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Title:THE MARY ROSE PRE-SALVAGE DIVES [Allocated Title]
Film Number:ADM 2431
Other titles:
Summary: Unedited footage of a series of underwater dives to the wreck of King Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose, before the ship was salvaged in October 1982.
Description: A series of seven unedited tapes covering three dives in the weeks leading up to the salvage operation itself, checking the fixings and overall condition of the timbers with a view to establishing whether the salvage could go ahead.
Footage shows the dives themselves, with audio links between the "Nerve Centre" and "Dive Control".
Tapes 1 and 2. Footage from a series of separate dives surveying the structural integrity and overall condition of the Mary Rose. Includes some underwater archaeology.
Tapes 3 to 6. Footage from the underwater diving survey dated 1 October 1982. Dr Margaret Rule, Jim Clarke and the team can be heard in the main control room communicating with the diving team as they survey the ship to assess whether they can raise it from the sea bed. Footage taken from inside and outside of the hull, and includes areas of the ship such as gun ports, the frame, decks and structural timbers.Divers seen and heard during the footage are Jonathon Adams and Christopher Underwood. Footage taken from within 1 metre, predominantly consisting of timbers, planks and the frame itself. The first seven minutes of Tape 5 appears to be footage accidentally taken of the crew as they go about various tasks.
Tape 7. Unedited footage of an underwater dive on 9 October 1982, before the Mary Rose was salvaged two days later. The dive checks the structural integrity and overall stability of the fixings that will be used to lift the ship, as well as the condition of the timbers and how they will hold up to the move.