Cowdray Engraving of the battle in the Solent

Getting ready to dive

Conservator on the main deck of the Mary Rose

Child playing a drum

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Site Data - 2003-5

The Project - Discovery - Page 1 of 2

The search for and discovery of the Mary Rose was a result of the dedication of one man, the late Alexander McKee.

Alexander McKee

Alexander McKee

In 1965, in conjunction with the Southsea branch of the British Sub- Aqua Club, he initiated project 'Solent Ships'. While on paper a plan to examine a number of known wrecks in the Solent, Alex McKee really hoped to find the Mary Rose.

Ordinary search techniques proved unsatisfactory so something different was needed. The answer was side-scan sonar. The collaboration of Professor Harold E. Edgerton (MIT) and John Mills, the British representative of his firm EG & G, led to the discovery of the wreck site. They provided the sonar systems and operated them, and in 1967 discovered a strange sub-seabed anomaly. This was confirmed by a further sonar survey in 1968. Alex McKee believed the Mary Rose had been rediscovered. In his fascinating book, "How we found the Mary Rose," he summarised the sonar data in a letter to Professor Edgerton as follows.

(a) an oval shaped feature about 200 feet long headed towards No Mans Land Area.
(b) the interfaces give the impression of a flattened letter 'W'. i.e., they are exceedingly angular and nothing like the rounded shapes of the clay interfaces. They are smaller at the ends than in the middle. Oh, ho!
(c) the feature appears to form some sort of discontinuity or 'break' in the geological strata, and as this cannot be the results of an earthquake the hypothesis that it results from the insertion into the seabed of 700 tons of battleship seems likely, particularly when we consider that the findings at (a) are consistent entirely with the wreck of the Mary Rose.

If the suspect feature proves to be the Mary Rose, then I expect we shall be able to claim the carrying out of the first electronic trenching survey of a sub-mud historic wreck.

In November 1967 the Mary Rose (1967) Committee was formed. This consisted of Alexander McKee, Margaret Rule, (who had been providing archaeological advice almost from the start), W.O.B. Majer and Lt-Cdr Alan Bax. This organisation then leased the area of the seabed around the site for the grand sum of one pound per annum.

What was needed now was proof that the anomaly was indeed the Mary Rose. Between 1968 and 1971, diving on the site was carried out by a team of volunteers who called themselves Mad Mac's Marauders. This was accomplished from very small boats and on a vanishingly small budget.