Mary Rose Diver Marks 40th Anniversary of First Dive To mark the 40th anniversary of the first dive on the Mary Rose wreck site John Towse, one of the two who carried out the dive presented the original search chart to the Mary Rose Trust. The presentation was made to the Chief Executive John Lippiett on Friday 12th May 2006. The chart will eventually be displayed in the Mary Rose museum.
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.
Chief Executive John Lippiett said “We are delighted that John Towse is donating this chart as it is a significant item from the modern history of the site. We are now planning for the permanent museum for the ship and her contents where we will have a new opportunity to use modern ‘artefacts’ like this to tell the story of the search and discovery. The whole Mary Rose project from search to excavation and salvage was an extraordinary feat of human endeavour and this occasion reminds us that this unique wreck was completely buried beneath the seabed when this project started 40 years ago this week”
A number of other members of the original dive team were present at the presentation including (left to right): Alan Watkinson, John Lippiett (Chief Executive, MRT), Reg Cloudesdale, John Baldry, Alan Lee, John Towse, (Bill Moore hidden), Eric Syvier, Maurice Young, and Don Bullivant.
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