The Mary Rose on display in Portsmouth is certainly the most famous ship to bear that name, but it wasn’t the last. Many ship names are passed to the next generation of vessels, retaining their battle honours, so you see ships called Ark Royal with honours including the Spanish Armada...

The Battle of the Solent, on 19th July 1545, is one of those events in history that had the potential to be very important, but is pretty much unknown. Indeed, many people who live near the Solent probably would never have heard of this battle on their doorstep if it...