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40th Aniversary Mary Rose Chart Presentation
Added: (Wed May 10 2006)
MARY ROSE PRESS RELEASE
MARY ROSE DIVER TO MARK 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, will present the original search chart to the Mary Rose Trust. The presentation will be made to the Chairman of the Trust Admiral Sir Kenneth Eaton and 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.
This original search chart is signed by both John Towse and the late Alexander McKee and will be presented to the Mary Rose Museum on Friday 12th May. 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”
Photo opportunity
The presentation will be carried out at 13.30 at the Mary Rose Shiphall on 12 May 2006.
Press wishing to be present are asked to discuss their arrival with Jacquie Shaw / Zoe and to be at the Shiphall (beyond HMS Victory) by 13.20.
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Submitted by:
E John Towse