Editing Mary Rose (section)

=== Construction method ===

The hull of ''Mary Rose'' is [[carvel (boat building)|carvel]] built. The ship is an early example of this method of construction in England. Her hull shape is now known to have been set out using the three arc method of producing the hull cross section. This geometric process is similar to that known to have been used some two hundred years later, so giving a much earlier date for this technique. This, and studies of other ships specified in the 15th century, is suggestive that the three arc methodology was probably already in existence before the time ''Mary Rose'' was built.{{sfnp|Adams|2013|pp=73-78}}

The construction sequence began with laying the keel and setting up the stem and sternpost. The midships {{nautical term|frame}} and a few other frames (master frames) controlled the shape of the hull, so the {{nautical term|floor}}s in those positions were fastened to the top of the keel. Then planking started with the {{nautical term|garboard}}s being fastened to the keel and those floors that were already installed. A temporary timber batten (called a ribband) was fastened across the floors that had been fitted and the remaining floors were shaped to fit the curve delineated by the ribbands and the garboards. The keelson was fastened over the top of the floors and planking continued up from the garboards to near the end of the floors. The first {{nautical term|futtock}}s were then installed, again using ribbands to achieve a fair shape relative to the master frames. The hull construction continued with phases of planking and the fitting of second and third futtocks until deck level was reached.{{sfnp|Adams|2013|p=76}}

''Mary Rose'' does not have the characteristic dove-tailed mortises seen joining the floors and first futtocks in [[Basques|Basque]]-built ships such as the [[Red Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador#24M|Red Bay wreck 24M]]. There is some fastening of floors to timbers in ''Mary Rose'' that is less systematic and robust, but there are no treenails connecting frame elements to each other as seen on later vessels. This demonstrates that the hull was not made by first building the hull framework and then adding the planking once that was complete. Instead planking and framing were carried out in alternating steps, with later futtocks being added as planking carried on up to the weather deck level. This is in sharp contrast to the usual way of building a carvel hull today.{{sfnp|Adams|2013|p=187}}

The construction sequence used for ''Mary Rose'' was typical for a ship built during the lengthy transition period during which carvel became established in Northern Europe and the precise detail is one of the milestones in that story.{{sfnp|Adams|2013|pp=130-131}}