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Odd Solutions to Historic Problems

Khalid Elhassan December 9, 2020 32 min

United States - American Civil War — Young recruits during the Vietnam War, circa 1967. History

31. The Pioneering English Ship That Revolutionized Naval Warfare

Commissioned in 1511, the English ship Mary Rose was among the earliest vessels that relied on cannons, firing not from the top deck as had been the norm since guns were introduced to ships, but from portholes cut into the hull on lower decks. That made the Mary Rose one of the pioneering ships that revolutionized naval warfare. She and others like her helped usher in the transition from the age of fighting at sea via ramming, or grappling and boarding, to the classic Age of Sail’s combat via massed gun broadsides.

The Mary Rose was a success, and gave the Royal Navy decades of solid service. Then, in 1536, she underwent an unfortunate redesign and upgrade. The goal was to increase her firepower by equipping her with more cannons. The solution to the problem of just where to put all those extra guns ended up dooming the ship.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.