Bound in wood from the wreck of the 'Mary Rose'. On his accession to the throne, Henry VIII embarked upon a programme of ship building, including the 'Mary Rose' which was built between 1509 and 1511. As the English flagship, she took part in many of the naval conflicts of Henry's reign. Her last engagement was in the Solent against a French invasion fleet in July 1545. With Henry watching from Southsea Castle on the mainland, the 'Mary Rose' sank with the loss of around 500 men. The wreck of the 'Mary Rose' lay undiscovered for nearly 300 years until its accidental discovery by fishermen in 1836. At this time pioneer divers John and Charles Deane explored the wreck and recovered relics from the ship, including a bronze demi cannon gun. A history of the ship's demise was published by Samuel Horsey in 1842, with a second edition appearing in 1849, and was bound in wooden boards salvaged from the 'Mary Rose' by the Deane brothers. In the 1980s a large part of the 'Mary Rose' was excavated and lifted from the sea bed and is now on display in Portsmouth.