Que ? Spanish crew's lack of English sank the Mary Rose
- On 01/08/2008
- In Underwater Archeology
- 0 comments
From the Times Online
Researchers believe the vessel's fate was sealed when its mainly Spanish crew could not understand the orders of their officers.
For generations, the reason why the Mary Rose sank during a battle with a French invasion force has divided historians.
Now a new theory can be added to the list of suggestions about why the pride of Henry VIII's navy was lost: two thirds of its crew were foreigners who failed to understand orders.
Forensic science examinations of the 16th-century crew's skulls have revealed that the majority were not British but southern European, most probably Spanish.
Researchers believe that the vessel's fate was sealed because of their inability to understand their officers' orders when it began taking on water in the Solent, off Portsmouth, in 1545.
Battleship Portsmouth Solent Mary Rose
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