it was salvaged in 1982, generating an estimated £60m for Portmouth's local economy.
More than 60 million people worldwide watched as she was raised to the surface and brought safely back to her home port to begin the long process of conservation.
Searches for the vessel, which was named after Princess Mary, Henry's youngest sister, first began in the 1960s, but it was not until 1971 that she was found by a team of amateur drivers led by Alexander McKee.
Now a team of professional diving archaeologists, funded by the Ministry of Defence, in consultation with English Heritage, will try to raise an anchor and a section of the ship's bow.
