THE cannons blasted as the 16th century sailors fought a bitter battle with the French.

But now, more than four centuries after the sinking of the Tudor warship the Mary Rose, scientists are aiming to discover exactly how deadly were her weapons.

And leading the way are a team from the University of Huddersfield.

Their technological and armament experts have used space-age equipment to understand Tudor weaponry and ammunition.

Thirty years ago – on October 11, 1982 – the Tudor warship Mary Rose was dramatically raised to the surface, more than four centuries after she sank accidentally during an engagement with the French fleet in 1545.

But after three decades of research into the ship and its contents, there is still much that can be learned, especially by the application of new technology.

The ship, a favourite of Henry VIII, was one of the first equipped with weapons capable of firing a broadside at enemy ships.

The university is home both to the International Institute for Accelerator Applications and an Arms and Armour Research Group and their combined expertise is leading to new discoveries about the weaponry and ammunition on board the Henry VIII’s flagship.

Many of the early cannonballs and shells for the small guns found on the Mary Rose are unlike anything used in later centuries. They are made of lead but almost all of them have a lump of iron in the centre.

Specialists have long argued as to why they were made this way.

Was it simply for cheapness, to save on expensive lead? Did the projectiles have special ballistic properties that, in some way, made them more effective when fired? Or did the gunner just want to make the rounds lighter to reduce the pressures and so avoid the early guns exploding?

Dr Glenn Foard (inset below), a leading battlefield archaeologist, said: “There are many different suggestions.

“But until we know exactly what is inside – how big, what shape and what material it is made from – we won’t be able to answer the question.

“Although X-ray radiography was used to show differences in the density of different metals, understanding the structure and form of what lay within the shot could only be confirmed by sectioning several of the projectiles – but we couldn’t go around destroying such a unique collection.”

However, Huddersfield researchers have now been able to apply advanced neutron techniques to answer these questions without cutting open the shot.

The experimental team, led by Prof Sue Kilcoyne, used neutron radiography and neutron tomography at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland to carry out a non-destructive analysis of the internal structure of 20 round shot.

Alexzandra Hildred, from The Mary Rose Trust, said: “The battle of the Solent in 1545 resulting in the loss of the Mary Rose, has provided us with a ship and armaments and a huge number of projectiles – over 1,600 round shot and 2,500 complete arrows – from a period of great change in warfare both at sea and on land.

“This sort of combined research project, with the University of Huddersfield, demonstrates how the underwater resource can be integrated into the study of battlefield archaeology and increase our understanding of the warfare at this pivotal time.

“It provides us with far more detailed information on our artefacts than we have been able to obtain so far.”

Mary Rose factfile

Mary Rose was built between 1509 and 1511

She was one of the first shops capable of firing a broadside

The ship sank accidentally during a clash with the French in 1545

The had a crew of 200 sailors, bolstered by 165 soldiers and 30 gunners

The wreck was found in the Solent in 1971 and raised in 1982

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