The Mary Rose provides the only tangible evidence of the types of weapons used during this important period in the evolution of both ships and weaponry.

During the fifteenth century, illustrations of armed merchant vessels show light iron guns on open decks in the waist and on a series of tiers. The fire power of these ships was severely limited by the weight of armaments they could carry without seriously affecting the stability of the ship.

The development of the carvel-built hull provided gun ports low down with watertight lids meaning the heavier guns could now be used on purpose-built gun decks below the bulwark rails.

The guns recovered from the Mary Rose, include two main types in addition to fifty handguns. They are wrought-iron breech-loading guns and cast muzzle loading guns. The former include large guns stationed at gunports on elm beds with a single pair of wheels. These had two powder chambers to enable rapid re-loading of shot and charge without moving the gun.

The large muzzle-loading guns on elm carriages with four wheels were cast in bronze. These fired cast-iron shot and had to be withdrawn from their ports.

Greater flexibility was provided by iron swivel guns which were rapid-fire weapons. The ship should have carried fifty of these.

In addition, four small cast iron guns with rectangular bores, hand-held and designed to fire a bail of iron dice were recovered. They are the only guns of this type in the world.

Officers carried swords, and anti-boarding manoeuvres included the use of staff weapons such as the bill and the pike. Very few pieces of armour survived, as they were corroded by exposure to salt water.

The Mary Rose excavation yielded the only collection of Tudor long-bows and arrows, some still in the elm crates used to store and ship them. As with many of the artefacts recovered, through study and replication much can be learned about techniques of manufacture and more importantly the effectiveness of these, using archaeology to answer questions for which there is little information.

Artefacts
Main Menu