Purbrook Bowmen fire a volley of flaming arrows from Southsea Castle as part of a day of events to mark the opening of the Mary Rose Museum on May 30, 2013 in Portsmouth, England.
(CNN) -- A Tudor warship sunk off the English coast more than 400 years ago will go on display in a new museum Friday, along with thousands of artifacts recovered with the wreck.
The Mary Rose, which is still undergoing conservation work, is the only 16th century warship on display in the world, according to the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
The 500-year-old vessel was the flagship of King Henry VIII and sank in his view off the south coast near Portsmouth on July 19, 1545, while leading an attack against a French invasion fleet.
It remained there until it was raised from the seabed in 1982 to great fanfare.
Over the decades since, the wooden hull has been sprayed continuously, first with fresh water to remove salt and then with a wax solution, to prevent the timbers drying out and shrinking.
That spray was turned off last month to allow the next phase of conservation to be carried out, the dockyard said.
While the ship is on display, it will be dried out in a specially constructed airtight glass chamber. More than 100 tons of water will be extracted from the hull over the next four to five years, conservationists say.
Once that process is complete, the walls will be removed to give visitors an unimpeded view of the ship.
The new Mary Rose Museum, built at the Portsmouth dockyard at a cost of £27 million ($40.7 million), also houses many of the 19,000 artifacts raised with the ship.
Items on display include the skeleton of the ship's dog, wooden bowls, leather shoes, musical instruments and combs complete with 500-year-old head lice, as well as weapons such as longbows and metal cannon.
Many of the ship's crew died when she went down.
The raising of the ship and its preservation were landmarks in marine archeology, the dockyard says.
Loading weather data ...
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Mary Rose was a warship of the Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. She sank in the Solent on 19 July 1545 during a battle with the French fleet. The king was there to watch the flagship of England's navy sink.
The wreck of the Mary Rose was rediscovered in 1971 and salvaged in 1982.
Conservators work on the remains of the Mary Rose at the new Mary Rose Museum at Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard on May 16, 2013 in Portsmouth, England.
A red ensign flag flies on a ship at the location of the sinking of the Mary Rose which is marked by a yellow buoy.
A cannon recovered from the wreck reminds the visitors of the original role of the warship.
Many items recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose are exhibited in the new museum.
The Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard is the new home to warship, and some of the 19,000 artifacts that sank with her.
The museum opens more than 30 years after the hull of Mary Rose was raised from the Solent in 1982.
Gold coins recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose are also on display in the new museum.
Conservator Susan Bickerton holds the original ship's bell at the location of it's 16th Century sinking.
Royal Marine Bugler Dave Nevatte plays the Last Post during a wreath laying ceremony.
Able Seaman 1st Class Luke Checkley throws a wreath from the deck of WWII seaplane tender, commemorating those who died when the warship sank in 1545.
Maintenance Coordinator Brian Robinson poses next to a canon recovered from the wreck.
Actor and longbow expert Robert Hardy talks with Purbrook Bowmen at Southsea Castle as part of a day of events to mark the opening of the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth.
Rear Admiral John Lippiett, right, holds the original bell of the 16th century Tudor warship Mary Rose.
Able Seaman Fiona MacLennan, left, and Able Seaman Megan Ryan attend the opening ceremony aboard HMS Duncan, the latest Type 45 destroyer.
|