Editing Mary Rose (section)

==== Raising the ship ====

[[File:MaryRose-salvage1982-below water.tif|thumb|right|The final stages of the salvage of the ''Mary Rose'' on 11 October 1982. The lifting frame (the top of the salvage cage) can be seen just below the surface of the water, about to emerge.]]

[[File:MaryRose-salvage1982-above water.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A partial section of a wooden ship lying inside a massive steel frame is suspended just about the water with a partial view of a barge on the left and small boats in the background.|The wreck of the ''Mary Rose'' clear of the water.]]

[[File:People viewing the salvage cage holding the Mary Rose 1982.jpg|thumb|alt=People standing in front of the wreck of the ''Mary Rose'' while in its protective cage|People viewing the salvage cage holding the ''Mary Rose''.]]

Raising the ''Mary Rose'' meant overcoming delicate problems that had never been encountered before. The raising of the Swedish warship ''[[Vasa (ship)|Vasa]]'' during 1959–61 was the only comparable precedent, but it had been a relatively straightforward operation since the hull was completely intact and rested upright on the seabed. It had been raised with basically the same methods as were in use in Tudor England: cables were slung under the hull and attached to two pontoons on either side of the ship which was then gradually raised and towed into shallower waters. Only one-third of the ''Mary Rose'' was intact and she lay deeply embedded in mud. If the hull were raised in the conventional way, there was no guarantee that it would have enough structural strength to hold together out of water. Many suggestions for raising the ship were discarded, including the construction of a [[cofferdam]] around the wreck site, filling the ship with small buoyant objects (such as ping-pong balls) or even pumping brine into the seabed and freezing it so that it would float and take the hull with it. After lengthy discussions it was decided in February 1980 that the hull would first be emptied of all its contents and strengthened with steel braces and frames. It would then be lifted to the surface with [[floating sheerleg]]s attached to nylon strops passing under the hull and transferred to a cradle. It was also decided that the ship would be recovered before the end of the diving season in 1982. If the wreck stayed uncovered any longer it risked irreversible damage from biological decay and tidal scouring.{{sfnp|Lewis|2003|pp=51–53}}

During the last year of the operation, the massive scope of full excavation and raising was beginning to take its toll on those closely involved in the project. In May 1981, [[Alexander McKee (author)|Alexander McKee]] voiced concerns about the method chosen for raising the timbers and openly questioned [[Margaret Rule]]'s position as excavation leader. McKee felt ignored in what he viewed as a project where he had always played a central role, both as the initiator of the search for the ''Mary Rose'' and other ships in the Solent, and as an active member throughout the diving operations. He had several supporters who all pointed to the risk of the project's turning into an embarrassing failure if the ship were damaged during raising operations. To address these concerns it was suggested that the hull should be placed on top of a supporting steel cradle underwater. This would avoid the inherent risks of damaging the wooden structure if it were lifted out of the water without appropriate support. The idea of using nylon strops was also discarded in favour of drilling holes through the hull at 170 points and passing iron bolts through them to allow the attachment of wires connected to a lifting frame.{{sfnp|Childs|2007|pp=197–198}}

In the spring of 1982, after three intense seasons of archaeological underwater work, preparations began for raising the ship. The operation soon ran into problems: early on there were difficulties with the custom-made lifting equipment; the method of lifting the hull had to be considerably altered as late as June.<ref name="Rule1983_p227">{{harvp|Rule|1983|p=227}}</ref> Divers from the [[Royal Engineers]] were brought in to do much of the underwater work.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://maryrose.org/blog/where-were-you-in-82-royal-engineers/ |title=Where were you in 82? Royal Engineers |last=McKnight |first=Hugh |website=maryrose.org |publisher=Mary Rose Trust |access-date=27 August 2024}}</ref> After the frame was properly attached to the hull, it was slowly jacked up on four legs to pull the ship off the seabed. The massive crane of the barge ''Tog Mor'' then moved the frame and hull, transferring them underwater to the specially designed cradle, which was padded with water-filled bags. On the morning of {{Nowrap|11 October}} 1982, the final lift of the entire package of cradle, hull and lifting frame began. It was watched by the team, Prince Charles and other spectators in boats around the site. At 9:03 am, the first timbers of the ''Mary Rose'' broke the surface. A second set of bags under the hull was inflated with air, to cushion the waterlogged wood. Finally, the whole package was placed on a barge and taken to the shore. Though eventually successful, the operation was close to foundering on two occasions; first when one of the supporting legs of the lifting frame was bent and had to be removed and later when a corner of the frame, with "an unforgettable crunch",<ref name="Rule1983_p227"/> slipped more than a metre (3&nbsp;feet) and came close to crushing part of the hull.{{sfnp|Lewis|2003|pp=53–59}}{{sfnp|Rule|1983|pp=206–227}}